2021 has absolutely not gone according to plan so far, but there’s finally been a pleasant surprise in the form of Kid Cosmic on Netflix. This show debuted on February 2nd and comes from the brilliant mind of Craig McCracken, who also brought us The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, and Wander Over Yonder.
Kid Cosmic takes place in New Mexico and follows the titular Kid Cosmic, a 9 year-old who lives for his dream of being a superhero. His wish appears to be granted when he finds the 5 Cosmic Stones of Power, ultimately distributing them between himself and his friends to make up the team of Kid Cosmic and the Local Heroes:
-Kid Cosmic: The Green Stone of Flight (and something else which is a plot spoiler)
-Jo: The Purple Stone of Portal Creation
-Papa G (Kid’s grandfather): The Yellow Stone of Multiplication (you can clone yourself infinitely)
-Rosa: The Blue Stone of Giant Size (picture a 4 year old 40 feet tall)
-Tuna Sandwich (a cat): The Red Stone of Foresight (it lets you see the future)
Kid Cosmic, Jo, Papa G, Rosa and Tuna Sandwich are all the total opposites of what you’d expect a superhero team to look like, but that’s also what makes them so lovable, because they’re misfits and a lot of people (like me) can relate to that. Jo is my personal favorite out of the group, because I can totally relate to being young and wanting to travel to exciting places around the world.
Don’t let the animated format of the show fool you, the ten episodes that make up season one of Kid Cosmic are among the best superhero content that I’ve seen in almost 12 months of pandemic-enforced boredom (I miss movie theaters). It starts out with a typically cute format, but it quickly gets super serious, especially once you realize that Kid Cosmic, for all his bravado, has no idea what to DO with his superpowers now that he has them. The entire series could be described as an object lesson in how actually being a superhero usually bears little to no resemblance to how it’s described in comic books.
That’s not to say that the series completely subverts all superhero cliches. Without getting too specific, there’s at least one predictable plot twist halfway through the season (predictable but enjoyable), and one plot twist that I guarantee you will not see coming until it actually happens.
Another thing I love about Kid Cosmic? All of the Easter Eggs referencing different comic book or superhero moments. Aside from the obvious reference to the Infinity Stones, my personal favorite? An honest to goodness parody of the Power Rangers, right down to the witty banter and moveset. I won’t say where this Power Rangers shoutout happens, but if you’ve seen any seasons of Power Rangers, ever, then you’ll know it when it happens and it is hysterically funny.
I am somewhat frustrated by how the first season ends, if only because it leaves me dying to see what happens next and there’s no telling when season 2 will be coming out. The good news however is that season 2 of Kid Cosmic will be coming eventually, so until then I think I’m going to have to watch this season several more times because it is just that good. I laughed, I wanted to cry, I apologize for ever doubting that I would enjoy this series.
I know 2021 is still really young, but Kid Cosmic is easily one of the best things to happen on Netflix this year. Go check it out if you can, you won’t regret it!
Let me know what you think about Kid Cosmic in the comments below and have a great day!
Milan Records has released the Bliss (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by composer, multi-instrumentalist, and Fall On Your Sword founder Will Bates. Bliss is a mind-bending love story following Greg (Owen Wilson) who, after recently being divorced and then fired, meets the mysterious Isabel (Salma Hayek), a woman living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them is just a computer simulation. Doubtful at first, Greg eventually discovers there may be some truth to Isabel’s wild conspiracy.
Will Bates is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and founder of music production company Fall On Your Sword. He has composed original scores for a myriad of filmmakers including acclaimed directors Mike Cahill (Another Earth, I Origins), Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Zero Days), Ry Russo-Young (You Won’t Miss Me, Nobody Walks) and Fisher Stevens (Mission Blue, Bright Lights).
Of the soundtrack for Bliss, Will Bates had the following to say:
“Collaborating with Mike Cahill continues to be one of my greatest joys. He is a visionary, and he’s always pushing the boundaries of what is possible. There’s so much mutual trust when we work together. He has the ability of putting everyone he works with in this safe, magical environment that really encourages experimentation. I find myself being challenged in new ways and, despite having worked on so many projects together, it seems as if I’m always trying something new with him… The key was to find the tonal balance that the story has; this mind-bending almost absurdist reality against Greg’s heartbreaking journey. The scale of the movie let me really stretch the palette. Along with all sorts of mangled analogue synths, this was my first experience with a full orchestra, and also one that allowed me to dip into my background as a jazz saxophonist.”
Regarding “You and I,” he adds, “As we were nearing the end of the process, we had the idea of there being a song that melodically incorporated the love theme. I’ve known Skye Edwards for years, since my London days (my old band once opened for Morcheeba.) Mike and I agreed it just had to be her voice, so I wrote the song for her to sing. It was going to be just in the end credits, but when Mike heard it, he recut one of the other scenes in the movie and used it there too. As with so many projects in 2020, COVID caused a significant delay in the post-production process. But the song may not have happened without that delay.”
Listening to the soundtrack for Bliss is an experience, let me tell you. There’s this mixture of synthesized sound and orchestral sound that just pulls you in and keeps your attention once it gets going. I’ve heard music similar to this in other science-fiction soundtracks, especially with stories that blur the line between the “synthetic” and the “real,” but for the most part those soundtracks feature stories about robots. Bliss, on the other hand, involves a concept more similar to The Matrix (but kind of in reverse, since the “real” life is implied to be much better than the fake life).
There’s not much more I can say about the soundtrack for Bliss. It’s fun to listen to, but it doesn’t inspire many thoughts in me. That’s not a bad thing, some soundtracks are just like that.
The drama of Total Drama Island was just the beginning, as the story continues in the second season, titled Total Drama Action. After the first season technically ends in a multiway draw (long story, it’s easier to just watch the season finale), most of the first season cast returns for another chance at the million dollar prize. The biggest difference between this season and the last is that instead of being on an island all season, Total Drama Action takes place on a run-down movie set (that actually has an eerily similar profile to Camp Wawanakwa if you squint).
Because Total Drama Action takes place on a movie set, everything revolves around the movies, with each episode being devoted to a different movie genre: science fiction, monster movies, superhero films, spy films, etc. As such, there are numerous Easter Egg references to different movies, with my personal favorite being the shout out to Alien. After each challenge, one contestant is voted out at an honest to goodness awards ceremony where those who stay are given a Gilded Chris Award (yes, really, McLean’s ego really starts to flare up this season). And in between story arcs, there’s now an aftermath show starring all the contestants who didn’t make it into Total Drama Action. It’s a great addition to the story, and a great way to break up the action (not to mention Geoff has a great character arc set during the aftermath episodes).
Beyond that, though, the season is largely a continuation of everything that started in season 1. If you didn’t watch the first season, a lot of the relationships between characters will not make sense to you. I’m pretty sure that counts as a flaw, though it’s really a minor one.
My favorite part of this season? Watching Courtney slowly become the big villain of the season. Heather starts out the season maintaining this position in the story, but once she leaves, Courtney fills those shoes perfectly, and does she ever! She’s bratty, demanding, and it’s oh so fun to watch because you know her comeuppance is coming eventually.
Total Drama Action is a great continuation of the story and is also the final season that is remotely close to “normal.” Once season 3 starts, things get weird….really weird.
Let me know what you think about Total Drama Action in the comments below and have a great day!
I’m not shy about my love of my guilty pleasures, and the Total Drama series has been one of my favorite guilty pleasures for years. As I remember, I discovered the series in college and I’ve been binging it on and off ever since. The show is split into five seasons: Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama: World Tour, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, Total Drama All-Stars (Season 5 part 1) and Total Drama: Pakhitew Island (Season 5 part 2). I’ll be going through the seasons one by one, so I’ll be starting with Total Drama Island, where it all started.
For those not familiar, Total Drama Island is a completely and utterly shameless parody/rip-off of every reality show wrapped up in one. Though to be fair the show is primarily a parody of Survivor, as seen by the show’s elimination format and host Chris McLean’s uncanny resemblance to Survivor host Jeff Probst. There’s also a healthy dose of Fear Factor, Master Chef and Big Brother thrown into the mix for good measure. Of the show’s five seasons, this is the most “normal” season there is, though even in season 1 there’s hints of how crazy the story will get in later seasons. For example, the very first episode involves the contestants cliff diving into shark infested waters (yes, really! It only gets crazier from there).
And the show’s format isn’t the only parody/rip-off element of the story: each contestant is a walking, talking stereotype of contestants that always show up in reality TV shows. The 22 contestants in season one are: Beth, Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Izzy, Justin, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Sadie, Trent, and Tyler.
Of those contestants we have, just to name a few, the “Type A” girl Courtney, the “Girl you love to Hate” Heather, the “loner Goth girl” Gwen, the “delinquent with a heart of gold” Duncan, the “ditzy blonde” Lindsey, the “chauvinistic one who always gets voted off first” Ezekiel, and “the loud one” LeShawna (this is just a handful of the contestants but you get the idea). You’d think it would be boring with every character being a walking stereotype, but it’s quite the opposite. The show completely embraces this part of the premise and it’s so incredibly funny.
Now, all this being said, there are some moments even in this season where it becomes a little hard to suspend your disbelief that this is an actual reality show (albeit an animated one). For instance, late in the season, there’s an episode centered around horror films where the contestants have to evade a serial killer to win the challenge. Right up until the end we’re shown that the “killer” is Chris’ right hand man Chef in disguise. But then….it turns out there’s a REAL killer loose on the island!! It’s a shocking moment, but one that almost takes me out of the story….almost. Honestly, if you accept from the beginning to just roll with whatever happens, it’s almost impossible to not enjoy it.
If you haven’t tried Total Drama Island, it (and all the other seasons) is currently available on Netflix. I highly recommend it, it’s a really fun series to binge, as it’s the perfect blend of reality fun and mindless entertainment. It also helps that the series goes by really fast ( can easily binge two seasons a day if I start early enough).
Let me know what you think about Total Drama Island in the comments below and have a great day!
Milan Records has released the original soundtrack for season 1 of Blood of Zeus, with music composed by Paul Edward-Francis. The album features score music written by Edward-Francis for Netflix’s hugely-popular original anime series set in the world of Greek gods and goddesses.
Paul Edward-Francis is a British composer from Manchester who today lives and works in L.A, California. Paul started working as a composer back in 2006 when he co-compose the music for an all-star adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s classic novel Hog-father. The two part TV series was a huge hit and Paul went on to score the follow-up, this time being The Color of Magic, which once again featured an all-star cast of greats such as Jeremy Irons, Tim Curry, and Christopher Lee and Brian Cox among others. Paul has worked on numerous productions for film and television with some of Hollywood’s biggest studios including Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon. He has also worked with some of the world’s leading orchestras which include the likes of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The City of Prague Philharmonic.
Of the soundtrack for Blood of Zeus, composer Paul Edward-Francis had the following to say:
“Working on Blood of Zeus was an experience I shall always treasure. The moment we sat down to watch the first episode we knew the score would play an important role. Just as we had seen on screen, we wanted to pay homage to Hollywood’s Golden Age within the score, but without losing sight of the world we were creating. The music ultimately had to ensure that Blood of Zeus had its very own unique themes and distinctive sound. As much as the music had to be big grandiose (“A Call to Arms”) or dark and threatening (“Heron Vs the Demon”), it also had to be heartfelt and provoke an emotional response (“Zeus and Hera’s Theme”). I could not be prouder to have worked on Blood of Zeus. It was simply an honor and I hope the music we created brings you as much joy to listen to as I had making it.”
The music for Blood of Zeus certainly does play an important role throughout the season, though I still struggle to describe in words how awesome it is. It feels ancient and modern all at the same time, with pompous fanfares giving way to music that comes straight out of a modern horror film. Edward-Francis. I really like this recurring fanfare motif that puts me in mind of Mt. Olympus every time I hear it. It’s everything that music about gods, goddesses and Ancient Greece should be. I wish I could get more specific, but that is the phrase that describes it best for me: the music just feels right.
One thing is for sure, Blood of Zeus would not be nearly as good as it is without this fantastic music. My favorite track has to be “The Titans.” It starts out like a piece by Ligeti and quickly grows into something bigger (no pun intended). The Titans being the insanely powerful primal forces that they are, Edward-Francis needed to create music to match them and he succeeded. Listening to this track, you get the feeling that you’re staring down something immense and ancient, with more power than you ever dreamed possible. All of that is what I feel while listening to “The Titans.”
I also really like how Edward-Francis was able to inject some humor into the music as well. For example, “Training a Demigod” includes some funny moments where you can almost see Heron’s epic fails in the early stages of his training (you know, when that robot flings him across the arena). I love when composers can replicate those little moments in their music and it’s just one of the details that make up why I love the music of Blood of Zeus so much.
BLOOD OF ZEUS (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ANIME SERIES) TRACKLISTING –
One of Those Tales
Heron Vs the Demon
The Titans
A Peasants Way of Life
A Call to Arms
A King’s Despair
Heron’s Journey
Past Is Prologue
Hera’s Vengeance
Convert or Die
The Son of Zeus
Electra’s Death
Seraphim’s Theme
Herme’s Run
Seraphim’s Story
Escape or Die
Mount Pelion
Alexia and Chiron
Seraphim’s Quest
Escape
The Power of Zeus
Flight to Olympus
Training a Demigod
Seraphim’s Rage
Seraphim’s Revenge
Journey to the Deep
Apollo Vs Ares
Talos
Preparing for Battle
War for Olympus
Zeus and Hera’s Theme
Gods and Heroes
A Proud Father
Blood of Zeus End Credits
You can enjoy the soundtrack for Blood of Zeus now!
Let me know what you think about Blood of Zeus (and its soundtrack) in the comments below and have a great day!
Milan Records released the soundtrack for Saint Maud today, with music composed by Adam Janota Bzowski. The album will also be released in vinyl format this spring. From A24, Saint Maud arrives in select theaters and drive-ins January 29 and will be available to stream exclusively on EPIX beginning February 12.
Adam Janota Bzowski is a London based composer, sound designer and visual artist. As a child he was known for his fondness of intermittent static between radio stations, an interest that led him to study Sound Art at the University of Brighton. Whilst living in a disused biscuit factory on the English coast, Adam became heavily influenced by ambient music – performing under the moniker Adam Halogen, he utilized an old 4-track tape recorder and various guitar pedals to create compositions for theatre, short films and animations. Saint Maud marks his first feature-length score, which has already won him Best Original Music at the 2020 Gérardmer Fantasticarts Film Festival.
The debut film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.
Of the soundtrack for Saint Maud, composer Adam Janota Bzowski had the following to say:
“Before coming on board, I initially received only a treatment for Saint Maud containing a short synopsis alongside various macabre pictures of twisted figures and haunting spectres. From this alone I created around 30 minutes of demos inspired by the images and plot outline, much of which ended up in the final film. Rose wanted the audience to feel inside the head of the main character, Maud. As a result we gave the score a very claustrophobic almost creature-like quality to it, often leaning closer to sound design than traditional music. After sending her cues, Rose would frequently feedback ‘go weirder, go stranger’ – words which I had waited my entire career to hear from a collaborator.”
SAINT MAUD (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) TRACKLISTING –
When I received the opportunity to check out Fate: The Winx Saga on Netflix I was really excited about it. I love stories about magic and fairies and the fact that this show centers around five female leads was a big plus going in. For those not familiar, Fate: The Winx Saga follows a school full of fairies learning about magic while strange and deadly mysteries unfold later forcing them to save the world (predictable but usually satisfying fantasy fare). I plugged in the first episode, ready for whatever adventures lay ahead.
And almost instantly got bored.
Fate: The Winx Saga has committed the almost unpardonable sin of making magic mundane. Sure, we hear that the show’s central location is located in the “Otherworld” but the Otherworld sure looks a heck of a lot like our world. Add in a regular looking school building (with the exception of a cool Stonehenge like circle), regular looking dorm suites, even regular looking cars! Except for the instances of magic (which are admittedly cool when they happen), the school setting of the show feels like any other teen drama set at an elite boarding school. I missed the fantasy clothing, magic animals, heck, even some pointed ears would’ve helped. Everyone looked normal and in a story set in a fantasy world, that’s not a good thing.
And speaking of drama, my God this entire show is one giant cliche. There’s the predictable love triangle, the entitled “mean girl” student who manipulates everyone around her to get whatever she wants, the adorkable one with one moment of awesomeness, and of course the completely out-of-her-depth new to this world student who we’re supposed to be rooting for. I can’t watch regular teen dramas for a reason, and let me tell you adding magic to the mix does NOT make it better. In fact, the scenes with the “mean girl” were so on the nose that I almost got triggered with my own memories of being bullied as a child and a teen (I really hate shows that trigger me like that).
I also have a major problem with whoever wrote the dialogue for this show. The exposition dumps are….okay, and they do a fairly good job with explaining how the elemental magic works in the show, but the teen to teen dialogue is…oh boy, it’s bad, it’s really bad. A lot of it feels so clumsily written, like they had a great idea and very little idea of how to execute it. For instance, the show blurts out a huge twist in the FIRST episode. And when I say huge, I mean this is the kind of twist that should have come halfway through the season or later, not something you find out in the first 30 minutes. And even before you find out, the dialogue leading up to the reveal is so bad that it’s obvious what’s coming.
I admit, I couldn’t finish the first season, if the first few episodes couldn’t win me over, there’s not much the last few episodes could do to change my mind. Fate: The Winx Saga takes a great premise and utterly ruins it with the execution. I wish it had been otherwise, but I am not a fan of this show.
Let me know what you think about Fate: The Winx Saga in the comments below and have a great day!
I recently had the opportunity to talk with composer Enis Rotthoff about his work on Love Sarah, a touching film about a daughter who works to open the bakery her mother always wanted with the help of her grandmother. Rotthoff’s composer credits include “Guns Akimbo” starring Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving, “The Sunlit Night” starring Gillian Anderson, Jenny Slate, and Zach Galifianakis, as well as Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize nominee “Wetlands.” Rotthoff started his musical career working under Academy Award-winning composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland). Rotthoff’s soundtrack album for Love Sarah will be available January 22, 2021.
Enjoy!
First, could you tell me about how you became a film composer?
As a ten-year-old I was fascinated by the music in films. I would memorize the melodies of the film scores in order to try to play them at the piano later. It was an early love for film music in a very playful way. At some point I started improvising on the piano and began journaling my emotions into little piano pieces which turned into my first compositions.
As a teenager I was so passionate about film music that I tried to learn as much as I could about films and their scores. A scholarship for young composers during my high school years is what gave me the foundation to study the works of classical composers and film composers. After high school, I studied Film Scoring at the Film University Babelsberg and Audiovisual Communication at the University of Arts Berlin. What really added to my journey was being an assistant to Academy Award-Winning Composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. With all of these experiences I felt ready to start this life-long adventure of composing for films and to enjoy the beauty in that.
How did you get connected to Love Sarah and what did you think of the film’s premise? It actually took me by surprise what the film was about, I misread it first and when I realized what it was about, I was very surprised.
The director Eliza Schroeder and I had met a decade before to work on a short film together. Because of scheduling conflicts, our collaboration did not happen back then. I was amazed to hear from her so many years later and she asked me if I was interested in scoring her debut feature Love Sarah.
The first thing she shared with me was a little teaser trailer about the film with first impressions of some scenes. When I saw the tasty desserts, the beautiful dancing scenes, the deep felt emotions and the uplifting energy of the film I was immediately drawn to it.
The story is about a daughter who wants to realize her deceased mother’s dream of opening a bakery in Notting Hill (London) with the help of her grandmother and her mother’s best friend.
The film has elements of drama, comedy, romance and a sense of presence in the scenes that I found refreshingly positive.
How did the collaboration process with director Eliza Schroeder work? Was it mostly a discussion before scoring began or was it a collaboration throughout, from beginning to end?
Our collaboration was very close and at the same time I had lots of space to experiment and come up with ideas.
The film is directed in a way that every scene moves towards something. Even in moments of a feeling of emptiness the film moves forward. I was inspired by that.
In our conversations, Eliza gave me many emotional directions for the film but did not tell me how to achieve it with the music. Once I presented my musical ideas in connection with the film’s scenes, we discussed in more detail what to adjust and what to highlight. Eliza is an amazing filmmaker to work with.
How did you approach scoring a film like Love Sarah? Did you start with an over-arching theme, or a musical concept? In general, where did the score start and how did it grow as it came together?
The opening sequence connects all of our main characters, so the complexity of the beginning was high. We took a lot of time to adjust and fine-tune that sequence. Usually the Opening Titles (Album Track: Meet Sarah) would not be the first thing I´d approach on a film but we took the opportunity to create themes for all story lines and characters and incorporated them in the Opening Titles.
In a way, the first music you hear in the film is like an Overture introducing the many emotional layers of the film. All themes are related to each other and to Sarah, whose passing away is the reason for all these characters to meet. So there is an idea of hope built into the concept.
Interestingly if I think of growing a score I’d think that it might build towards the end of the film. In the case of Love Sarah the music starts very energetically and builds over the course of the film. But the very end is reflective, healing and leaves lots of space. I love that, because for me clarity and healing can happen in calm moments.
On a possibly related note, how was it decided to make the music so whimsical? It sounds like a lot of fun in so many places, something I wasn’t expecting in a film that starts like it does. What was the thought process behind that? (I really like the whimsy, it makes the music a lot of fun to listen to).
I am glad that it transpires. Eliza early on said that she wanted the film to be hopeful. I liked that a lot and could also see it in the performances of the actors. It was a fine line to find the balance between deep felt emotions and a life-affirming sense of positivity.
Since the film is also about the magic of baking and the adventure of opening up a bakery, this gave room to make the emotional journey fun and inspiring on the musical side. It is a message of the film, to stay positive in the face of painful events and experiences.
For this one scene where the music is composed to this character who is dancing (instead of the other way around), how did that come about? It’s very rare for film music to be written in that fashion, was that decided from the beginning? Or was it tried the other way (dance moves choreographed to music) and it just wasn’t working out?
This was one of the gifts of the film. The scene of the character dancing did not have any music. It was a free dance performance. Beautifully done by actress Shannon Tarbet. That scene represented a moment of reflection, self expression, healing and the feeling of being in charge of your own destiny. Something very positive.
We decided that I´d compose music to her performances which was truly inspiring. I found myself studying and channeling every move of her dance. Sometimes I was going with the body movement, sometimes with the flow, sometimes with the overarching energy of that movement. I found myself creating a choreography on top of a choreography where the music and the dancer sometimes precisely meet and sometimes divert. It was a wonderful experience for me as a composer which I hope to build on in the future.
What were the challenges of scoring a film in the midst of a global pandemic? Did this negatively impact the process or were you able to work around it fairly well?
The film was luckily finished before the pandemic. However, the release was delayed because of the pandemic.
Do you have a favorite part of the score?
My favorite parts are the dance sequence (Album track: The Final Dance), the moment where the bakery opens (Album track: Opening The Bakery) and the moment Mimi has an idea for how to create the right desserts. (Album track: A Home Away from Home)
What do you hope listeners take away with them when they hear the music to Love Sarah?
I wish that the music gives them a sense of hope. And that there is beauty both in sad and hopeful moments. That’s how I feel about the film and its music. That all feelings and experiences in the film can be enjoyed. And maybe that’s something to take with us into our lives.
One last thing, thank you so much for taking the time to talk about your work on this film! The music is gorgeous!
Thank you so very much. It was my pleasure and thank you for the great interview.
I hope you enjoyed my interview with composer Enis Rotthoff about his work on Love Sarah. Just as a reminder, the OST for Love Sarah will be coming out tomorrow January 22, 2021.
All Evolutionz aka 全進化 aka Zen Shinka is the latest project by Enso, perhaps best known as the founder of XXX Hong Kong, an underground gallery and nightclub in operation from 2011-2018. This is the fourth music release of 2020 under the new XXX Records imprint, capping off a prolific year for both Enso and the new label.
All tracks on All Evolutionz EP are produced by Enso, and feature an orchestral / film score style that is a natural extension of his Palimpsest EP released earlier this year. All Evolutionz EP comprises a six-chapter story of melancholy, loss and wonder, expertly voiced by studio piano and strings instrumentation. Japanese language vocals are supplied by Yo Zi, while the alternate English vocal versions are produced using Vocaloid, a Japanese synthesized voice software.
Despite his reputation as a bass music club DJ, Enso cites some surprising musical influences:
“I love artists such as James Blake, but I actually listen to a lot of film scores. I am most inspired by the composers Clint Mansell and Max Richter, and have actually made a ritual of listening to Górecki’s third symphony each year on my birthday, since I was a teenager.”
As for the name “All Evolutionz,” Enso explains, “it is inspired by Pokémon and relates to the idea of constant growth, transformation and development.”
I was curious to see what All Evolutionz EP was all about as it’s not every day I get a vinyl record in the mail to check out. Imagine my delight, then, when I opened the record up and found a vinyl record that was bright yellow! This makes the entire record eye-catching and really pretty (it was an added bonus also because I’ve never owned a record that wasn’t black before).
The music itself was very relaxing, it reminded me of several anime soundtracks where there are long stretches filled with vocalizations while the characters contemplate life and existence. Honestly I would happily listen to this music over and over again for relaxation purposes. That being said, I did find the English language portions of the music a little….odd? I think odd is the best word for it, it wasn’t bad but it did sound unusual to my ears.
I also really love that this album had a vinyl release at all. It’s so cool that vinyl has made a comeback. They’re really cool to collect, and it makes for a fun experience to watch the vinyl spin while you listen to it.
All Evolutionz EP turned out to be an enjoyable experience and I’m glad I got the chance to check it out.
Of the many film scores that James Horner worked on during his career, Apollo 13 (1995) remains one of my favorites. Horner’s music leaves you on the edge of your seat as you watch the highs and lows of the infamous Apollo 13 mission. A notable example is a cue titled “The Launch”, which covers the scene where Apollo 13 blasts off into space. It’s classic James Horner; a stirring melody that slowly grows until it fairly explodes with the moment of launch. And yet…this particular cue hid a secret that I was unaware of for many years, and that’s what this article will be talking about.
I really should give credit for this to my mother, since she’s the one who made the connection first. Growing up, almost every time we reached the launch scene in Apollo 13 she’d pause and say something to the effect of “I know I’ve heard that melody somewhere else.” But she could never remember where, and so the matter would always drop. Then, a few years ago, when we were on a trip together, it finally hit my mom where she’d heard this particular piece before: it formed the base of an Art Garfunkel song from 1973 titled “All I Know.” I was understandably skeptical of this assertion, until I located the song in question and hit the play button, James Horner’s music fresh in my mind for a comparison.
Almost immediately, my jaw dropped to the floor. The melody of “All I Know” and a particular section of “The Launch” were more than similar, they were practically identical. Here are the respective pieces for comparison:
First, “The Launch” from Apollo 13 (relevant section starts at 6:11)
And now, “All I Know” from Art Garfunkel’s album Angel Clare (relevant section begins at 0:25)
This is undoubtedly the same melody, which begs the question, why did James Horner seemingly appropriate it? That’s what the bulk of this discussion will be about. As it stands, there are several possibilities for why James Horner would have chosen to incorporate the melody of “All I Know” into his score for Apollo 13. These include:
The song was popular at the time the film’s events took place
The lyrics of the song expressed a sentiment appropriate for the film and therefore Horner included it.
Horner simply liked the melody and appropriated it for the film’s score.
The first possibility can be discarded almost immediately. While “All I Know” was released in 1973, the events of Apollo 13 took place in April of 1970. Therefore, this song would’ve been unknown at the time the incident took place. It is, however, plausible that Horner was looking for songs from that general time period to incorporate into the score, and may have included it even though there’s three years separation between the song and the film’s events.
The second possibility shows a little more promise, that being that perhaps James Horner chose to incorporate this song because the lyrics of the song expressed a sentiment appropriate for the film.
I bruise you You bruise me We both bruise too easily Too easily to let it show I love you and that’s all I know
All my plans Have fallen through All my plans depend on you Depend on you to help them grow I love you and that’s all I know
When the singer’s gone Let the song go on
But the ending always comes at last Endings always come too fast They come too fast But they pass too slow I love you and that’s all I know
When the singer’s gone Let the song go on It’s a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
I could almost make the argument that this song bears the tiniest bit of relevance to the plot, that being the unending love between James and Marilyn Lovell. However, I can’t quite make it work because the times the melody shows up in the film doesn’t work.
That leaves the third possibility, and the likely answer: James Horner at some point heard this song, liked what he heard, and wrote it into the film’s score. It’s not unheard of for film composers to do such a thing, it happens way more often than you might think and Horner was particularly notorious for doing it. With that being said, one thing still puzzles me: why wasn’t the song cited in the end credits? I’ve double and triple checked the credits for Apollo 13, just to make sure I wasn’t missing it, and “All I Know” isn’t cited at any point. Unfortunately, fate has conspired to make sure that Horner isn’t here to ask about it, though I’d like to think he left some notes somewhere that would explain how “All I Know” ended up in the score of Apollo 13.
This is only a preliminary look at this interesting example, hopefully someday I’ll have the chance to analyze this example in full and find out the whole story.
Film Music Central 