Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The Darker Side

Episode 10: Danny Elfman Part 2 - On this episode of Cue The Music, Ralph discusses the music of Danny Elfman from 1989-1991. This is the sound that defined Danny Elfman's style. Even though he went on to do very diverse scores, nobody will forget what Elfman did in '89/'90!



Playlist:
Travel Music - Beetlejuice
Descent into Mystery - Batman
Flowers - Batman
Clown Attack - Batman
Rage/Peppy Science - Darkman
Love Themes - Darkman
Main Titles - Nightbreed
Carnival Underground - Nightbreed
Into Midian - Nightbreed
Crime Spree - Dick Tracy
Breathless' Theme - Dick Tracy
Tess' Theme - Dick Tracy
The Story Unfolds - Dick Tracy
Storytime - Edward Scissorhands

click below to listen:
The Darker Side

6 comments:

iggystar said...

Beetlejuice was one of the first scores that made me sit up in my seat in the theater. Good memories of that one.

The only thing Elfman does for me is consistently amaze me with his scores. I hate when people say sounds too similar everytime, it's just his style showing through.

Your podcast makes me realize that I need buy more scores pronto! Great show as usual. :)

Ralph- said...

speaking of buying more scores, i just read that John Powell is doing the score to Handcock!! this could be the Powell score i have been looking for, for a long time!!

It will hopefully mix the electronic mood builds from Paycheck, Bourne, Italian Job with the big romantic orchestral scores like X3.

I have pretty freaking high hopes for this one! Expect a show based on that score!

iggystar said...

Ahh, yes. I'll be looking forward to that as well. The score for X3 is on my wishlist.

What was your opinion of the Ironman score?

Ralph- said...

i don't remember anything from the Iron Man score, with the exception of the heavily overused electric guitar used during the First Flight of Tony Stark, i liked that theme, but for the most part it was forgettable.

Chris JC said...

All during the episode, it made me think that these are the scores that make everyone say that Elfman just sounds the same all the time, so I'm glad you made mention of it too. He clearly was working through a particular groove at that time.

Ralph- said...

it's funny to me. when i draw, i will get into a groove and do stuff very similar. Any artist will have periods where they sort of just in a specific zone. I think what makes these scores similar is the Brass. The Brass Crescendo are all very present in this time. i think that they make such a bold statement that you may latch on to that part. but if you listen to the strings they appear to be very different. i do not know much about the technical side of music. But i can tell the difference between all of these scores.

If you played three seconds of each of these scores, i can decipher which score is which.

Tim Burton is the key to Danny Elfman. If you listen to Time Burton's films, it appears as if Tim Burton "allows" or "Inspires" elfman to stretch out and be creative.

i think that Burton brings out the best in Elfman and when other directors here these new scores, they want that sound for their own movies.