ALEXANDRE DESPLAT - "Un prophete"

Un Prophète de Jacques Audiard. Music by Alexandre Desplat. Available from Naïve Records.

The movie is about a young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin and Alexandre Desplat wrote the musical accompaniment for it.

The CD is out through Naive Records and you can visit their website and preview the sound clips, at their official website.

Also, more info and sound clips are available at amazon.com.

For more info, visit the composer's official website.

DEBORAH LURIE - "9" [cd]

Product Details

* Performer: Coheed and Cambria
* Conductor: Gavin Greenaway
* Composer: Coheed and Cambria, Deborah Lurie
* Audio CD (August 31, 2009)
* Number of Discs: 1
* Format: Soundtrack
* Label: Koch Records

9 is an upcoming animated action/fantasy film directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted. It is based on Acker's Academy Award-nominated short film of the same name. Although CGI, the movie will have a stylized look resembling stop motion.[1] The screenplay was written by Shane Acker, Ben Gluck, and Pamela Pettler, co-writer of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Casting for this film was done by Mindy Marin, production design by Robert St. Pierre and Fred Warter, and art direction by Christophe Vacher. The film has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence and scary images. In the U.K, the film has been rated 12A by the BBFC for moderate sustained threat.

For more info visit the composer's official website here.

For SOUND CLIPS, TRACKLISTING and more info you can visit amazon.com.

DOUGLAS PIPES - "Trick n' treat"

TRICK N TREAT
Product Details

* Audio CD (September 29, 2009)
* Original Release Date: September 22, 2009
* Number of Discs: 1
* Format: Soundtrack
* Label: La-La Land Records

Track Listings
1. Main Titles (2:21)
2. Meet Charlie (:46)
3. It's Halloween, Not Hanukkah (3:13)
4. Charlie Bites It (1:42)
5. Father and Son (6:18)
6. Meet Rhonda (1:34)
7. To The Quarry (1:42)
8. The Halloween Schoolbus Massacre (4:56)
9. The Elevator/Laurie On the Prowl (2:03)
10. Halloween Prank (4:25)
11. Not a Trick/Red and Black (3:52)
12. Laurie's First Time (2:49)
13. Old Mr. Kreeg (1:53)
14. Pumpkin Shooter/Meet Sam (12:04)
15. The Bus Driver (:40)
16. The Neighborhood (1:51)
17. Trick 'r Treat (:31)
18. End Credits (6:41)

Product Description
Presenting the original music score soundtrack to the Warner Bros. feature-length horror/thriller DVD & Blu-Ray release Trick 'R Treat, starring Anna Paquin (True Blood) and written & directed by Michael Dougherty and produced by Bryan Singer (X2, Superman Returns, The Usual Suspects). Composer Douglas Pipes (Monster House) fashions a rich, classic horror/gothic orchestral score to compliment this acclaimed new frightfest, which chronicles several ghoulish tales as they unfold against the chilling backdrop of Halloween night. DVD & Blu-Ray in stores everywhere October 2009, backed by national Warner Bros. ad campaign.

[source: amazon.com]

Michael Dougherty's The movie centers on four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband.

For more info, visit the official website of the composer.

DANNY ELFMAN's "TAKING WOODSTOCK" [CD]

Check out the new score by Danny Elfman, a completely acoustic score based on guitar, which you can listen by visiting musicme.com, at this link here or by going to musicme.com and searching for "Danny Elfman" on the upper side of the site.

TAKING WOODSTOCK, Ang Lee's movie has the following synopsis according to imdb.com:

"A generation began in his backyard. From Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comes Taking Woodstock, a new comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening that it was. Its 1969, and Elliot Tiber, a down-on-his-luck interior designer in Greenwich Village, New York, has to move back upstate to help his parents run their dilapidated Catskills motel, The El Monaco. The banks about to foreclose; his father wants to burn the place down, but hasnt paid the insurance; and Elliot is still figuring how to come out to his parents. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a hippie music festival, he calls the producers, thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for the motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their way to his neighbors farm in White Lake, NY, and Elliot finds himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever."

MICHAEL GIACCHINO's "EARTH DAYS"

Earth Days (2009) is a documentary feature film about the start of the environmental movement in the US. It was directed by Robert Stone and is distributed by Zeitgeist Films.

Earth Days interweaves personal testimony and rare archival media. The extraordinary stories of the era’s pioneers—among them Former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; biologist/Population Bomb author Paul Ehrlich; Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand; Apollo Nine astronaut Rusty Schweickart; and renewable energy pioneer Hunter Lovins—are illustrated with a wide array of footage.

The film as been described as both a poetic meditation on humanity's complex relationship with nature and an engaging history of the revolutionary achievements—and missed opportunities—of groundbreaking eco-activism.

Michael Giacchino provided the original musical accompaniment for the project, marking his first score for 2009. Check out the info, tracklisting and listen to SOUND CLIPS from the score cd, here.

The incredible word of Game Music - tracksounds.com

Excellent work gathering reviews and interviews as well as CD info and sound clips on the ever-expanding and fascinating world of GAME MUSIC, over at tracksounds.com.

Check it out:

"High Score: The New Era of Video Game Music"

The days of the stunted, electronic, jingles which cued up with the drop of each quarter or token into those hungry, little, metal slots seem like a century ago. As the world of video games has become increasingly sophisticated (not to mention lucrative), so has the music associated with it. While the musical jingles from Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, or Ms. Pac Man have become icons themselves, an increasing amount of today's video game music is sharing more in common with many of the iconic film scores of the last thirty years."

For way more, click here. Tracksounds.com

Article: Composing: a collaborative process - Divergent methods employed to make poignant scores

"Some composers work in isolation, while some lead teams of writers and orchestrators who help complete their vision. Whether they're scoring huge Hollywood features or smaller indie films, they all have their own methods of working with their production teams. Each has the same goal -- to put the final storytelling stamp on a film."

Check out the very interesting article on how film composers work, over at variety.com

JOHN FRIZZELL'S "WHITEOUT" [2009] on [CD]

JOHN FRIZZELL'S "WHITEOUT" [2009] on [CD]

In WHITEOUT, the film adaptation of the popular graphic novel, Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) is a lone U.S. Marshal assigned to Antarctica whose investigation of the continent’s first murder draws her into a shocking mystery. Now, with only three days until winter, Carrie must solve the crime before Antarctica is plunged into darkness and she is stranded with the killer.

The tense and compelling score is from Ghost Ship composer John Frizzell.

Warner Bros. will open WHITEOUT on September 11.

Varèse Sarabande Catalog #: 302 066 986 2
Release Date: 9/8/09

Track List:

1. Aurora Australis (1:47)
2. The Soviet Plane (2:43)
3. Base Camp (1:58)
4. Carrie’s Theme (1:40)
5. How Not To Die (1:52)
6. Popsicle (2:40)
7. Examining weiss (3:30)
8. Vostok Attack (2:20)
9. Camp Delta (1:44)
10. The Discovery (4:33)
11. Carrie’s Suspicion (1:22)
12. Frost Bite (1:17)
13. The Storm Approaches (1:49)
14. Delfy is Down (1:37)
15. Last Plane Out (2:53)
16. The Whiteout (2:57)
17. The Clues (1:49)
18. Carrie Searches (2:16)
19. I’d Like to See It (2:17)
20. Resolution (2:30)
21. Whiteout Main on Ends (2:14)

Check out more at varese sarabande, here.

Check out the SOUND CLIPS from the score, here.

BRIAN TYLER's "FINAL DESTINATION" [2009] available on iTunes.

Check it out here.

NATHAN BARR's "TRUE BLOOD" (series) score comes on [CD] via varese

Nathan's score to the TV Series True Blood will be released by Varese Sarabande on 8th September

TRUE BLOOD Original Score From The HBO®

Original Series Music Composed and Performed by Nathan Barr

TRUE BLOOD chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps … where vampires have emerged from the coffin, and no longer need humans for their fix. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, Golden Globe®-winner for True Blood, Academy Award®-winner for The Piano) works as a waitress at the rural bar Merlotte’s. Though outwardly a typical young woman, she keeps a dangerous secret: she has the ability to hear the thoughts of others. Her situation is further complicated when the bar gets its first vampire patron — 173-year-old Bill Compton (Steven Moyer, Quills) — and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other. Delivering the best of what audiences have come to expect from Creator and Executive Producer Alan Ball (writer of Oscar®-winning Best Picture American Beauty, creator of the Emmy® Award-winning HBO® series Six Feet Under), TRUE BLOOD is a dark and sexy tale that boldly delves into the heart — and the neck — of the Deep South.

The evocative score — slightly seasoned with regional influence — is composed and performed by Hostel veteran Nathan Barr.

Season 2 is currently running on HBO.

Varèse Sarabande Catalog #: 302 066 984 2
Release Date: 9/8/09

Find out more at varesesarabande.com, here.

Check out the composer's official website, here.

Find out more about the tv series, here.

Check out the sound clips, here.

BRIAN TYLER - law abiding citizen [video on the score]

Video snippet from YouTube on F. Gary Gray's Law Abiding Citizen - Music Score composed by BRIAN TYLER.

Check it out here.

Nominations announced for World Soundtrack Awards 2009

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

o CARTER BURWELL (Burn After Reading, Twilight)
o ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Coco Avant Chanel, Largo Winch, Cheri)
o DANNY ELFMAN (Milk, Taking Woodstock, Notorious)
o MICHAEL GIACCHINO (Star Trek, Up, Land of the Lost)
o HANS ZIMMER (Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons, The Dark Knight)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF THE YEAR

o BURN AFTER READING by Carter Burwell
o THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON by Alexandre Desplat
o FROST/NIXON by Hans Zimmer
o THE INTERNATIONAL by Reinhold Heil, Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek
o SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE by A.R. Rahman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR A FILM

o “GRAN TORINO” from Gran Torino
Music & Lyrics by Jamie Cullum, Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens
Performed by Jamie Cullum & Don Runner

o “JAI HO” from Slumdog Millionaire
Music by : A.R. Rahman
Lyrics by Gulzar and Tanvi Shah
Performed by A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaksmi Iyver, Vijay Prakash
Published by KM Musiq ltd

o “O SAYA” from Slumdog Millionaire
Music & Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Mathangi Arulpragasam
Performed by M.I.A. & A.R. Rahman
Published by KM Musiq ltd

o “RUN & HIDE” from Je l’aimais
Music & lyrics by Anna Chalon
Performed by Anna chalon

o “THE WRESTLER” from The Wrestler
Music & lyrics by Bruce Springsteen
Performed by Bruce Springsteen
Published by Bruce Springsteen

How things are made: THE COMPACT DISC [CD]

Ever wondered how your favorite medium of listening to music, in this case film music, is made?

Except if you're an mp3-junkie or an old-timer with great love for analog technology and great (and unreasonable i might add) hate for new technologies, you'll love this video on how things are made: the compact disc.

Check it out here.

Summer Film & TV Music, a great article about anyone who's thinking film music career-wise

Summer Film & TV Music So you want to be a film composer? Writing great music is just the beginning

By Kevin Cassidy
"It was 1980, and Christopher Young was packed and ready to leave his hometown of Red Bank, N.J. Like countless Hollywood hopefuls before him, the young composer squeezed all his earthly possessions into his car and prepared to head west to stake his claim in the film business."

A quote from a very interesting article concerning the business of film music, a must-read for anyone who considers a film music career sometime in their lives.

Check it out, here.

61st Annual Emmy Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 61st Annual Emmy Awards in the music-categories:

Outstanding original main title theme music

- Great Performances - John Williams

- Sons of Anarchy (Pilot) - Bob Thiele & Dave Kushner

- Storymakers - Bill Sherman

- The Mole - David Michael Frank

- United States of Tara - Tim Delaughter

Outstanding original music and lyrics

- 81st Annual Academy Awards / Hugh Jackman Opening Number - William Ross, John Kimbrough et al

- A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All / Much Worse Things- Adam Schlesinger, David Javerbaum

- A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa / I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus - Paul Williams

- Flight of the Conchords: Unnatural Love / Carol Brown - James Bobin, Bret McKenzie & Jemaine Clement

- Saturday Night Live: Justin Timberlake / Motherlover - Asa Taccone, Drew Campbell et al

- The 2008 ESPYS / I Love Sports - Katreese Barnes, Justin Timberlake et al

Outstanding music composition for a miniseries, movie or a special

- 24: Redemption - Sean Callery

- Grey Gardens - Rachel Portman

- Into the Storm - Howard Goodall

- Little Dorrit: Part 5 - John Lunn

- Loving Leah - Jeff Beal

- Taking Chance - Marcelo Zarvos

Outstanding music composition for a series

- 24: 7:00AM - 8:00AM - Sean Callery

- Castle: Flowers from Your Grave - Robert Duncan

- Ghost Whisperer: Leap of Faith - Mark Snow

- Legend of the Seeker: Prophecy - Joseph LoDuca

- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Pilot - Gabriel Yared

- The Simpsons: Gone Maggie Gone - Alf H. Clausen

See more here http://www.emmys.tv/

Reports on FIMUCITE 3: The third international Tenerife film music festival

Last month, the third edition of the Fimucité film music festival took place in the Canary Islands, on the island of Tenerife in Spain.

The brainchild of Spanish composer (and Tenerife native) Diego Navarro, Fimucité was created with the idea to not only celebrate music, but showcase the talented musicians who live on the island of Tenerife. When scoring the 2002 film Puerta del Tiempo, Navarro felt that he could assemble a live orchestra to record the score locally - not only in Spain, but more specifically in Tenerife. Pleased with the result, he put together the "Tenerife Film Orchestra & Choir", and in the summer of 2007, the first Fimucité conference was held, with guest composers Don Davis, Sean Callery and Mychael Danna.

In 2008, the festival brought over composers Christopher Young, Joel McNeely, John Frizzell, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, as well as other film music industry guests, including a rather full panel of film music agents. The theme that year was Alex North's 2001, and included an impressive live performance of the unused score, with the help of Varese Sarabande's Robert Townson.

Read the entire articles and view the relevant photos, here (soundtrack.net) and here (variety.com)

Klaus Badelt: Shanghai

Klaus Badelt is the new composer signed to score Swedish director Mikael Håfström’s upcoming romantic thriller Shanghai.

Badelt, who is best known for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Poseidon, The Time Machine, is the third composer on this film. He is replacing UK composer Alex Heffes who, in his turn, had replaced Gabriel Yared, the composer who scored Håfström's 1408.

Shanghai is a 1940s period piece starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, John Cusack, David Morse, Yun-Fat Chow and Li Gong. It tells the story about an American who travels to Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor, discovers that his friend has been murdered and unveals a big secret that his own government is hiding. Film is slated to premiere later this year.

(quoted from original source, MIKAEL CARLSSON and upcomingfilmscores.blogspot.com)

More about the movie, here at imdb.com

HANS ZIMMER to score new romantic comedy, "IT'S COMPLICATED"

As confirmed through the official trailer of the movie, Hans Zimmer is going to provide the original musical accompaniment for the upcoming romantic comedy by Nancy Meyers, entitled It's complicated.

It's Complicated is a 2009 romantic comedy film from Universal Pictures and Relativity Media, starring Steve Martin, Meryl Streep, and Alec Baldwin, and written and directed by Nancy Meyers.

To be released on December 25, 2009, the plot of the film revolves around an older divorcee Jane (Streep) falling again for her ex-husband Jake (Baldwin), who competes with the affections for his ex-wife with her home's architect Adam (Martin) while having a hidden "affair" with his former wife.

Stay tuned for more info on Hans' involvement as it becomes available! You can watch the official trailer of the movie, here.

Alexandre Desplat and Marvin Hamlisch at the 9th World Soundtrack Awards

The composers Alexandre Desplat and Marvin Hamlisch will be the guests of honour at the 9th World Soundtrack Awards, the key event of the 36th Ghent Film Festival on Saturday 17 October in Music Centre De Bijloke in Ghent. The Brussels Philharmonic will be playing music from The Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Queen, The Painted Veil and Lust Caution among others. The American composer Marvin Hamlisch, who created unforgettable music for films such as The Way We Were and The Sting, will receive the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award.

For more, be sure to visit the original source here.

JOHN DEBNEY confirmed on IRON MAN 2

The composer's agency, The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, confirms that John Debney be working to provide the original musical accompaniment for the upcoming sequel to the super hero franchise, Iron Man 2.

Quoting from wikipedia:

Iron Man 2 is an upcoming 2010 superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics fictional character Iron Man. This film is directed by Jon Favreau, with Robert Downey Jr. reprising the title role. The film will be released on May 7, 2010.

In an interview with USA Today, director Jon Favreau revealed that the sequel is set six months after the events of Iron Man, and stated that Stark's revealing of his identity is taking its toll on him. Favreau also discussed their version of Iron Man's comic book nemesis the Mandarin, and how it "allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains". He also mentioned that S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue to have a major role.

During development, Favreau said the film would explore Stark's alcoholism, but it would not be "the Leaving Las Vegas version".[1] Downey said, while promoting the first film, that Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) would probably develop a drinking problem as he is unable to cope with his age, as well as Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) getting a boyfriend. Before filming began, Downey revealed that while the film was not an adaptation of the Demon in a Bottle storyline from the comic book series, it was more about the "interim space" between the origin and the Demon story arc.

Stay tuned for more.

BRIAN TYLER's "THE FINAL DESTINATION" [sound clips from CD]

On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O’Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare, Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave ... escaping seconds before Nick’s frightening vision becomes a terrible reality. Thinking they’ve cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one by one — in increasingly gruesome ways — Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination. The film marks the latest in the highly popular Final Destination series, and its first 3D installment, giving horror fans an especially visceral thrill ride.

The death-defying score is the latest from Fast & Furious composer Brian Tyler. The album will feature a 13-minute suite recorded just for this soundtrack!

click here to listen to sound clips from the score, over at colosseum.de

MARK ISHAM: Fame

Fame is an upcoming 2009 American musical film which is a loose remake of the 1980 film of the same title. It was directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Allison Burnett. It is scheduled to be released on September 25, 2009.

The remake of the 1980 megahit Fame will feature original score music by Mark Isham, the composer and jazz musician who is best known for his music for Crash, Quiz Show and Blade.

Plot

"A reinvention of the Oscar-winning hit film, Fame follows a group of actors, singers, dancers and artists over four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts, a diverse (Naturi Naughton), creative powerhouse where students from all walks of life are given a chance to live out their dreams and achieve real and lasting fame...the kind that only from talent, dedication and hard work.

"In an incredibly competitive atmosphere, plagued by self-doubt, each student's passion will be put to the test. In addition to their artistic goals, they have to deal with everything that goes along with high school, a tumultuous time full of schoolwork, deep friendships, budding romance and self-discovery.

"As each student strives for his or her moment in the spotlight, they'll discover who among them has the innate talent and necessary discipline to succeed. With the love and support of their friends and fellow artists, they'll find out who amongst them will achieve fame."

Click here to visit the official website of the movie, FAMe.

Also click here to read the original news' piece source, upcomingfilmscores.blogspot.com

Hans Zimmer: Inception

Complementary to what was previously announced with this article here, Warner Bros. has revealed in a recent press release that Hans Zimmer is composing the score for Christopher Nolan's upcoming science fiction opus Inception, starring Leonardo di Caprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine and Tom Berenger.

For more info on the project, please visit upcomingfilmscores.blogspot.com

ScoreKeeper Chats With John Debney About Scoring THE STONING OF SORAYA M.

Quoting from source, aintitcoolnews

"Greetings! ScoreKeeper here unveiling a revealing interview with John Debney who recently composed an extraordinarily compelling score for a small, yet provocative, film entitled THE STONING OF SORAYA M. (2009). The film is in limited release throughout North America with openings in new cities each week. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to see the film; however, the music alone is so powerful and haunting that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to discuss it with John. As always, he was unfailingly congenial and his insight into this amazing score is not to be overlooked. Enjoy!"

Read full article here.