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It would be selling in Australia too, if iTunes bothered to offer it for sale.
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I've been enjoying the heck out of Roar! and been meaning to ask, by means of a confession: I'd like to check out some Akira Ifukube compositions -- I don't own any, and I am not familiar with his music. Talk of the Ifukube influence on Roar! has whetted my appetite.
I've been eyeing the La La Land 50th Anniversary Godzilla, which seems like a good place to start, but I know he was prolific, and not just in movie scores. Any recommendations?
NP: Roar!
His score to Godzilla (Gojira) is definitely worth getting, as is King Kong vs. Godzilla...but I'd say pick up the GNP/Crescendo "Best of Godzilla" releases for a sort of grand overview of his contributions to the series. The second volume also has some of his classic pieces in better sound quality, plus a nice set of cues from "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" (namely "Requiem" for big G's death).
If money were no object, I'd start out with "Ostinato" which is in the new box set, or on Ebay for a pretty penny as it's an Ifukube exclusive sampling in a concert suite setting. Failing that though, Naxos has a tremendous album of his music for a great price which features "Sinfonia Tapkaara", "Ritmica Ostinata", and his first "Symphonic Fantasia" which is one large suite of his more famous themes.
Personally, I'd go the compilation route before diving too deep into his full length scores just because the albums tend to be full of short cues and whatnot. It may or may not bother you, but figured it's worth mentioning.
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Posted: |
May 1, 2008 - 3:28 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Thanks for starting this thread on the actual MUSIC. Pr. that other thread, I can't believe how obsessed some people are with everything AROUND the music (labels, formats, postal service delivery times, speculation, mono vs. stereo etc.), but when you ask them to articulate something about the musical expression, they'll say "uhm...it's good, I guess". At best.
Now, the only Giacchino soundtracks I have in my collection are the first two seasons of LOST in downloaded format, but I aim to check him out in the future. If nothing else, to understand why almost every thread about him and his music create so many responses in every single forum; why he's the "hot potatoe" among film music fans these days.
Of course, I've heard some of his stuff in context (LOST, MI:3, THE INCREDIBLES, a little bit of ALIAS), but not enough to make me stand up and pronounce him the next Goldenthal or Elfman or Williams or Goldsmith or whatever. Maybe closer listening will make me "get it".
Now, about "Roar". CLOVERFIELD is perhaps the only film I've seen that made me physically nauseaus (sp.?). Not because it was bad (quite the contrary, I thought it was a very interesting experiment), but because of the shaky camera thing. I almost threw up three times, and "this close" to leaving, so I had to rush out immediately after the credits started to roll to get some fresh air. As such, I never got to hear the famous piece, but I later listened to a version that was put on youtube. I thought it was a fine "pastiche" thing in Ifukubue's spirit, as previously mentioned, but nothing that struck me beyond that. Giacchino is excellent at this pastiche thing, though, whether it's Barry, Williams, Goldsmith or Ifukube he's "channelling". I like his more original voice in LOST as well, so there's no questioning his versatility.
There. I got to say all I needed to say about the previous "Roar" thread, Giacchino in general and "Roar" in particular in four paragraphs! 
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Thor, if you would humor me, I would like to address your point about Giacchino's "pastiche" style in efforts such as The Incredibles, MI3 and now Roar. I think it's a very superficial observation when one says that Giacchino is simply channelling other composers for the aforementioned works. Whether you meant it to be or not, it comes across as invalidating his work on those projects. And from a musical standpoint, there's so much more going on in Roar! or The Incredibles than meets the ear.
I'll focus on Roar! for the sake of keeping this thread on track. Yes, Giacchino uses stylistic traits that most associate with Kaiju music master Akira Ifukube. But it's fair to say that Ifukube employed some staples of Russian music in his own scores. He studied with a Russian master in his youth and as such his use of ostinato and sharp rhythms/meters is consistent with that cultural flavor. Giacchino's use of Japanese folk song harmonies is akin to Bartok weaving traditional Hungarian song elements into his works. Yes, Bartok was Hungarian and Ifukube was Japanese. But expecting a composer to stick with his own culture's musical staples is a rather limited.
Giacchino wrote a piece that evokes those old giant monster movies. I would not say hands down that it is all Ifukube anyhow. I love monster movies and whether they were American, such as King Kong or Them!, or English like Gorgo, some of what Ifukube was doing in his own scores was applying the same compositional idioms as other composers did. Many big monster film scores had wailing brass, or scary sul ponticello tremolo strings. None of these orchestration techniques were invented by these film composers anyway. They sure as heck applied them into film because they were abrasive and work well in the association of something horrific to their sonorities.
So what's this have to do with Giacchino? Well, as I said earlier (sort of) because people are listening at the surface of his pieces like Roar or The incredibles, they are missing the fact that this is well written material and focusing on the associations with other composers' styles. Of course Thor and anyone else is entitled to their opinions. But I do think Giacchino should be afforded some credit for composing good music regardless of where the influence came from.
There, I said my peace...sadly not in just a couple paragraphs.
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Posted: |
May 1, 2008 - 8:03 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Thor, if you would humor me, I would like to address your point about Giacchino's "pastiche" style in efforts such as The Incredibles, MI3 and now Roar. I think it's a very superficial observation when one says that Giacchino is simply channelling other composers for the aforementioned works. Whether you meant it to be or not, it comes across as invalidating his work on those projects. And from a musical standpoint, there's so much more going on in Roar! or The Incredibles than meets the ear.
Well, you'll notice that I also said I wasn't intricately familiar with Giacchino's work yet. I have two LOST albums (in file format) and have heard some of his stuff in their movies or series. That's it. And from what I've heard, it's the "pastiche" aspect that sticks out. I have not heard anything striking or original that makes me go "Ah, classic Giacchino". Maybe some day, but not right now. Hence I am only qualified to make such superficial evaluations.
However, I should address one of your points: it's not enough that a piece is "well-written" if there isn't an identity to latch onto, IMO. It's no question that he knows how to compose orchestral music. There's simply nothing that has "grabbed" me about it yet, at least not beyond a "hmmm....that's nice. Now what should I make for dinner?".
But thanks for the musical descriptions.
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Posted: |
May 1, 2008 - 9:18 AM
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By: |
vwing
(Member)
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I have to say in response to the question of musical identity that, as one who has listened to most of Giacchino's stuff, I very much hear his own voice. Yes he does many pastiches; however, when he does them, it does not sound like "a composer" channeling Barry/Williams/Ifukube. Instead, it sounds like Giacchino channeling them. There are plenty of pastiche scores, and the thing that I find amazing about Giacchino is that, unlike other composers, like a Debney, who pastiche without their own voice, Giacchino is able to inject his own voice into the pastiche.
His use of woodwinds in extremely identifiable, as is he use of percussion, which I think is superior to most, if not all, other current composers.
The one thing I think people are waiting for is that big, identifiable Star Wars theme, that is uninfluenced by previous themes. But I will remind people that John Williams was 45 when he wrote that theme: Giacchino is 41, not to mention the fact that Williams' theme also was very influenced by others. Does that mean Williams' didn't have a voice? Of course not.
With Roar!, the great thing is that I could tell right away it was Giacchino. I even recognized his use of brass, which is starting to sound more and more like a combo of Kamen/Barry/Williams to me. Good stuff.
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maybe the iTunes Plus that had no copy protection and allowed US customers to share the file with out of country fans of the music led to its withdrawal in the store....
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