Posts Tagged What A Good Score!
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June 21, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #16: The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman
It’s that rare thing. I loved the film, and the music – and the book it was based on; well, the story. The trifecta. (Actually, I did love the book that the story was in, the whole thing, so there’s that too). The Shawshank Redemption is so good that it’s almost a cliché now – […]Archive
June 15, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #15: Baraka by Michael Stearns
I have no idea whether it was the film or the music that came first, for me, with Baraka – but I think, maybe, it was the music. I know I didn’t see the film until about a decade after it was released, and probably I saw it on the back of seeing a few […]Archive
June 1, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #14: Bird by Charlie Parker with Lennie Niehaus
The movie Bird was crucial for me – and so was its soundtrack – not technically ‘a score’ but I’d argue that it absolutely is, and that such a soundtrack is always the score when the film is a biopic of a musician. Bird tells (some of) the story of Charlie Parker and the music […]Archive
May 9, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #13: Under The Cherry Moon (aka “Parade”) by Prince
The soundtrack and score for the movie Under The Cherry Moon is actually an album called Parade by star of both the film and the soundtrack, Prince. This threw me when I was a kid. Soundtracks are title after the movie. But Prince got me thinking about how the soundtrack could really live on its […]Archive
April 14, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #12: Eyes Wide Shut by Jocelyn Pook + Various
So many great soundtracks I’ve given away, lost, sold, traded, ditched. And one that springs to mind instantly, one I’ll be getting back a.s.a.f.p is Eyes Wide Shut’s soundtrack. Not a full score – it includes some songs too (but most of them are great) it’s a stunning set of music to a film that […]Archive
April 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #11: The Young & The Restless by Various
The music haunted me somewhat. In a way. I remember it so deeply from childhood. I wasn’t a fan of the show. But my mum was – it had started a few years before I was born, probably in perfect time for my older brother to start pre-school, I guess. And also, it was scheduled […]Archive
February 27, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #10: Taxi Driver by Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann’s score to Taxi Driver is one of the most important soundtracks in my life and in my collection – or at least in my ‘collecting’. I foolishly traded the vinyl picture disc I had of this amazing, evocative score. I will get a new vinyl copy one day. I still have it on […]Archive
February 21, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #9: The Killing Fields by Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield’s soundtrack to The Killing Fields is one of many entry points for me with the film. I’m sure I heard the music first – I most certainly knew about Oldfield before I knew about The Killing Fields. But I watch (and have rewatched the film often) for its cast, its setting, its pacing, […]Archive
February 11, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #8: Saturday Night Fever by Various Artists
The soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever is one of the greatest-selling soundtrack albums of all time! It also – as if this is a surprise, given the number of people who have bought it over the years – happens to be very good. It is one of those moment-capturing slices of pop-culture. Saturday Night […]Archive
February 5, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
What A Good Score! – #7: The Man With The Golden Arm by Elmer Bernstein
The score for The Man With The Golden Arm, by Elmer Bernstein is one of the great jazz movie scores. Just a great jazz album, period. So if you’re reading this and you haven’t seen the film and you’re not even all that interested in movie soundtracks (although why are you reading this?) it’s safe […]Archive
January 28, 2022 by Simon Sweetman