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Posted: |
Dec 18, 2018 - 5:24 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Just mulling (appropriately) some things over. Nothing in particular, just a few random thoughts which I don't think warrant being on any particular thread. Do not expect coherence. This is the man down the pub speaking.
I was looking at the thread about our favourite releases from 2018 and was quite happy I had so few to choose from. I never did buy enormous quantities of stuff, and being Scottish I'm quite frugal with my money. "I'm not mean, I'm just careful." I'd rather be more or less sure that I'm going to get enjoyment out of something before shelling out for it.
Having said that, by passing on so many things over the years, I'm sometimes surprised to be reminded that they have already been released. I picked up quite a few bargains from VascoCine in France (my first dealings with them - and very happy I was with the service). I'd post a direct link, but this is a relaxed rabbit sitting on granpa's porch simply rabbiting. Their catalogue uses the French titles, so I used some kind of spaceship device to translate them to English. Don't forget folks, you can get Herrmann's COLD SWEATERS, Goldsmith's WOMEN AT RISK ASSISTANCE, John Williams' THE TOOTH OF THE SEA, Rózsa's WAR OF THE BRAINS and Alex North's WILD CHEESE here, titles which for even the most avid collector may be somewhat under the radar.
The reduced price section is pretty extensive. I recently received a bunch of stuff, including (under their "real" titles) Mancini's DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES and TWO FOR THE ROAD, Alfred Newman's DAVID AND BATHSHEBA, Rózsa's DESERT FURY, Michael Small's AUDREY ROSE and BLACK WIDOW/ THE STAR CHAMBER/ THE DRIVER, and they sent me a free Claude Bolling CD which I'm enjoying and which I'd never have even thought of paying 50p for.
Most of these (perhaps excluding the Rózsa and the Newman) were released I think some time between about 2012 and 2015, although I'm sure there's plenty of great stuff from before then which I'm missing. What about John Barry's DEADFALL? Was that 1997? I might order it before I die. After that, no way. Anyway, how did I miss all those goodies on first release? I suppose other things were happening, they were "too expensive", or I considered I'd had enough for the time being. Then too much time passed and they were forgotten about.
Golly gosh, I have to exclaim that that Kritzerland release of the stereo tracks from DAVID AND BATHSHEBA is absolutely freakin' magnificent, easily up there with THE ROBE and THE EGYPTIAN in my "religious-sounding" Top 5. And I'd ignored it until last week. I'd even forgotten it existed.
That Michael Small was a damn fine composer. I think I remember (or perhaps I'm just "remembering remembering") reading here that there were some sound issues on AUDREY ROSE (mono only, and from the stems). Well whatever, it's a bloody great score, not in-your-face scary but very haunting and unsettling. Spine-tingling even. The music overcomes any deficiences in the sound department. I suppose I'd be saying the same about THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD, but I haven't got around to getting it yet, and at this rate it'll be 2025 before I do, by which time I'll be pleasantly surprised that it had been released.
I'm lovin' DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES. Great film too, which I caught up with again recently (yes, I have the DVD, and had "forgotten"). Henry Mancini could certainly do elegant, heartbreaking scores, even when doomy and gloomy. Still, I always had a kind of "problem" (in inverted commas - I mean, it won't kill me) with the song over the credits - I don't know if it's the easy-listening choral approach so prevalent in Mancini's listener-friendly LP renditions of his dramatic scores, but it just seemed out of place. I was almost surprised to hear it behind the Main Titles, imagining that the choral version was done for another album.
I was also pondering on whether or not to get THE BRIDE WORE BLACK. I'm not really as big a Herrmann fan as I used to be (I grew up on his scores for the Schneer/ Harryhausen films). It's really good value for money for me here, living in Spain, but if the Mendelsshon "Wedding March" is continually quoted, that might go against it for me. I barely remember the Bernstein suite (now there's a surprise), but I have a kind of vague recollection of being irritated every time that piece turned up. Probably because it reminded me of having to go to weddings. Not mine of course, which was delightful.
Oh, is that the time?
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