Back catalogue: Soundtracks

Review: Those who've seen acclaimed sci-fi flick Arrival should be familiar with Max Richter's "On The Nature of Daylight"; two interpretations of the piece are used to open and close the movie (a move which subsequently made the soundtrack score ineligible for the Oscars). This EP gathers both variations of the neo-classical piece on one slab of wax. The A-side version, used at the beginning of the film, sees Richter's swooping themes and intricate, intertwined melodies played by a string quintet. On the flip, you'll find Richter's full orchestra recording, a slightly more grandiose - but no less poignant - interpretation that's utterly cinematic in feel.

Review: Whether or not The Last of the Mohicans would have been made in the same way today comes down to opinion. Back in 1992, all Hollywood wanted was to present historical epics that felt new while still being familiar, and to hell with anyone that might have a problem with the very white Daniel Day Lewis being cast as an indigenous American Indian living in a period of time when lands that belonged to those communities were being stolen by, err, people who didn't look too dissimilar from DDL himself.

More naive, or at least less woke times, in truth the movie is a great adventure-packed romp across the West filled with action, tension, incredible cinematography panning over seemingly endless wilderness and this score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman. Sounding exactly as it should - a mixture of grit, determination, and grandeur rendered with woodwind, strings, and huge percussive sections, it remains one of the movie's triumphs.

Review: A Monster's Expedition + Earlier Adventures is a double disc collection of music from four different video games (namely A Monster's Expedition, Sokobond, Cosmic Express and A Good Snowman Is Hard to Build) all composed by Eli Rainsberry, Allison Walker, Nick Dymond, and Priscilla Snow. Each one is utterly unique to the game and each one comes laden with beautiful soothing atmospheres delicately coloured with ponderous and whimsical melodies that will distract you from whatever you are doing they are so gorgeous. This is music to get lost in and it comes with superbly serene artwork from Andre Rodrigues.

Review: A rivalry as old as the Hollywood studios behind them have been desperate for anyone with a new idea to put them out of their repetitive misery, what the movie itself lacked in originality is more than compensated for by the score. Surprisingly, shockingly mature, it's a fine example of how dramatic music can be.

Granted, tracks like 'Girl With No Eyes', which features that semi-chilling, semi-cliched nursery rhyme from A Nightmare on Elm Street, may not be first on the dinner party playlist, but the actual arrangement can stand up against the best of them. Perhaps what makes Freddy vs Jason so compelling is the nature of horror soundtracks themselves. Filled with subtle, delicate details, it should go without saying that those small sections, inclusions, and elements are where the actual feelings are kept. As such, it's hard to distinguish between the process and methodology behind this and much IDM, classical, and ambient music.

Review: There have been some incredible movies made about memory over the years. We had Arnold Schwarzenegger missioning to Mars to find his brain (well, the remembering part anyway) in Total Recall, and a piss poor reboot a few decades later. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind asked us all to really think about the value of memory and its ability to hurt and heal. Overboard positioned Goldie Hawn as amnesiac getting a lesson in humility from the carpenter she was horrible to. We can add to that The Almond & The Seahorse, a 2022 film that focused on two couples coping with their inability to make new memories. Weird, at times wonderful, by drafting Gruff Rhys in for the score the producers were guaranteed a soundtrack that would be every bit as unique as the plot. Form haunting, melodic pianos to touches of 1960s pop rendered raw and rough.

Review: The Leftovers is Max Richter's score for the HBO series of the same name. The story is about the Garvey family in the fictional town of Mapleton, New York and explores what happens when 2% of the world's population disappears all of a sudden. It was first aired in 2014 and was a real critical hit and that's in no small part thanks to the score. It is haunting and eerie at times, laden with doom at other and run through with a subtle sense of hope when needed. And would you expect anything less from one of the most influential composers of his generation?

Review: The nefarious joy of Death Waltz continues unabated with the soundtrack from Maniac, a recent slasher film starring Elijah Wood. In the increasing appreciation of droning cold wave synth music that sounds as though lifted straight from the 80s, Robin Coudert's effort is particularly on point. In the bombast of the compositions, Rob has captured the perfect nostalgic ambience for all the classic soundtracks of the era, not least John Carpenters. Of course, being a Death Waltz release you also get to enjoy high-grade artwork, plush packaging and fetching blood-spattered wax.

Review: Having played guitar alongside Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-1970s, then going on to be songwriter and six string man for the Band, it's no surprise that when Robbie Robertson turned his attention to soundtracks they came with assured rock 'n' roll authenticity. A Hall of Fame-r in both his native Canada and the US, his work for screen includes a slew of top notch Martin Scorsese movies, such as The Last Waltz, The King of Comedy, Casino, and The Irishman. Director also enlisted artist for Killers of the Flower Moon, the 2023 epic Western crime drama starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, and Brendan Fraser. This would prove to be Robertson's last score before he died in August that year, and it's a stunning swan song. From meditative psychedelia, to reflective journeyman acoustic, and strange, mysterious, woodwind-led pieces, it's evocative to say the least.

Review: The story of Puccio Roelens begins way back in 1969, a time when the 'exotica' sound was at its peak, and when electronic music really started to have an impact on the rest of the global scene. Constanza Records, from the late 60s through to the late 70s, was responsible from some truly pioneering work by a small selection of artists from around the globe. Roelens was one such artist, a producer who contributed to the infamous series named Musica Per Commenti Sonori, or 'music for sonic comments'. His particular contribution was entitled Lipstick, and explored the vast possibilities of disco, a genre that was at its height at the time, but that was beginning to take on new influences that would eventually transform it into boogie. This album is a special piece of work, a collection of sublime disco tracks with an experimental edge. The more you listen, the more you want. TIP!

Review: Jazz-funk doesn't get much better than this one from Italian pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and record producer Puccio Roelens. It is a fantastic selection of high energy, densely arranged tunes with plenty of standout solos along the way. On other albums, the artist explored more soul and disco sounds but this one from 1976 is all about the jazz and the funk. There are plenty of lush electric piano lines that reach for the skies, fuzzy guitar riffs and noodling basslines that make you all warm inside. This fully licensed reissue is limited to just 400 copies.

Review: Is there much left to say about Francis Ford Coppola's epic gangster trilogy, The Godfather? We've analysed the symbolism, critiqued the performances, and pondered on how the third part was such a let down so many times, with film history tutors across the world driven to madness, or at least distraction, by the endless stream of first year essays about the use of orange as a colour to foreshadow death and tragedy.
Even the rightly acclaimed soundtrack has been discussed and assessed a hundred times over. Nevertheless, some things are still worth pointing out. One of several instances in which the late, great composer Carmine Coppola scored his son's movies, it's grand, refined, and at times almost has the qualities of the musical accompaniment to a great ballet. Suffice to say, it's more than fitting for the cinematic odyssey in question

Review: Fargo Year Five is the fifth instalment of the acclaimed series Fargo and it debuted on screens back in November 21, 2023, and rolled out ten more gripping episodes. Continuing the tradition, Jeff Russo crafted the captivating music for this season, as he did for the preceding four. Notably, Russo clinched the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special in 2017 for his exceptional work on Fargo. Besides his prowess in television composition, Russo is revered as one of the founding members of the band Tonic, showcasing his multifaceted talent across various facets of the music industry, and this score is as good as all the ones that came before it.

Review: Fargo has proven one of the most popular and successful TV series of recent years. The writing, atmospheres and characters are all deeply absorbing and well realised, and of course the soundtrack is just as vital to its success. The dark comedy-crime drama anthology series recently hit series 4 and Jeff Russo served as the composer once more. In the past rock music has been the overriding sound but for this one there is a more jazzy vibe to fit the setting and era of the season. There are playful moments of musical intrigue that lead you down an unknown path such as the opener, then darker pieces that hint at unfolding criminality.

Review: Following the release of Jim Jarmusch movie Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai in 1999, many hip-hop heads were keen for the RZA's immaculate soundtrack - his first movie score - to get a release. It did, but only in Japan. Finally, the RZA has put that right, and now the soundtrack, which features a number of contributions from the Wu-Tang Clan, is available around the world via this new pressing. Largely warm, light and airy, much of the material mixes traditional instrumentation - electric piano, various Japanese instruments, guitar - with head-nodding hip-hop beats and the kind of obscure, Blaxploitation-era funk samples that have long been a staple of the RZA's work. It's a great set of instrumentals, with just enough forthright vocal cuts to keep things fresh.