The immensely talented Japanese American composer Takeshi Furukawa composed the score for the intriguing video game PLANET OF LANA which has just been released by Sony Classical. It features a 90-piece orchestra recorded in Budapest last summer and is an excellent follow-up to his beautiful score for THE LAST GUARDIAN.
"Having grown up in the nineties with Hollywood adventures like Jurassic Park, I’m a real sucker for big John Williams-like scores, so this was (pardon the pun) music to my ears. What resulted is an organic, almost completely orchestra- and piano-driven soundtrack full of carefully curated set pieces designed to complement the natural sounds of this colorful world. Because of the sci-fi nature of the story some synth elements are present, which was an exciting challenge to me, but mostly we inhabit the world of the classic hollywood scores of the nineties which i grew up with and love."
I have been insanely busy as of late, which is fulfilling in my life, but this score has been on repeat for me this week. I wanted to post about it the other day. Thank you Doc Nigel Channing for posting about it. Unfortunately, I've always thought this board is indifferent to video game scores and I cannot imagine how many great pieces of music have escaped so many ears based upon their predisposition. This will likely be another one which sees a few of us salute its grace. For instance, this is the kind of score it seems many supposed Thomas Newman fans keep asking why he isn't doing anymore; they won't take the time to listen to this. Furukawa's work seems to be the most directly influenced by Newman's lush work from the back half of the 90s and much of the early 00s.
Unfortunately, I've always thought this board is indifferent to video game scores and I cannot imagine how many great pieces of music have escaped so many ears based upon their predisposition.
People seem to spend more time here talking about everything AROUND the music instead of the music itself. It's weird. But yeah, I love video game scores and wish they got more attention. Jedi Survivor this year is FANTASTIC. And I really like this score too. Reminds me of Ori in places.
I love video game music as well -- in fact I've been buying it since before I got into film music -- though I tend to not pay attention to a lot of the big Western publisher releases that often get talked about here )because the games themselves don't interest me, mostly)
I'm obsessed with this score...it's fabulous. I agree that the thing I love the most is the Thomas Newman-ish sound...like what it would be like if he scored a grand sci-fi action/drama. Love it.
Great post. The music is really good though I keep hearing younger composers describing a "90s-John Williams sound" when I think they mean a "James Newton Howard-sound" which is a very distinctive and grandiose "90s-orchestral" sound that is a bit different from Williams' much more deliberate and sparse sound. In the more percussive tracks I do hear some of that Thomas Newman influence as well.
