Thomas Newman & Mark Isham - Great Soundtrack Musicians

After a short talk with my "consultant" the other day, she informed me that she would love to see a post about Thomas Newman.  So I figured I might as well throw Mark Isham in there as well.  Why?  Because these two guys are my favorite movie soundtrack gods.  I am sure that there are other composers who would suit my fancy, but these two have consistently caused me to put their work on repeat over the years.  I am also of the belief that the movies that these guys have scored would not be as well received if it were not for their genius.  Though I have never tried it, it would be amazing to view movies like Crash or Road to Perdition without the soundtracks playing and see how much the scenes suffer as a result!

Ever since I was a child, my Dad used to play Mark Isham's Film Music on road trips etc., and Never Cry Wolf was a movie I watched so many times, as we had the videotape of it.  It is some of the most incredibly beautiful and thought provoking music I have ever come across.... ever.  It is incredibly timeless work, and it will always bring certain memories and thoughts to mind.

THOMAS NEWMAN







You have no doubt heard of this man.  He has written scores for Road to Perdition, The Horse Whisperer, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Meet Joe Black and  The Shawshank Redemption.  He has been nominated for 8 oscars, but has not yet won one... how this is possible I do NOT know.  He is also apparently kin to singer-songwriter, Randy Newman.  He very effectively mixes orchestration with ambient and electronic themes, and has achieved incredible success in Hollywood, having scored some of the greatest films of the past two decades.

I of course cannot put all his work on here, so I will only choose to focus on a few pieces from Road to Perdition, The Horse Whisperer, and American Beauty.  His work has also inspired many great remixes that the progressive house producers have put together.  I am fully confident that this work spans all music taste barriers.  You simply cannot deny the musical genius of this man, nor his colleague Mr. Isham.

-Road to Perdition-

This is signature Thomas Newman, and is the score that inspired this entry, as it was what my "consultant" was referring to when asking me if I would write an entry on him. If you have not seen the film, you most definitely should.  Tom Hank's performance, and the kid who plays the son are impeccable, and it is one of Paul Newman's last films.  The piano work in this film score is incredible, and you will notice the very slight synth work in the background that really rounds it out.  It ends up morphing into an orchestral movement, and then floats right back to the piano work.  It is seemingly divinely inspired work in its well-rounded beauty and simplicity.  If you have ten minutes, listen.



-The Horse Whisperer-

Another amazing film starring Robert Redford and a young Scarlett Johansson.  The score here is a little more spliced and split up, but overall it is some more of his absolutely gorgeous work. You cannot deny the power of his methodology.  He is a piano and orchestration genius.  This song gives me goosebumps every SINGLE time I listen to it.




-American Beauty-

One of the more powerful films in our time, and one with an incredible score.  This score has actually been remade in many different forms along the progressive house genre as I stated above.  It is an incredible piece of music, and once again Thomas Newman sticks to his guns, and creates truly incredible piano and orchestral music.

MARK ISHAM











Isham is another one of the premiere soundtrack composers to ever live.  He much like Thomas Newman has been responsible for some of the greatest soundtracks of our time, for some of the greatest movies of our time.  His work for Never Cry Wolf, Mrs. Soffel, The Times of Harvey Milk, and Crash are all incredible works of art.  I have forever been absolutely mesmerized by his composition in Mrs. Soffel and I have never even seen the movie.  He is apparently an incredibly accomplished jazz trumpet player, and one with Miles Davis-like improvisational skills.  You can actually hear him play in his own works, and it is truly incredible stuff.

-Never Cry Wolf-

As I stated in the beginning of this post, I used to watch this movie ALL THE TIME.  It is a truly incredible film about a man who goes into the Alaskan wild to study wolves and caribou and the indigenous people there as well.  It is some of the most intense cinematography, and one of the most gripping movie scores I have ever heard as well.  This is another long video clip, but it is well worth the listen!



-Mrs. Soffel-


This is my all time favorite movie score.  I have never heard anything quite like it before, and nothing quite like it since.  The music in Mrs. Soffel should be absolutely enough to make the movie amazing.  It is a film starring Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton, but that is about all I know about it, and I don't want to read about it and risk ruining it before I actually see it.  This is by far worth the listen, and it will unfortunately take a little more effort to do so, as the compilation has embedding disabled. UPDATE: Found a better one!

-Crash-

This is an incredible film, and I think part of that goes to Mark Isham for how well he scored this particular film.  I went and bought the soundtrack right after the film had finished playing in my DVD player.  It is definitely worth a listen.



I am hopeful that you all enjoy this post as I know that it is a slight departure from the norm in that it is all soundtrack instrumental music.  However, like I said earlier, I think this sort of music transcends all musical tastes.  It is just incredible how this music evokes emotion and creates remembrance.

Once again, I am hopeful to step up the content, as it has been a rather interesting couple weeks.  I am also about to step back into the production room for some more originals (which means I may actually finish my first song and post some samplings here!!).

Have a wonderful week!

-CS