Restructuring

[swashbuckler332]

In an attempt to compensate for the differences between the customized file trees I had on the iAudio X5 with the id3 tag based filing system that the iPod uses, I have had to come up with a few more methods of indexing the music. One solution was to create several subgenres within the "Soundtrack" genre, such as "Soundtrack (Drama)," "Soundtrack

Comments

[glenniebun]

I received Alien yesterday (and ordered none too soon, apparently, since both that and The Wind and the Lion are now on backorder at SAE) and had a chance to listen to it at work today. It's a great package, as professionally put-together as you'd expect, and the music is...interesting. It's certainly great on a technical level, with lots of interesting things going on--the way Goldsmith got all those noises to amount to music among them--but I haven't quite locked into it on an emotional level. Perhaps it'll have to sink in some more.

[swashbuckler332]

While I hold Alien as one of my favorite scores, it isn't one I would say is terribly emotional; as was pointed out in the Silva CD liner notes, this is pretty much a straight-up horror score. It's all about scaring the shit out of you with its bizarre sounds, something that Goldsmith was always particularly good at; the 'juicy' sound of the serpent is a good example.

There are some moments that do make an emotional connection... usually passages that state the main theme. Tne of the most wrenching scenes in the 1979 version of the film was the editorially-created scene with Dallas asking Mother what his chances are, scored with the first part of "Nothing To Say," and the 'smoke clears' finale stuff, which of course doesn't appear in the film.

But this is definitely a score which emphasizes the strange and... well, alien-ness of the situation. And in that respect, I think it works brilliantly.

[amblinx1138]

ah yes.....good old jury duty. I've only served once, and ended up going home after a few hours so I guess I lucked out. I'm interested in this new North By Northwest recording, any idea where I can get a copy? I checked Amazon and they didn't seem to have it.

[swashbuckler332]

I ordered it direct from Varese... you might want to hurry, as 3000 copies of a Herrmann/Hitch score ain't a lot!

As I mentioned, I'm not so annoyed about jury duty... for one thing, I can sleep a lot later (never underestimate the driving power of my laziness). For another, I'm not giving up any pay or whatnot to do it, so it's not really taking too much out of my life to attend. And, corny as it may sound coming from somebody as cynical as I am, it is my responsibility as a citizen.

[zorkfox]

I have a copy of Alien on CD that I bought from a vendor at a convention. It's a white disc with the catalog number FILMCD 003 from Silva Screen, made in England. I take it from your discussion above that this is not the CD you received in the mail. Where did you get this awesome new one?

[swashbuckler332]

What you have is the CD edition of the original Twentieth Century Fox LP release. Intrada's new expanded release contains the complete score as Goldsmith intended followed by all the retakes, and the second disc contains the LP edit completely remastered along with a bunch of alternates and tests, and the snippet of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" that appears in the film (apparently the only music in the film Goldsmith conducted himself, outside of the tracks from FreudIn addition to the additional music - and this is one of my very favorite Goldsmith scores - the simple fact is that the music has just never sounded this good before... the layers of hiss that plagued every previous release (including my LP) are no longer there, and there is the proper low end that was missing from the previous CD (and makes the serpent sound much more 'juicy' and gross whenever the alien shows up

[zorkfox]

That sound truly awesome. I'll be keeping an eye on that page, waiting for the restock. Thank you for filling me in.