Orchesta Film Score Picks Part 2

This goes back to a post from last year where I recommended several film and video game scores, because they sound great and inspire creativity.

And that’s the great thing about film score music. It was originally conceived to compliment a scene or a set piece, but played on it’s own you are compelled to fill in the visuals with your imagination. Be it the original film scene the music hailed from or something new entirely, the mind can create interesting visuals when stirring music is being played.

Minor spoilers ahead. Hurray all the videos can be played from here! In no particular order:

Noon - Eric Serra - The Proffessional (1993): If you can forget the onscreen massacre for which this song is based, you can appreciate the dual nature on display here: lurking low-key drum rhythms that flirt with going completely silent, clashing with a full score of violins that escalate with each appearance. The clear standout from the film.

Battle - Steve Jablonski - Transformers Dark Of The Moon (2011): A very recent song, but It’s among my favorites these days. It just keeps escalating, and is adrenaline incarnate. Fortunately it has a nice cool-off section to finish the song, to prevent you from going into a rage.

Not Human - Javier Navarette - Pan’s Labyrinth (2006): I linked to this one in the original article, but it deserves to be showcased here. It starts off sounding like fairy tale - whimsical and harmless - but then it gets dark, really really dark. Sounds like a nightmarish chase scene. Apologies - it cuts out at the end early.

Homework - The Dust Brothers - Fight Club (1999): The guy who posted this on YouTube is a genius - he cut out the first half of the song, which is what I do as well. It’s just catchy and hypnotic - would like to hear an extended version of this.

Basic Instinct medley - Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct (1992): If I played mixed-and-match with the films and music listed here, you’d swear up and down this belonged to Pan’s Labyrinth, because it has this fantasy-like quality to it. I will say this - it really gave a surreal atmosphere to the film, and wasn’t content to sit in the background. It really hit you over the head with it’s presence.