With a year packed with exceptional films came an even greater year for cinematic soundtracks. In several cases, the soundtrack was far better the film for which it was scored.
Yesterday, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences released their nomination list for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Among those selected for possible honors stand the scores for The Dark Knight Rises, The Artist, The Muppets, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, The Hunger Games, Brave and more!
This year three composing titans will go head-to-head in the Best Score category; John Williams was nominated for his standout work in Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin; Hans Zimmer received a nomination for the epic sounds…(Click title above to continue reading)
Frank Ocean may just be 2012′s best new artist; the young R&B singer started his career ghostwriting for singers such as Justin Bieber, John Legend and Brandy. Now it’s Ocean’s turn to step into the light and shine like no other in the business. Not only did he drop his first album titled channel ORANGE, but he also opened up about his sexuality. He’s the first African American male Hip-Hop/R&B singer to express his interest in men.
His voice has been compared to that of Maxwell’s; a strong yet smooth falsetto combined with his live-in-the-moment lyrics have proven his ability as a songwriter. Due to such accomplishments, he and rapper Rick Ross will pen lyrics to several songs on the Django Unchained soundtrack.
We’ve seen several trailers and posters for Quentin Tarantino‘s spaghetti western, but there’s been little detail about the film’s soundtrack. Any Tarantino fan will tell you that music has always been an integral part to his story telling process. From David Bowie’s “Putting Out Fire with Gasoline” in Inglorious Bastards to The Delfonic’s “(Didn’t I) Blow Your Mind This Time” in Jackie Brown, every track makes for a memorable scene. And the OST for Django will be no different… (Click title above to continue reading)
The countdown has begun to the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 14th. Midnight showing IMAX tickets have been purchased and all that’s left to do is to try and convince my little sister that “everyone else is going to be dressed as a hobbit, we’ll look weird if we go in normal clothes.” But having everything ready makes it that much harder to wait out the remaining 24 days until we actually get to enjoy Peter Jackson’s triumphant return to Middle Earth. But it seems that Jackson understands that fans of The Lord of the Rings have been patient enough already after all the production delays and director changes. Which is probably why he’s been giving us a steady stream of information about the film, and the latest gift is the song that will play for the closing credits… (Click title above to continue reading)
With an upcoming December release there’s a lot going down in Middle Earth. Today Peter Jackson and co. released the official artwork and full tracklist for the first soundtrack of The Hobbit Trilogy. The OST has a lot of promise behind it as composer Howard Shore leads the music department once again through “An Unexpected Journey.”
Before we dive into the tracklist lets first take a look at the film’s budget; it’s estimated that each Hobbit film will cost anywhere between $200 – $300 million to make. That estimate includes the cost for pre-prodution, production, distribution, promotion, etc. I’m sure that left members of the music and promotion department with a larger budget than many on the team have dealt with in the past… (CLICK TITLE ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING)
Jessie J… when it comes to her voice, the woman knows what she’s doing. With a style to call her own, a powerhouse yet soulful voice, and her classic bob with bangs, she commanded attention when she hit the music scene back in 2011 with her debut album “Who You Are.” It’s been a year and some months since her album hit shelves, and in that time she’s become the first British female artist to have six Top 10 singles on one album. Now, she’ll lend her voice to her first soundtrack.
Silver Linings Playbook has already grabbed the attention of many. With a cast that includesJennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro, this dark comedy could throw the award season for quite a surprise if it lives up to the hype. The story brings together two unlikely characters who reach out to one another as each mourn for the loss of their significant other… (Click title above to continue)
The song is simply titled “Skyfall,” but don’t let its mere obviousness fool you. After months of speculation, the new theme song for Bond’s next adventure, Skyfall, hit the net today.
Featuring the lucid yet smokey vocals of pop-singer Adele, the track combines the classic with the modern. It’s crazy to think the eight-time Grammy Award winner had doubts about recording the song with composer Thomas Newman. But Adele overcame the pressure, stepped into the studio, and gave it her all. The result? A smooth, beautiful, and quite lyrical tune that bleeds passion… (Click Title Above to Continue Reading)
The soundtrack for Tim Burton‘s upcoming stop-motion filmFrankenweenie entitled Frankenweenie Unleashed features several tracks to look forward to. “A Karen O” (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) open the album and is followed up with tracks from Passion Pit, Grace Potter ft. The Flaming Lips (that should be AWESOME), Imagine Dragons, Grouplove, and other artists. But it’s track #5 that has audiences buzzing.
The Plain White T’s cover of The Ramones song “Pet Sematary” breaths fresh air into a classic. The song was originally played during the credits of the 1993 Stephen King film adaptation of Pet Sematary. The Ramones are often referred to as the first punk rock group, forming in 1974. Their song “Pet Semetary” hit #4 on the Billboard “Modern Rock Tracks” list… (click title above to continue reading)
All eyes are on Wreck-it Ralph as Disney just recently released the first full length trailer for the zany, colorful, and interesting set of characters. Directed by Rich Moore, the animated feature will aim for originality and truth. And along side composer Henry Jackman, the two will take this film to the next level. Comprised of both electro and orchestral sounds, Jackman plans to give the soundtrack just what it needs. And who better to get the job done than Skrillex, Owl City, and AKB48.
The previous trailer opened with a very familiar “Funky Town” and transitioned into Fun.’s “Some Nights”. It was a bold and interesting move from both Disney and Jackman, and the team is looking to expand on that sound. In a recent interview withBillboard Jackman explained how he plans to incorporate the electro:
“What’s unusually ambitious and successful about ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ is you have the opportunity to do really pop electronic things and then later there’s really profound, emotional moments. Basically you need to bring all of your paints because the story has so many requirements. It’s a field day for a composer.”
If you think about it, there are more sounds that has to be recorded than just the tracks. The world ofWreck-it Ralph includes characters that speak and produce their own gadget like ticks. Also take into consideration that as Wreck-it Ralph game hops, each world comes with its own the… (click title to read more)
For any singer, recording the theme song to a James Bond film is an honor. Back in 1967, Nancy Sinatra crooned her way through a sultry “You Only Live Twice.” In 1977, Carley Simon sang “Nobody Does It Better” for The Spy Who Loved Me. And Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds are Forever,” is perhaps considered the most popular Bond theme song. In 2009, Jay-Z and Kanye West released their rendition of Bassey’s classic song titled “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”.
Everything’s set in place for Skyfall’s November 9th release. There’s Daniel Craig, amazing action and locations, new vehicles, and the Bond women played by Berenice Marlohe and Naomie Harris. The last piece of the puzzle remains the song — a signature end to every great Bond film. In the perfect scenario, Adele will indeed belt her way through the next James Bond theme song in Skyfall… (click title above to continue reading)
This marks composer Hans Zimmer‘s fourth collaboration with director Christopher Nolan, including the first two Batman films and Inception. Originally James Newton Howard (who worked with Zimmer on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) was going to return as well, but decided that Nolan and Zimmer “had established such good chemistry working on Inception, and he didn’t want to be a third wheel.”
The soundtrack is set to hit shelves on July 17th, but you can pre-order it on CD or Vinyl (oooh, vinyl) through Amazon… (Click link above to listen to the soundtrack in full).
