The Unsung Hero: Incidental Music in Films/TV

[PearlySweetcake]

swanflake said:

Another composer I like is Christopher Young. He did the music for the films Urban Legend and Hard Rain. Both dumb movies, but the background music was really, really good.

Christopher Young's work is terrific. Another movie he scored was Runaway Jury, which was conducted by my friend Adam Stern.

Another talented incidental music composer, who unfortunately left us too young, was Miles Goodman (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Little Shop of Horrors).

[johnboysmole]

I don't know who does it, but I love every bit of music in Battlestar Galactica. Even when it's really quiet and far into the background it sets the mood, but it is so enjoyable even on its own.

[starskin]

Wes Anderson has an amazing knack for filling out his movies and soundtracks with music that is *just so* and fits perfectly. Everything in The Royal Tenenbaums enhanced the movie, from the 'Sparkplug Minuet' to the Charlie Brown Christmas song and especially 'Wigwam' by Bob Dylan. Perfect!

[diablocody]

I'm so over the "curious xylophones" theme every director and their uncle seems to have lifted from American Beauty. Those are xylophones, right?

It's like, "Something quirky and potentially revelatory is happening in suburbia! Bring out the xylophones!"

[johnboysmole]

I like the choice of music in most scenes from Scrubs. I've been watching the DVDs almost constantly, and I realized how much of the music that I listen to on my iPod is on that show.

But it isn't just that I like the artists they use. Sometimes they use it to set a mood, like regular background TV show music, but in many cases, the song they play is almost another character. You can tell they put a lot of thought into the musical choices.

[kafka]

I just put the original theme music for the TV show, "The Unit," on my MySpace page. It's so catchy and it stays in my head for so many days after I watch an episode that I finally caved in. It's by Robert Duncan who apparently did stuff for Buffy.

I don't know if this other preference qualifies as "incidental music" as opposed to overall soundtrack stuff but one of my Top 5 favorite musicians is Hans Zimmer. His 300+ person orchestral soundtracks have a neo-classical impact (with a modern twist) and are in many big Hollywood movies.

I'm truly quite obsessed and addicted to EVERYTHING he puts out. From Hunt for Red October, Gladiator, Crimson Tide, Last Samurai, Black Hawk Down, The Rock, Pirates of the Caribbean to so much more. In fact, I actually wore out my CDs to both The Rock (Handel-like influences) and Black Hawk Down (African influences). The man's a genius, IMO, and I truly bow down before him.

[Mutagen]

Oh Kafka, I really like Hans Zimmer too! Unfortunately one of my favorite scores of his is not out on CD the last time I checked -- The Ring. It's just a few pianos and cellos and violins (not the usual big-orchestra stuff he does), and it's very pretty and haunting.

I've also read a couple of interviews with Zimmer and he seems incredibly modest and friendly too, which just cemented the love.

[Deleted]

Oh also the background music in 'Traffic' - that is the brilliant UK miniseries verion, and not the more recent and mediocre - but bizarrely better known and more hyped - Hollywood movie version.

[Deleted]

I love the previously mentioned Angel's theme from Buffy and Alias- especially Irina's theme.

I love the guitar cues from Felicity. I also love all the freakin' "lala" music from Gilmore Girls. I am a huge Sam Phillips fan, though. Some of the themes she does from the show are just heart breaking, like the instrumental version of "Tell Her What She Needs to Know." I have the Gilmore Girls soundtrack, but a lot of the best songs are not featured!

Is there anyway one can find the Anne of Green Gables soundtrack online? Where in Canada is it? I live in Minnesota, so maybe I could pick it up next time I take a trip to Canada, depending on where in Canada you can get it. Please let it be somewhere near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Crap, now I really want it.

[kostgard]

You can buy a copy of the Anne of Green Gables soundtrack here if you want to buy it online.

I don't know how widely available it is in stores in Canada - my friend picked up a copy for me while she was on Prince Edward Island. It seems kinda like a no-brainer that they'd have all things Anne, but I don't know about the rest of Canada.