As usual, Sirusjr, you have posted insightful and wise words.
For a specific subset maybe.
It's okay to stay the past. Hell, I'm like that with soul and jazz. It sounds like the "new" film music you want/love is dead and gone nowadays. Is that the case? That sucks.
I feel the the occasion is just right to post my farewell gift to FSM.
Since the meaning of the interview with Tom Holkenborg was kind-of lost in the heat, he was talking about "the computer guys" (Zimmer, Holkenborg) pushing out the "pen & pencil" guys (Newman, Williams) out of Hollywood and that he considers pen & pencil (which is just a fancy way of saying a composer knowing what hes doing vs a composer being dependant on technology) a lost artform that will never return in Hollywood because of a control fetisch of unmusical directors and producers messing with the composer and score, which results in dumbed down film scores.
I have to say, this has to be the first time I agree with him on anything.
(I also agree with his own assessment that he is unfit to write orchestral/symphonic music which he admits in the interview and he wishes for the pen & pencil art not to die.)
It is tragic for the place I used to love but pretty much every Hollywood composer I (used to) love is either dead or writes music that does not appeal to me anymore or even when it is purely orchestral, is not even close to the quality it had in the 80s or even 50s for me to enjoy because the level of musicianship was just unbelievable during that period and films are not made as well anymore that would allow for the music to sing like it did in 1977.
But like many keep telling you, its not the end of the world if you just look above the horizon. We don't live in the 80s anymore... and that's a good thing:
It's sort of a secret club thing to know that right now, in 2019, media scores in other parts of the world are scored like classical works up to the 1950s, through all film music decades up to the present age, with disco, 80s rock and synth still alive and kicking.
For me, it was a struggle at first because I believed to realize a dying artform, and the world becoming "anti-musical", only to recognize and realize its not a huge loss in the grand scheme of things. The world will in one place or another keep the "tradition of pen & pencil" alive.
So have a taste of such a world that gave me and continues to give me massive joy, a world that quite frankly can save anyone from severe depression. A world that fused "pen & paper" with technology, directors that want "singable, classical film music" and even shed tears during recording sessions, to the embarassement of the composer, a world of artists, not tools in a machine, a community of composers, production staff and fans engaging in music celebration, and an abundance of great scores (written by male AND female composers who write everything from 80s film score to avant-garde).
I know its massivly long but I simply cannot choose just ten scores to present, its all far too great, just skip here and there, its mostly just two/three minute score cues anyway:
That's just the tip of the iceberg and not even 1% of the noteworthy scores written in the last 40 years and that are continously written like 50 years ago with developing experimentation with various world genres, from hip-hop to dubstep, and I absolutely love it.
A taste of the scores released or heard from the last few months:
My point is this one: Pen & Pencil art will not die (if you are interested and live in the right environment).
As for Jazz
This is all my farewell gift because (whether through my old account or this one) I'm not active anymore (aside from checking some "old" score releases) and I don't want to leave it without giving something for all those years (maybe I will make a separate thread for it but don't bet on it). I hope you can all find music that speaks to the heart while it satisfiess your mind, music that lifts your spirit and inspires you perhaps to compose music, as STAR WARS did for me, many, many years ago.
Peace
EDIT: As you wish, Sirus
I'm not "leaving" because of any "ill" intentions or something like that, I simply don't have the time to be active on various boards because reasons and my interests these days lie elsewhere. I just wanted to give a little of the soothing music that keeps me happy and I just don't want to see someone despair or fall into the "past vs. present" and/or "old vs new" mind trap. If you love classical film music, there's plenty out there if you're in for a journey. The party isn't over, even when Williams joins the Pantheon
Finally, some shameless advertisement for dr.doom's Hidden Treasure Thread. Wonderful music can be found inside (and I may drop by on occasion):
What the hell?!? Any chance you could replace some of those videos with links instead? It makes the thread load forever, and my computer is having a meltdown every time it opens this thread.
He's not wrong though. I too have been getting my film music fix through Japanese music (along with the classics that are still being released and reissued).
Cliff Martinez is the composer who might be the most deserving of being called the future of film scoring for me. His score for Solaris in particular was maybe the last most important film score. Simply one of the best examples of electronic music in film ever, period. Drive is another fine score that like Solaris, works as well as a concept album of electronic music, a pretty rare achievement for film scores. These two are Martinez's biggest standout scores.
With Solaris, Martinez wrote one of the top 5 film scores this century I would argue, and exemplified one of the best uses of electronic music in film ever (top 10).
Solaris is fine. Drive was warmed over Tangerine Dream wannbe Like the film , it was wildly overrated.
