The Score Report 11/10

 

The Score Report hopes that you enjoyed your Halloween, and that you’re all cozied up with some tea, staring out of the window at the gently falling leaves and thinking about how great film music is. And to help you do that exact thing, we’ve rounded up some great new releases for you.

First things first: Of course, the big news today is the release of Fallout 4, but if you can look up from the game for a couple of seconds, you may want to go grab Inon Zur’s score for the game off of iTunes, because it was released alongside the game. Zur is a phenomenal composer, and it’s hard to argue with 65 tracks of great music for 16 bucks, even if you’re not a massive Fallout fan. Zur’s soundtrack to Sword Coast Legends was also released last week, after initially being announced back in May..

Joseph LoDuca has become a horror score icon, largely on the strength of his collaborations with Sam and ted Raimi on The Evil Dead films. That collaboration extended to the Raimi-produced Hercules and Xena series. The Warrior Princess’s score in particular was very successful, released on seven volumes over the course of the show. Now, for show’s 20th anniversary, those albums are being reissued in a gorgeous The album can be pre-ordered here until the 18th. Each box includes an enormous poster signed by LoDuca, and ships out on November 20th. Xena fans won’t want to pass this up.

First up is the release of the Meridian Studio Ensemble’s “Music from the Television Series Sherlock.” Composer/arranger Dominik Hauser (who has done composition and arrangement work for the likes of Paramount and MGM) offers his own arrangements of David Arnold and Michael Price’s kinetic score in a sort of “Best Of” comprised of music from all three seasons. Of course, the BBC have released soundtrack albums from all three seasons, but die-hards will probably want to check this one out. It’s available digitally now, and the CD will be available at http://www.buysoundtrax.com.

Just out digitally and on CD December 4th is the score for The Final Girls by Gregory James Jenkins. The story of a group of girls who get yanked into an 80’s slasher film, the score pastiches the 80’s synth soundtrack feel and incorporates a modern sound to reflect the girls trapped in a world removed from reality and time. Fans of Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th will get a kick out of this one. Jenkins is a Berklee graduate, who produced Rob Cantor’s solo album (You probably know Cantor from his song “Shia LeBeouf“) and who is currently working on Disney’s Goldie and Bear.

Brothers Brooke and Will Blair (Blue Ruin) have scored Nick Berardini’s documentary Killing Them Safely, a film that offers an in-depth look at the unstudied, long-term hazards of taser use through a series of case studies. Known primarily for thrillers, the Blair brothers have filled this score with tense, buzzing synthesizers as well as minimalist, lonely acoustic sounds for a slowly unsettling effect. The album will be out digitally via Lakeshore Records on November 27th.

 

Pedro Bromfman is a Brazilian-born Berklee graduate who’s gained acclaim for his collaborations with Jose Padilha – namely the Robocop remake and the Netflix smash Narcos. His most recent work is a documentary, Deep Web, about the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, creator of the Silk Road. The film had unprecedented access to the Ulbricht family, as well as to the software architects who originally developed Deep Web technology for the military. Bromfman says he focused on the humanity behind the story, a facet that’s easy to forget when you tell a story about online crime. The score is out digitally on Lakeshore Records on November 20th.

Lest things get too grim, Lakeshore is also releasing Navy Seals: The Battle for New Orleans on the same day. The movie follows a team of Navy Seals tasked with rescuing the Vice President from a crisis at the Louisiana State Capital, only to find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak in Baton Rouge. Not only must they rescue the VP, they must also protect a group of scientists working on a cure and stop the zombies before the cross the Missouri River Bridge and spread the infection beyond the city. The score is pulsing and electronic, and the result of a collaboration between Justin Raines, Brian Jackson Harris, Drew Jordan, and Michael Wickstrom.

Rob Simonsen studied under Mychael Danna, and having contributed music to films like Life of Pi and Moneyball, he’s scoring Stonewall, a historical drama about a young man trying to find his away against the backdrop of the 1969 Stonewall riots. The album is out November 27, and includes songs from M.C.2 and The Staples Singers alongside the score.

Finally, December 4th sees the individual release of Varese Sarabande’s 1985 at the Movies album. This incredible concert featured the likes of Alan Silvestri, Henry Mancini, John Barry, and more, performed under the baton of David Newman. Originally, it was exclusive to a 1985-themed box set that included a Back to the Future disc, as well as scores from Out of Africa and Goonies, and compilations of scores and iconic songs from the year’s film music. Now people who may have a lot of those things lying around already can pick up the concert on its own.

Related posts: