A New Listening Experience
(40:24)
1. Main Titles - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 1:01
Composed and Conducted by John Williams
2. Redfoot - The Usual Suspects 1:39
Composed by John Ottman
Orchestra Conducted by Larry Groupé
3. Little Impulse - The Piano 2:08
Composed and Conducted by Michael Nyman
Performed by Members of the Munich Symphony Orchestra
featuring Michael Nyman on piano
4. Luke Confronts Jabba - Return of the Jedi 0:40
Composed and Conducted by John Williams
Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
5. Damask Rose - Blade Runner 2:16
Composed and Performed by Vangelis
6. Open - The Last Temptation of Christ 3:11
Composed and Performed by Peter Gabriel and Lakshminarayana Shankar
7. Abyssinian Plain - Total Eclipse 2:59
Composed by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Performed by the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vladimir Debski
featuring Jan A.P. Kaczmarek on recorder and Fischer's Fidola
and Bogdan Liszka on oboe
8. The Entrapment - Alien³ 1:43
Composed by Elliot Goldenthal
Orchestra Conducted by Jonathan Sheffer
9. Progeny - Gladiator 2:06
Composed by Hans Zimmer
Performed by the Lyndhurst Orchestra Conducted by Gavin Greenaway
featuring Heitor Pereira on Guitar
10. Fyrine IV - Enemy Mine 1:54
Composed by Maurice Jarre
Performed by an electronic ensemble under the direction of the composer
11. The Ring of Paul - Children of Dune 3:24
Composed by Brian Tyler
Performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by Adam Klemens
12. Kurtz Chorale - Apocalypse Now 1:16
Composed by Carmine Coppola and Francis Coppola
Performed by an electronic ensemble under the direction of the Carmine Coppola
13. A Man from Cholon - The Lover 1:12
Composed and Conducted by Gabriel Yared
Featuring Steve Sehan on percussion
14. The Unwelcome - Dead Calm 1:18
Composed by Graeme Revell
Performed by SPK
15. An Offense to the Heart - The Green Mile 1:06
Composed and Conducted by Thomas Newman
16. Dark Caravan - Mountains of the Moon 3:01
Composed by Michael Small
Performed by the Graunke Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Allan Wilson
featuring Tony Hajar on ney (Arabic flute)
17. Lovers - Liebestraum 1:42
Composed and Performed by Mike Figgis
18. Lóthlórien - The Fellowship of the Ring 4:28
Composed and Conducted by Howard Shore
Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Voices
Featuring “Lament for Gandalf”
Lyrics Written by Phillipa Boyens
Vocals by Elizabeth Fraser
19. Litany - Ulysses' Gaze 3:10
Composed by Eleni Karaindrou
Orchestra Conducted by Lefteris Chalkiadakis
Featuring Kim Kashkashian on viola
This album represents another entry in what is rapidly becoming apparent is a sort of obsession of mine. It began with The Philosopher and continued in such mixes as the Thomas Newman Ghosts compilation and Ethereal; to try to create a transcendental listening experience using music that has a specific stillness to it. On this album, the generating concept was a bass drone, which is present in most, but not all of the tracks.
As usual, I worked very hard on the transitions, attempting to make them as unnoticeable as possible. In most cases, I feel I succeeded quite well. The prevalence of the bass drone in the included cues made it very easy. In keeping with the title of the work (which came before the assembly of tracks), most of the tracks are more about their sound than melody, although I did use more lyrical pieces from time to time to punctuate the piece. The excerpts from The Piano and The Fellowship of the Ring are examples of this. I fused two separate but adjacent cues from Dead Calm to form the one track found here, and some other tracks are shortened, but for the most part, I didn't do much to them other than mix them into the whole.
This album came together pretty quickly. I felt that it would be best if I kept the running time down to a manageable LP length, feeling that I should be able to select tracks for their intensity, which would mean that I didn't want to place too much of a burden on the listener. The overall sensation should be otherworldly, but not too distancing. I put this disc together a few days ago, and in that time, I've found that I tend to listen to this album a lot right before bed, as it leaves me feeling quite relaxed.
I also have to mention that this disc sounds real horrorshow in the DTS Neo6 surround field. The music envelops the listener, which, given the mood strived for, works beautifully.