One of his recommendations was the score for Isabel by Federico Jusid, which is perhaps the best "surprise" score I've heard in years--a rich orchestral score of period grandeur.
This was actually also lauded by a lot of film music critics at the time; we even awarded it at IFMCA. The annual IFMCA awards is also a good way to discover new film music, especially if your taste veers more towards the symphonic and traditional (the alternative and electronic, not so much, unfortunately).