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Baxter In Year Two Thousand Nine
Posted By: Mark Ford 2/1/2010 - 4:00 PM

Volume 2, Number 2

Singer in Mel Tormé's Mel-Tones; “Music Out of the Moon” & "Perfume Set to Music" – music arranged for Theremin; “Ritual of the Savage” – first jungle Exotica recording and just one of many amazing Exotica albums to follow; ”Quiet Village”  – the most famous and oft covered work in all of Exotica; “Voice of the Ixtabay” – vehicle for Peruvian singing sensation Yma Sumac; “The Poor People of Paris” – Billboard number one hit orchestral arrangement of the popular French song "La goualante du pauvre Jean". All of these are what composer, arranger, conductor and performer Les Baxter will probably best be remembered for by most. What many may not know about the oft labeled godfather, father, grandfather or whatever-father of Exotica is that beginning in the 1950s and certainly in the 1960s (after the end of the Exotica craze), Baxter turned his attentions to writing music for films and television.
Comments: 2  (read on)
New Year & Thread of 2009
Posted By: Mark Ford 1/21/2010 - 9:00 AM

Volume 2, Number 1
 
Starting a new year of blogs found me reevaluating what I want the shape of my blogs to take in the new year. Last year I wrote weekly for about half the year, then the posts dwindled as I began to run out of topics I wanted to write about and then I got a bit burned out. My blogs last year were for the most part long articles on different topics I was interested in and were researched and written and re-written to polish them up as best as I could. Whether it be laziness, lack of focus or cosmic angst, this year I’m mostly going to write informally, more in the spirit of true blogging just jotting down more informal thoughts about film and film music.
Comments: 19  (read on)
Christmas Time Is Here...
Posted By: Mark Ford 12/16/2009 - 2:30 PM

 

Volume 1, Number 35
 
I love Christmas songs and holiday music. I tend to sing Jingle Bells in the dead of summer, coming out of nowhere for no apparent reason. I can't help it, a catchy and joyful tune is just that and shouldn’t be bottled up and let out only once a year. So this holiday season I was thinking about which holiday songs and music I enjoy the most and why. I came up with my list of songs which includes ages old carols up to some relatively modern day tunes. Time and time again though my thoughts would come back to a sound that seems to elicit the feeling of the holidays for me better than anything else: Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Comments: 8  (read on)
Instruments of Mass Destruction
Posted By: Mark Ford 11/17/2009 - 4:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 34
 
“Like the sound of fingernails on a blackboard”, “sounds like a cow with its hoof stuck in the mud”, “makes my ears bleed”, these are just some of the things said about certain musical instruments that have sound qualities that many think, shall we say, are less than ideal. Now any instrument can sound pretty horrible depending on how it’s played, but some instruments are derided for their inherent sound and no playing skills, no matter how highly developed, seem to make a difference. I’ve chosen to look at a few that can be considered dangerous weapons as much as musical instruments.
Comments: 7  (read on)
Escapade Velocity: The SG Sound New Release
Posted By: Mark Ford 10/27/2009 - 4:00 AM

Volume 1, Number 33

Several months back I posted a two part interview [Part 1 & Part 2] with film composer, musician and one time FSM contributor Steve Greaves. Steve, in addition to his film compositions, also writes and performs music in the Space Age Pop vein and has since come to be known as "The King of Space Age Pop A-Go-Go" for this facet of his musical persona. Performing under the banner of The SG Sound, Steve has just recently released Escapade Velocity, an album filled with his latest Space Age Pop compositions and film music covers.
Comments: 2  (read on)
An FSM Glossary of Terms
Posted By: Mark Ford 10/13/2009 - 5:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 32

If you’ve visited the FSM boards here, there may be times when you will run across a phrase or the use of a word that may be unfamiliar to you in the context of a post. As a guide to help those who are infrequent visitors or newbies to the boards, I’ve compiled a short list of some of the perhaps more perplexing phrases…
Comments: 8  (read on)
Journey into Space: Russ Garcia's Fantastica
Posted By: Mark Ford 9/16/2009 - 2:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 31

Well I’m back to haunting the blog space here at FSM again after taking a month and a half off from my ramblings. I wrote weekly, and at times “weakly” as well, from February until the beginning of August and just needed a break. This time around I’ll just write when I feel the urge and not try to adhere to any fixed schedule. Don't need that much structure anymore! Anyway, this blog’s subject is Russell Garcia’s Space Exotica classic Fantastica.
Comments: 6  (read on)
Tempo, Tempo, Tempo...
Posted By: Mark Ford 8/7/2009 - 9:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 30

Over the course of reading the FSM boards, I’ve often noticed that tempo in re-recordings seems to be quite a sticking point for some. Sometimes I think people just get used to the tempi from the original recording or the film itself and become so accustomed to it being that way, that when they hear a different tempo, it seems too fast or too slow to them.

Comments: 18  (read on)
Composer & Celebrity Matches
Posted By: Mark Ford 7/29/2009 - 3:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 29

Strapped for writing ideas this week, I thought I would play a game of composer and celebrity look-a-likes. Over the years I've noticed how some film composers bear resemblances to certain celebrities from the film world and I thought I'd point out a few of the ones that I've seen here. I wasn't always able to find photographs that adequately show the similarities for some, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

Comments: 21  (read on)
5 Years Since Jerry Left Us
Posted By: Mark Ford 7/21/2009 - 4:00 PM

Volume 1, Number 28

[As this is the 5th anniversary of Jerry Goldsmith's passing, I decided to reprint a slightly edited earlier blog done for his 80th birthday. Please forgive the repetition, but I just thought it was appropriate.]

Comments: 0  (read on)
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