Heard any good music lately ?

Hamfast

Hamfast

Rohan
I have. Italian film composers have been dominating my musical consumption this week. Oddly appropriate considering it happens to be the first day of summer [:)]

First up is Ennio Morricone. I cannot get enough of this man's music ( this is good considering he has scored over 500 films....) He's always referred to as a 'Spaghetti Western' composer, which is fine, but wildly inadequate to describe his career. I never tire of discovering new joys in his compositions. Listen for yourself....

Ecstasy Of Gold
Cinema Paradiso
Mission Theme

My second favorite Italian film composer is Nino Rota. Most folks are familiar with his work on The Godfather films, but there is so much more to enjoy from his career. If you've ever watched a Fellini film, you've heard his music. The word whimsical comes to mind often when listening....

8 1/2 Theme
La Dolce Vita - Finale
Amarcord Theme

And for something a bit more groovy from the 70's we have Piero Piccioni, who scored many 'erotic' films....

Il Dopolotta
Lombardia

An additional question if I may ask.....

Excluding LOTR ( [:)] ) What is your favorite film music ?

Mine is The Nightmare Before Christmas by Danny Elfman. I have listened to this music hundreds of times, and it has yet to lose its charm.
 
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Carter Burwell, Fargo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw-juxQ5Sj4

The opening (seen in this clip) is so powerful; the visuals and music work beautifully together.


Bill Conti, The Right Stuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTj8bR2_2Ec

The main fanfare, I guess you could call it, starts about four minutes in. Love this movie, love this music - so grand and stirring.



Stanley Myers, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4SVVKuOr0c

I like to call this Hound Dog Blues; it's a simple blues-y guitar with a dog howling in the background. BTW, if you've never seen this movie, do yourself a favor; it's hilarious. It basically covers the same philosophical territory as Hamlet, but from the POV of R & G. Little slow at the beginning, but it builds into something wonderful.

And of course, Close Encounters of the Third Kind by John Williams. I still get a kick out of those five notes.

There are many more favorites, but these were the first to come to mind. (I take it you meant original scores for non-musicals. If we included musicals and films with pre-existing music [makes it sound like a medical condition] then that would really make it hard to choose.[:)]

Also love Cinema Paradiso and Mission Theme. And, yes, Danny Elfman can do no wrong.
 
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Been copied quite a bit in the decade+ since it came out (most notably in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, though since Hans Zimmer was involved in those too, it's probably ok -- who better to rip you off than yourself?). But I still love it.

I started a 60's "oldies" station in Pandora and have been listening to that. I would say the selection is a little bit too "obvious" if that makes sense, but that's partly inherent in the genre. I was born in 1982 but I grew up listening to "oldies" radio, so it's fun to hear some of the songs again especially now that I have a better appreciation for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wYoLQc-x5g -- Four Tops, "It's the Same Old Song"
 
"Stone grow her name"

I am a huge fan of this band, but this albums indeed is fantastic. So, I recomend it fully [heart]

I have a short list of soundtracks in the other hand.

But I particular think John Williams is one of the best, have been my favorites for ET and Star Wars, Love the Godfather soundtrack (Some 70s Italian stuff here, Gianni Morandi version is soo romantic, has been my all time fav soundtrack)

Pirates of the Caribbean is also at the top of my favorite soundtrack ever.

Hans Zimmer Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, love it.

Passion of the Christ music. Well [heart]
 
I like the Mission a lot, too. I just realized one of the tunes has been made into a song in Italian.

Other ones I enjoy listening to (full albums, I won't count individual songs out of albums I don't own or listen to)

Scores:
Eastern Promises - Howard Shore (and I'll pair this with Twilight, Eclipse - both by Shore and both similar, in some ways, to his LOTR score)
The Fountain - Clint Mansell - dang, I couldn't get enough of this for a while.
Battlestar Galactica (reboot) - Bear McCreary - I greatly love and esteem Bear. Adore his BSG score.
Last of the Mohicans - Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman

and, to add to the mix:
World of Warcraft OST

Soundtracks:
Black Hawk Down
Clockwork Orange
Moulin Rouge - rockin!

I have dozens of soundtracks and hundreds more individual tracks and music from movies and tv shows. So that's a severe culling of what I listen to and like.

Do you have that remix version of Nightmare Before Christmas? I especially like Marilyn Manson's This is Halloween.
 
Original Scores
Alexander, 2004 (Vangelis) [the movie - not so much [crazy]]
Alien, 1979 (Jerry Goldsmith)
Atonement, 2007 (Dario Marianelli)
Battlestar Galactica, 2003-2009 (Bear McCreary)
Braveheart, 1995 (James Horner)
Conan the Barbarian, 1984 (Basil Poledouris)
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, 1993 (Randy Edelman)
Dragonheart, 1996 (Randy Edelman)
First Knight, 1995 (Jerry Goldsmith)
Gettysburg, 1993 (Randy Edelman)
Gladiator, 2000 (Hans Zimmer)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004 (John Williams)
Hero, 2002 (Tan Dun)
Jurassic Park, 1993 (John Williams)
Kingdom of Heaven, 2005 (Harry Gregson-Williams)
The Last of the Mohicans, 1992 (Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman)
The Lion King, 1994 (Hans Zimmer)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, 2001-2003 (Howard Shore)
LOST, 2004-2010 (Michael Giacchino)
Merlin, 1998 (Trevor Jones)
Pirates of the Caribbean, 2003 (Klaus Badelt)
Pride & Prejudice, 2005 (Dario Marianelli)
The Rocketeer, 1991 (James Horner)
Shakespeare in Love, 1998 (Stephen Warbeck)
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994 (Thomas Newman)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979 (Jerry Goldsmith)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982 (James Horner)
Star Trek: First Contact, 1996 (Jerry Goldsmith)
The Star Wars Trilogy, 1977-1983 (John Williams)
The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, 1999-2005 (John Williams)
Superman, 1978 (John Williams)
Titanic, 1997 (James Horner)
Troy *Rejected Score*, 2004 (Gabriel Yared)
 
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or *all* of them. :-)

Cause, if we're posting all of our scores... my list is way, way longer. (I counted 60 soundtrack/score CDs from where I sit and I have more that I ripped to my harddrive and gave away the CD and/or purchased digitally and more CDs downstairs) (and a few OOP ones obtained in more private ways).
 
On my iPod, I've got about 160 soundtracks - and probably a good amount of CDs I haven't transferred over yet. [cool] I have a problem, you see...

[tongue]
 
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Carter Burwell's score for Fargo is brilliant. Everything about Fargo works doesn't it ?

Thanks for the reminder about The Right Stuff. I haven't watched it in ages, and the last time I watched, i'm sure I wasn't at the age where I could properly appreciate the musical contribution from Bill Conti. Sounds great !

Looks like I will have to check and see if Rosencrantz & Guildenstern is available on Netflix[laugh]

I was deliberately vague about asking for your favorite 'film music'.....I would include anything that has been put to celluloid. Soundtracks are game too....it takes a good ear to match somebody else's music to film. One of my favorite soundtracks is High Fidelity. A lovely mix of tunes from artists both obscure and legendary, like...
Bob Dylan
Stereolab
13th Floor elevators
The Kinks
The Beta Band
Royal Trux
Stevie wonder
The Velvet Underground, etc.
 
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'The Battle' is one of my most treasured pieces of film music [:)]

The Motown sound has no law of diminishing returns to my ears....I listen to 'em all the time.
 
I have many, many albums from the same record label ( Napalm ) that released 'Stones Grow Her Name' , but i've never bought one of Sonata Arctica's releases....I might just have to change that [:)]

Finland just keeps putting out top quality metal !
 
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because I only have the LOTR works [:P]

[heart] Moulin Rouge [heart]

I do have the Nightmare Before Christmas remix album, but my fave is the RJD2 track ' Christmas Eve Montage'
 
I have 87 soundtracks / scores on vinyl alone....I don't even want to start counting cd's.....

a couple from your list I really enjoy....

Hero - Tan Dun - Incredible music, vastly under appreciated.

The Rocketeer - James Horner - Love the music, love the movie, love Jennifer Connelly [;)]

On a side note, in a few weeks i'll be attending the San Diego Comic Con for two days. Every year I drop about $100 at a booth that carries mostly out of print soundtracks / scores from sci-fi, horror, geek culture movies, etc......I can only imagine the treasures that await [:)]
 
(by Shore) but I have trouble listening to it. I love the theremim, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOi2d7fI4w

Those (EW, Eclipse, Eastern Promises, and LOTR) are the only ones I own by him.

When I put my Zen on shuffle, I'd sometimes come across music that I knew had to be LOTR but I had no memory of it. And that is just about impossible for me! It would always turn out to be from Eastern Promises or Eclipse.

You might check out The Betrayal (Nerakhoon). It has some beautiful violin music in it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Betrayal-Nerakhoon/dp/B003C3YJWC

He also apparently just did music for a game.
http://www.musicoflotr.com/2012/05/here-comes-sun.html

Moulin Rouge: I even recorded some of the music from the DVD that wasn't on the CDs. If Lady Marmalade comes up... I pretty much have to stop what I'm doing till it's over.
 
I am patiently waiting for this movie to come out on blu ray. I've only seen it once, and i'm eager to add another Tim Burton movie to the collection. The fact that Howard Shore did the music makes it even more desirable : )

I too capture audio from movies when it isn't included in the official release[evil] most recently from my favorite anime Cowboy Bebop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJjnbhSTuqQ
 
I quite like Ennio Morricone music too, (I was watching 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' the other day - now that is a bizzare soundtrack.)
If you like Morricone, perhaps you should listen to the Spaghetti Western Orchestra. They are more than a little bonkers, and play classic western film music with a variety of 'proper' instruments and cornflake packets. I saw them at the Proms last year, and can't decide whether I loved it or hated it; but it was entertaining. [:)]

Here is their website: http://www.spaghettiwesternorchestra.com/

and a Youtube video of them on Jools Holland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMFWMrIB4a8

As for favourite soundtrack, it has to be PotC; my best friend friend and I used to love those films, and we have an 'in-joke' for almost every other line.
Happy memories of dissecting the plot, playing the piano-score reduction, and waiting excitedly for the next release.
I also think it was that music (along with LotR), which taught me to listen to film scores 'properly' and appreciate their construction in identifying different themes etc.

As for other favourites that I don't think have been mentioned already;
'True Grit',
'Finding Neverland',
'Hidalgo',
'Henry V' (for Crispin's Day),
'House of Flying Daggers',
'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon',
'Little Women',
the main theme from 'Sense and Sensibility' (Thompson),
and 'Jodhaa Akbar'.
 
looks like it would be a great show to catch. Very impressive how only a handful of people can recreate the compositions so accurately ( even using cornflakes[laugh] )

Thanks for the links, made for some good entertainment while sipping the morning coffee !
 
Some great soundtracks that I admire and love have already been mentioned in this thread. Here are a few more that I feel deserve mention:

Inception - Hans Zimmer
Rain Main - Hans Zimmer
Princess Mononoke - Joe Hisaishi
Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian - Harry Gregson-Williams
Les Triplettes des Belleville - Ben Charest
Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, d. Tim Burton) - Stephen Sondheim
 
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