Various Artists - Stay Awake: Interpretations of Vintage Disney Films [1989]
Posted by admin on July 8th, 2008
Whether you regard him as one of the greatest storytellers in American history or a cold-hearted marketing genius who forced a set of prepackaged consumerist myths on several generations of unsuspecting youth, there’s little argument that the films of Walt Disney have become an indelible part of our collective subconsciousness. Then again, for every child who delighted in the antics of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, there’s another who had the bejesus scared out of him by the Wicked Queen or went into hysterics after Bambi’s mother was shot; there’s a mingled joy and tragedy in Disney’s best work that’s helped to give his films a cultural resonance Bugs Read the rest of this entry »
For fans of director Wes Anderson, a new movie from the bespectacled auteur means the materialization of a quirky new soundtrack as well. While 1999’s British Invasion-heavy audio companion to Rushmore remains the unofficial fan fave, each collection of music (Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) has been a glimpse into the Texas-bred Anderson’s obviously deep record collection, a window he once again opens with the typically eclectic Darjeeling Limited. The quirk of 2004’s Zissou was that it mined classic David Bowie songs as played by Brazilian samba revivalist and Life Aquatic cast member Seu Jorge. This time around,Anderson populates his tale with classic Indian art film music, 
For those who will listen to content besides Watchtower, Bear McCreary does many good and a few great things. With David Eick wisely letting his composer glue the end of that episode together, the solid five minute cue of "Precipice" might just be his single best work in scoring an episode; the stories simply wouldn’t have interlocked without it. Although different than the broadcast version, his work with percussion shows off in "Storming New Caprica". Tying in several other cues, "Temple of the Five" may be his most important new theme of the entire season. And finally, "Heeding the Call"’s inclusion of his adaptation of the Watchtower cues just prior to the big event was a pleasant surprise. 
2007 release featuring some fine tunes that were seemingly tailor-made for long drives (or short treks) along coastlines, through deserts and even around the block. Featuring tracks from The Killers, David Bowie, Kaiser Chiefs, Prince, Oasis, The Fray, Coldplay and many others. This is one CD you’re sure to get good mileage out of! EMI TV.
Kingdom Hearts II contains many battle themes for a variety of battles. If the music for the Final Fantasy series has one failing, it’s that the battle themes are generally mostly the same throughout the game, with one theme for normal battles, one for boss battles, perhaps a “challenge” theme and special music for the final battle(s.) The variety of opponents and settings in Kingdom Hearts II cries out for more and Amano has delivered wonderfully. Perhaps the best is “The 13th Struggle,” the piece generally used for battles with 
Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi is best known for his Takeshi Kitano and Hazao Miyazaki scores — and yet the two directors couldn’t be more different. Kitano’s films are mostly adult crime dramas, while Miyazaki’s are mostly animated family features. But both are wildly adventurous and deeply (sometimes even secretly) romantic. Hisaishi has done excellent work for each, most notably Kitano’s masterful Hana-Bi and Miyazaki’s epic Princess Mononoke. If his soundtracks for Kitano tend to have a more elegant, elegiac tone (Kitano’s taciturn protagonists often die at the end), 
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