• Features,  Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…’Severance’ Soundtrack Is Chock-Full of Lumon Goodies

    If you’re a fan of soundtracks and film scores, the team at Mondo has you covered. They take great pride in crafting physical media, they produce vinyl with audiophiles in mind, and they also care about the packaging. Like a lot! In fact, their slipcases have just as much detail as their amazing posters. Yet the cool thing about their albums is that the team gets to do way more than silk screen their work on foil variants. Albums give these artists/creatives a smaller yet more complex canvas than a poster and the team tries their darnedest to use ever square inch (inside and out) to tell their story. The…

  • Bandcamp Interview,  Composer Series,  Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment,  Podcast Interview

    Interview…Paul Haslinger on Electronic Soundscapes, Subtext, and Scoring Processes

    If you were around in the ’80s, few things defined “cool” like music did. And, film fan or not, the top of that list is most likely going to be Tangerine Dream: the German electronic music outfit who dominated airwaves and theaters with their cutting edge electric sound. One key member of that ensemble pushing the electronic side of the band was young Paul Haslinger who joined up with them after their big hits like Sorcerer and Risky Business. Bringing a younger video game sensibility, he helped change the course of their sound for the better and contributed plenty including scores to Near Dark, Miracle Mile and Three O’Clock High.…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment,  Podcast Interview

    Interview…Joseph Trapanese on Chamber Music, Cellos, and Choir in ‘Spiderhead’

    One of the busiest film musicians out there has to be Joseph Trapanese. Let’s call him “Joe.” Joe is a composer. These days, Joe is happy. In fact, he’s very, very happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s one of the most sought-after magic makers and has a brilliant track record working on huge films with megastar directors. In Netflix’s Spiderhead, Joe reunites with director Joseph Kosinski (with whom he previously worked on TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, and Only The Brave). Aside from working closely with his good friend Joe K – we’ll call him “other Joe” – Mr. Trapanese had the unique opportunity to get away from the music that…

  • Features,  Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…Mondo Brings ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ to the Real World

    Many years ago, while pondering his place in the world, a man once asked a very timeless question: “Why, oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?” Yes, the character of Cypher (played by the incomparable Joe Pantoliano) is very much like all of us. Life threw him a choice, and after choosing a path he’s not sure it’s the right one. Buyer’s remorse if ever there was a cinematic equivalent. And I’m sure we all feel that when a film just doesn’t move the mercury for us. Similarly, we probably wish we could take steps to remake our choice. Last year, we got to plug back into The Matrix…

  • Movies/Entertainment

    For Your Consideration…’Cowboy Bebop’ Soundtrack: Perfect Selections

    In our most recent review, we had a blast talking about Cowboy Bebop…even though we weren’t very fond of the live-action update. But there is one thing we can never get enough of: the music. You can hear Rob, Pete and I bounce back and forth between both versions of the show here, but one final note about the series (if we didn’t already talk about it enough in that episode) is that the free-flowing, toe-tapping, otherworldly sound Yoko Kanno & Seatbelts brought to this universe is just brilliant. Each note, riff and all-out jam session amplifies the anime’s narrative beats helping to make the series so endearing and enjoyable.…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment

    Interview…Composer/Orchestrator Tim Davies on ‘Maya and the Three’

    Tim Davies leads a very busy musical life, and the Grammy- and Annie-nominated musician splits his time between orchestrating for features, television, and video games; composing his own scores; and conducting and arranging for orchestras all around the globe. Whether it is as composer/orchestrator/conductor or a combination of all three, he’s been a part of Frozen and Frozen 2, both Ant-Man movies, The Lego Movie 2, La La Land, Trolls, Minions, The Peanuts Movie, The Croods: A New Age, Empire and WandaVision. He is currently lead orchestrator for Christophe Beck, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Fil Eisler. When not on the scoring stage, Davies can be found at the podium conducting orchestras…

  • Movies/Entertainment

    Exclusive: Phil Mossman’s Debut Track from the ‘Funny Face’ Soundtrack

    Film composer and recording artist Phil Mossman is perhaps best known for his work as a member of the iconic electronica band LCD Soundsystem. Most recently, he has distinguished himself as a the composer of a number of independent film projects, including many works by the director Tim Sutton, the most recent of which is the western The Last Son, starring Thomas Jane and Heather Graham, which was released this month through Redbox. We’ve been impressed with Mossman’s sound from his work with Will Bates (as part of Fall On Your Sword), and highly recommend the 2007 LCD Soundsystem album ‘Sound of Silver‘ (make sure you check out ‘North American Scum‘). As such, we’re thrilled…

  • Features,  Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…’Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ Swings and Soars on Vinyl

    Erich Wolfgang Korngold once said that “music is music whether it’s for the movie theater or the concert hall or a video game.” We might have paraphrased a little at the end, but he’s right. Moreover, it’s long been understood that a good video game score can help make any game memorable. It can also have a wondrous life outside the pixelated adventure as well.  Today’s music review focuses on Mondo and Hollywood Records’ vinyl release of the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Miles Morales. However, before we dig in, here’s a sliver of transparency: this review was done as a stand-alone listening experience. I’ve not played a Spider-Man game since the…

  • Composer Series,  Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment,  Podcast Interview

    Interview…Composer Will Bates and Director Mike Cahill Discuss ‘Bliss’

    Will Bates is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and founder of music production company Fall On Your Sword. As a solo artist and multi-instrumentalist, Bates has recorded and toured around the globe. As a saxophonist, Bates has collaborated with legendary artists ranging from 60’s icon Lulu to techno legend Marshall Jefferson. Bates works frequently with director Mike Cahill, and the two weave mind-expanding narrative magic for TV and film. Cahill (Another Earth, I Origins) wrote and directed the new film, Bliss, which is being distributed by Amazon Studios and the soundtrack will be released by Milan Records. It tells the multi-layered story of a man whose life lacks purpose, and he…

  • Interviews,  Movies/Entertainment,  Podcast Interview

    Interview…J.C. Chamboredon On the Legacy and Future of Milan Records

    Founded over 40 years ago by Emmanuel Chamboredon, Milan Records has released the soundtracks to renowned and critically acclaimed classics such as Ghost and Backdraft. Scan your shelves – it’s a good bet that a sizeable chunk of titles bear the fanciful logo of the winged man with a heart-shaped head. Fitting image as that’s how I feel whenever I listen to a soundtrack. Since 2004, Jean-Christophe Chamboredon continues the legacy for his father who started Milan in 1978. In this week’s podcast, we got to speak with Chamboredon about the iconic company which was recently acquired by Sony Music Masterworks. This business venture offers even more opportunities to put…

  • Features,  Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…’Avengers: Infinity War + Endgame’ Behemoth Box Set

    Alan Silvestri is one of our very favorite composers, and his contributions to film are nearly unparalleled. When it was announced that Mondo and Hollywood Records would be releasing the complete scores to Infinity War and Endgame on vinyl, the only thing better than that would be to have the Time Stone so we could actually get it sooner – good news is that it was well worth the wait. We are thrilled to review this box set as Silvestri’s music spins on our turntable, and, trust me, these albums are not to be missed! One of the reasons we love Silvestri’s work is that he has an absolute knack…

  • Features,  Mondo,  Movies/Entertainment,  Music Review

    Music Review…’Dolemite Is My Name’ is Positively Groovy

    Mondo is the premiere vinyl soundtrack record label and destination for all sorts of palette-expanding music. Pretty sure that no matter what your appetite is, they’ve got something to whet (and satisfy) it. Case in point. How many times have you asked yourself, “why aren’t there more blaxploitation revival albums out there?” The short answer is that there are. And thanks to these purveyors of acoustic awesomeness, you can easily get your hands on it. Luckily, they didn’t have to dig through obscure catalogs to unearth this glorious title; you can thank Eddie Murphy and Netflix for giving the gift of Dolemite Is My Name to the world just last year. A pet project…