I Wanna Get Next To You

It was recently brought to my attention that there are some people that have never heard this classic. Therefore I felt it was high time I included this masterpiece on my blog, so those that have never heard it before can treat their ears to a beautiful song and for those that know it well can get to know it all over again. The song is I Wanna Get Next To You from Rose Royce. It's off the 1976 soundtrack to the smash hit movie Car Wash.

The song starts off with the irresistible groove and you instantly know this song is just going to wash over you. The piano, guitar, and the percussion play off each other nicely after the riff. The falsetto of Kenny Copeland comes in and drops the heartbreaking lyrics about a man hoping to spend some time with a young lady who is apparently not interested. It was the perfect song for the unrequited love in the film between The Fly and the waitress.

This song will always be a classic. It's the unofficial song of the Car Wash movie but Rose Royce also dropped the original I'm Going Down that Mary J. Blige covered on that same soundtrack. Written and produced by Norman Whitfield, I feel he captured lightning in a bottle with this song because I can't help but smile whenever I hear it. Enjoy!

General Zod Suite

A fan of the man of Steel score put this together and I really enjoyed it and decided to post it, because I can be a geek at times. Maybe you'll enjoy it too.

Opening Montage

This piece is so short, but in the grand scheme of things musically it is absolutely flawless and moving. It's an amazing piece of music that was married to a so-so movie. The name of the movie, Things We Lost In the Fire and the score was crafted by Gustavo Santaolella and Johan Soderqvist. In my opinion the music vastly out shined the movie because Gustavo and Johan created magic.

Like I said, it's really short BUT there is the rest of the score that is as equally amazing as this piece entitled Opening Montage. The music is mournful and hopeful all at the same time and that's an amazing accomplishment. When the strings come in this piece has the ability to move your soul.

Take a listen, listen a few times and drink it in and let me know if your soul has been moved or at the very least, if it's been touched. Enjoy!

Vide Cor Meum

First off, this is not an aria. I know it sounds like one and feels like one, but it isn't one. It is instead, a piece created for the movie Hannibal which starred Sir Anthony Hopkins. Produced and created by Patrick Cassidy and Han Zimmer, this lovely piece is entitled Vide Core Meum (See My Heart). The piece is based on the third chapter in the sonnet "A ciascun alma presa" and it's stirring in its beauty.

I marvel at the fact this was done just for a movie. What Patrick and Hans did creatively goes above and beyond the soundtrack parameters in my opinion. It was Vide Cor Meum in particular that pushed me to by the score to the film and I can listen to it and never tire of it. Listen and read along with the libretto and maybe you'll feel the same.

Human Legacy

The second I heard this track, actually it was a segment of the track since I hadn't heard the entire thing at the time, I knew I was sharing it. You ever hear a song and one part catches you and you call in love with it? Human Legacy by Ivan Torrent did that for me but instead of one part, it was many. Sadly I don't have what album this amazing song is off of, nor do I have any other information except that this song is a single, though after this song plays in the video there are a number of other selections you can take a listen to. Hopefully there will be an album soon.

What catches me is the structure, the vocals, and the arrangement of the song. There are moments this song comes across mournful and other times heroically epic. Ivan even takes a page out of the Two Steps From Hell playbook towards the end of his song. If you know the song All Is Hell That Ends Well then you have a pretty good idea what I'm talking about.

If you like this track then I suggest taking a listen to Ivan's Power of Will. It's damn good, almost as good as Human Legacy, but not quite. Put this on your big boy speakers and give it a good listen. You never know, you just may find something about it that makes you love it as much as I do. Enjoy.

The Last of Us

It seems the world of video game soundtracks has become an ultra competitive field. From where I sit, I can see Steve Jablonsky or Hans Zimmer do the soundtrack to a video game, their sound and talents lends itself to that medium in almost uncanny ways. The one name I never expected to see associated with a video game score though was acclaimed guitarist and composer Gustavo Santaolalla.

Gustavo is an amazing composer who has been involved with the scores to movies like Motorcycle Diaries, Babel, Brokeback Mountain, 21 Grams, and his haunting and mesmerizing work on Things We lost In the Fire always gives me chills.. His music is both emotional and beautiful, full of yearning and promise, so when I saw that he was the man behind the music to the apocalyptic video game The Last of Us, I had to hear it.

This piece is the main theme of the game and in usual Santaolalla style, it is absolutely breathtaking. So much so that I felt the need to share it with those of you who may never come across this amazing offering. It's best to hear this on your big boy speakers as well, so you can get the full darkness of the music towards the end. This piece hasn't made me a bigger fan of his, it's just made me more appreciative of his talents. Well done Gustavo, well done.

Wanna Fight

Wanna Fight is a powerful piece of music to a very integral moment in the movie Only God Forgives. It's by film composer Cliff Martinez and with every score, I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan of his. He's been film composing since 1989 and his scores vary so drastically in style and tone from one to the next that for me, when I looked back on his body of work I was shocked that he did certain movies.

Only God Forgives is heavy on synthesizers and Wanna Fight is the crown jewel in the score. When it started playing in the movie, it didn't just make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, it made me sit up. It sounds like something out of Tron by Daft Punk at first, but then the cathedral pipe organ chimes in. I wasn't expecting that at all and every time I hear it, I still love it.

The song mellows out somewhat after that, but it remains just as dark and foreboding. Then when the organ returns, it ramps up the intensity and the ONLY way to hear this song is, you guessed it, on your big boys speakers. I love Wanna Fight, and I think a smart boxer would use it as his music to walk to the ring to, he'd have his opponent beat before the first punch is thrown. Enjoy!

Snitch

I fell in love with Antonio Pinto's work before I even knew it. He did the score to a Nicholas Cage film that not many people saw entitled Lord of War. I thought it was gripping though I wasn't quite sure why. Then I saw the documentary on one of the greatest racing drivers to ever walk the earth, Ayrton Senna. Pinto did the haunting score for Senna and it was there that I noticed him. I've been a fan ever since.

Imagine my surprise to find out Antonio did the score to Snitch, the Dwayne Johnson vehicle based on a true story. While Antonio's music doesn't really fit the movie and it's dramatics, it's still beautiful music. Antonio uses strings and cellos in a way I have never heard before. This song, the main theme to the movie is so mournful, so yearning, and so beautiful that it gives me chills almost every time I hear it.

I went back to see Lord of War and to hear Antonio's work for that film and I was blown away and the menacing beauty of the score. He is an incredible talent and that was I listened to his score for the box office failure The Host, it was amazing. I look forward to anything by Antonio Pinto and after you hear this, maybe you'll feel the same. Enjoy.

Beauty Never Fades feat. Saffron

I posted a track from the Man of Steel score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL, but then it dawned on me, not everyone who reads my blog may be aware of the one known as Junkie XL. So I thought I would post one of my favorite tracks by him, the one track will allow you to hear his influence on the track with Hans.

It's called Beauty Never Fades featuring vocals by Saffron. It's off the 2003 soundtrack of Animatrix movie. Junkie did some work on the Matrix soundtrack so it was only obvious they would tap him to add a song to this soundtrack as well. The music is fast, the beats are strong, and the vocals are ethereal. Where I hear the similarities with Arcade and his influence on that track is in the low end. The bass line brings to mind the darkness that is Arcade.

I don't know if working with Hans Zimmer will change the dance master/remix king's sound, working with an orchestra and new instrumentation can definitely change a person. If it does though, then I can't wait to hear what's next from Junkie. Enjoy!

Arcade

Hans Zimmer has graced my blog twice before, this time though he does so with something so deliciously fiendish that I HAD to post it. It's from his score for Man of Steel and it's entitled Arcade. If you have seen the TV spot for the movie, the one where General Zod states we are not alone, then you've heard this track, just not all of it in its full dark glory.

There are two movements to Arcade, the first is epic and majestic. It's sweeping and massive in scope. It starts off slow and simple, just hinting at the darkness to come. The strings fade in and give the piece its tempo and pace, they are unrelenting. Hans worked with Junkie XL on this piece and if you know his music, you can clearly hear his influence. As the strings swell, the brass comes in and they push this track along, building the drama and the track really starts to cook and then it just stops.

That's where the second movement comes in. It's truly dark and malevolent. The drums are massive and the instrumentation hints at "something wicked this way comes". The second movement doesn't last as long as I would like but it's fade out conjures images in my head of an army marching off into the distance after it has vanquished the enemy.

Hans continues to surprise me, and while he is no John Williams, the score for Man of Steel is amazingly powerful and impressive (of course I got the score the moment it was available). There so many moments in the score that will either make you say "wow" of stun you into speechlessness. I know, because Arcade did that to me. Enjoy! 

Gortoz a Ran

Now I have seen the movie Black Hawk Down countless of times. Saw it in the theater when it was first released and I have seen it subsequent times afterwards on DVD. Yet for some strange reason, I do not recall ever hearing this amazingly beautiful and haunting piece of music. This piece is entitled Gortoz a Ran and it's performed by Denez Prigent and Lisa Gerrard.

If you are a follower of my blog, you know that I believe there's beautiful music everywhere, we just have to open ourselves up to find it. The music is mournful and beautiful but it's the lyrics, when translated that provide that emotional impact.

Gortozet 'm eus, gortozet pell
E skeud teñval tourioù gell
E skeud teñval tourioù gell
E skeud teñval an tourioù glav
C'hwi am gwelo 'c'hortoz atav
C'hwi am gwelo 'c'hortoz atav

Un deiz a vo 'teuio en-dro
Dreist ar maezioù, dreist ar morioù
'Teuio en-dro an avel c'hlas
Da analañ va c'halon c'hloaz't

Kaset e vin diouzh e alan
Pell gant ar red, hervez 'deus c'hoant
Hervez 'deus c'hoant pell eus ar bed
Etre ar mor hag ar stered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I waited, waited for a long time
In the dark shadow of brown towers
In the dark shadow of brown towers
In the dark shadow of rain towers
You will see me waiting forever
You will see me waiting forever

One day it will come back
Over the lands, over the seas
Will come back the green wind
And bring with it my wounded heart

I will be pulled away by its breath
Far away by its stream, wherever it wishes
Wherever it wishes, far away from this world
Between the sea and the stars

I hope you see and hear the beauty in this piece as I do, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to watch Black Hawk Down again to see if there was anything else I missed.

A Prayer for Peace

When I saw the movie Munich by Steven Spielberg I was transported to a different time and place. Not just thanks to the mastery of Steven but by the mastery of John Williams and his score for the movie. While the score has that element of mournfulness that was so prevalent in his score for Schindler's List, Munich was a bit more elegant, especially this piece.

A Prayer For Peace encapsulates all the music done for the movie so vividly and beautifully. It's mournful and hopeful at almost the same time, it's a song created and crafted by someone at the height of their talents. People are always looking for and wondering who the next John Williams will be. Whoever gets that heavy crown placed upon their head will be judged as to whether they can create something as amazing as this piece.

Munich came out in 2005 and it's an amazing movie of loss and revenge. Even without John's score the movie would have left a mark, but with it, that mark is indelible. Enjoy!

Gaeta's Lament

Every now and then a song comes along and takes you by surprise. It comes from a source that's completely unexpected and unforeseen, which I think makes that song even more amazing. This particular song falls into the category. It's entitled Gaeta's Lament and it's from the TV show Battlestar Galactica. Written and composed by the talented Bear McCreary and sung by Alessandro Juliani, this song gives me chills.

Gaeta's Lament is first heard in the episode Guess What's Coming to Dinner which aired during Galactica's last season. It's sung by the character Gaeta, played by Alessandro who is recuperating in sick bay after having his leg amputated. Gaeta sings the song to take his mind off the pain. Lament starts off with just Alessandro singing acapella. Slowly and softly does the music come in and gradually it swells and builds to a beautiful crescendo.

This is another one of those songs that I can never tire of. Just the stark beauty of the music keeps a stranglehold on my attention, when you add the lyrics and the arrangement of the strings and the vocals, the darkness of the piece, that's when the goose bumps come. I wanted to introduce it to you in the hopes that you find it as compelling as I do.

Stormy Weather

I loved this woman, literally. I loved everything there was about Lena Horne. From her voice to her looks to her activism to beat back racism. She used her status and platform to speak out on the injustices of her people and to me, there's nothing better than that. And it was this song that she made her own. Stormy Weather was written for her and it showcased her vocal abilities perfectly. It was performed in the 1933 movie with the same name where Miss Horne played Selina Rogers.

Miss Horne passed away three years ago yesterday, May 9th and she is still missed. I hope and pray her rest is eternally peaceful. Thank you Miss Horne for blessing the world with your grace and spirit. You will never be forgotten.

Hymn to the Fallen

This piece of music is off the soundtrack to one of the greatest war films ever made. The film is Saving Private Ryan and the piece of music is entitled Hymn To The Fallen which was written by maestro extraordinaire John Williams. It is the soaring piece that plays when the credits roll and it embodies the spirit of every frame of the film which was directed by Steven Spielberg.

Private Ryan didn't have a lot of music in the film, John and Steven wanted it to be as sparse musically as possible, mainly because Steven wanted the audience right in the middle of the action and he didn't want anything distracting them. The music came during the down moments in the film, after the soldiers battled for their survival and contemplated how close they came to death. John wanted Hymn to be a tribute not to just the soldiers portrayed in the film, but those actual soldiers who fought and died in WWII. I think he did an exceptional job.

People originally thought Saving Private Ryan was the kind of film that was outside of John Williams' wheel house, that it took him too far away from his comfort zone. That maybe Steven should look to another composer who had the skills to score a film like this. Steven stuck to his guns, fought for John, and was rewarded...with this. Enjoy!

Flying To Compound

When I heard this piece of music, Flying To Compound, I honestly thought I had never heard such an imposing piece. The darkness and foreboding of this piece of music, by Alexandre Desplat, for the film Zero Dark Thirty is almost so frightening on it's own, it doesn't need any imagery. Needless to say, I FUCKING LOVE THIS PIECE!!!

I won't divulge where it is in the film, should you choose to see it. If you do, you will recognize it immediately and it will make what is going on onscreen, all the more intense. This is Alexandre Desplat like I have never heard him, and I've heard all of his stuff. I didn't know he had the kind of darkness within him to produce such a ominous piece and score.

You will probably hear this piece in other things in time. Someone may use it for a documentary, one of the cable news networks might use it to get a sobering point across, who knows? What I do know is that this piece of music is unlike anything heard in awhile for a movie score and it's pitch perfect. You may not like it, it may not be your cup of tea but it certainly is mine, and I had to share it. Enjoy!

Nascence

When you click on the video below you will be listening to history, a first for music. That's the reason I'm posting it. Yes, it is a beautiful, mournful piece of music by Austin Wintory entitled Nascence but it is what this piece of music is attached to along with the honor it has been given, that has made history.

For the first time, in the history of music has a soundtrack been nominated for a Grammy. Now you'll probably think I'm wrong about that, you'll point to all the soundtracks over time that have received Grammy nominations and have won the coveted award and you would be right. What differs here though is that Nascence isn't part of a score to a movie, it is instead the music to the video game Journey.

It is the first of it's kind, it is the Barack Obama of  video game music. The door that has often been closed has now been opened by Austin Wintory. His beautiful creation has paved the way for other video game scores to be given the respect they are due. The score to Journey is the first but I truly doubt it will be the last, especially if those that come behind it are this beautiful. Enjoy listening to history.

#1 Crush

THIS is a big boy speaker song, just warning you up front. It's also one of my favorite songs by garbage entitled #1 Crush from the 1996 Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. The lyrics are every stalking victims worst nightmare as well as every celebrities. It's the ultimate song of devotion and while that sounds good, listen to the lyrics of this song, your opinion may change.

The song starts off with a moan of pleasure, enticing. Then the beat kicks in along with that dark  bassline that rumbles along beside you. Then Shirley Manson starts to sing words like I will pray for you / I will pray for you / I will sell my soul for something pure and true / For someone like you / See your face every place that walk in / Here you voice every time that I'm talking / You would believe in me / And I will never be ignored and that's the light stuff. The lyrics go on to get much darker and twisted. 

This song grooves hard and it's deserving of a spot on my blog, even if it did scare the shit out of me the first time I really heard it. I'm not going to lie, it still gives me goosebumps but a good song is supposed to do that, make you feel it. I feel this song and maybe you will too. Enjoy!

Your Hands Are Cold

Okay, it's time for another post that introduces to you, my lovely, daring, and open minded readers to some beautiful movie music. Now I was up late one night (big shock I know) and I was leafing through my movie channels and came upon this movie. It was almost over but there was a scene where the male lead strode through the early morning dew to speak with the femal lead and profess his love for her. The movie was Pride and Prejudice and the name of the piece is Your Hands Are Cold. Now while all I have ever heard of the story was how wonderful Mr. Darcy is (was, whatever) what I found truly wonderful during this moment in the movie was the music.

Composed by the Oscar award winning Dario Marianelli, when I heard this piece of music I knew I had to have it in my collection. So much so that I bought the soundtrack the very next day. It starts out so purposefully and then turns incredibly lush and soft. It's sweet sugar in musical form as two supposed rivals finally get together and reach an understanding. Then the piano comes in with the strings and the movements are amazing. The piano and the strings dance and play with one another in such a stirring way that it's hard not to at least like this piece of music.

Dario was up for an Oscar for this soundtrack but lost. He won two years later for Atonement (which was amazing in it's own right) but I think they gave him the Oscar then because they knew he deserved it for this movie. And especially for this piece right here. Enjoy!

Charging Fort Wagner

I was flipping through the channels tonight not really paying attention to what was going across my TV screen until my flipping fell upon "Glory". It's a moving story and a stirring movie (Denzel won his first Oscar thanks to this movie) about the all Black 54th regiment that fought in the Civil War. I remembered walking out on rubbery legs because I was so touched. I couldn't find a flaw with the movie and that included the music.

James Horner composed the score and it was absolutely beautiful and it would have been fine without any vocals. I don't know who came up with the genius move to have The Boys Choir of Harlem supply the vocals. Founded in 1968 by Walter Turnbull the choir received international fame and toured the globe. The choir was eventually disbanded and shut down in 2007 amid lack of funding, lawsuits, and the death of its founder Dr. Turnbull. Luckily though for us the listener they blessed the world with their amazing gifts and sounds and they brought their gifts and their famous sound to the movie Glory and this amazing track.

Those that know me know I love beautiful music and this track is absolutely beautiful. It's at the end of the movie when the 54th is charging on Fort Wagner (if you've never seen then there is something wrong with you). All I can ask is that you listen, let the music and the soaring voices wash over you. If you do that then you better for it, I promise. Enjoy.