Another great review of the AWAKEN soundtrack!

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Randall Larson's Soundtrax column over at Buysoundtrax.com gave the AWAKEN soundtrack another great review today.  This is the second positive review this week.  Of the score, Randall says...

“AWAKEN is a splendidly listenable score on disk, with character, environment, and action cues that hold together nicely for listening apart from the film, developing through and across the story arc into a pleasing resolution at the end. ”

Film Music Magazine gives AWAKEN sdtk a great review.

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Daniel Schwieger of Film Music Magazine gave the AWAKEN soundtrack a great review in this month's column.  Of the score he says, 

“Ralston and Al-Atrakchi (“Extreme Force”) give “Awaken” a mean, melodic, sample-driven structure that nicely recalls the synth, and often pan flute topped-sound of “Awaken’s” 80’s indie revenge antecedents like “Deadly Prey,” a spirit that’s since been carried on with liberated fury by “Relentless Justice” and “Camino.”

Brian to score Ten More for Crooked Arrows writer Brad Riddell

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I am very excited to be scoring the short film Ten More for the directorial debut of Crooked Arrows writer Brad Riddell.  The film's main protagonist is a concert pianist.  I have already composed a piece that will be used on camera and opens the film.  Brad is a fellow graduate of USC and is now an Assistant Professor in the School of Cinematic Arts at DePaul University. 

A great score is incredibly important to most films, but when your protagonist is a concert pianist, it's got to be...

Posted by Ten More on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

AWAKEN now available on DVD and Digital HD & Great HomeTheaterForum.com Review

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AWAKEN is now released and available on DVD and Digital HD.  So...if you want the HD version, you will have to buy it digitally from iTunes, Amazon Digital, Vudu or another digital streaming outlet.  The DVD is in stores and available most anywhere including Walmart, Best Buy or via online purchase again from Amazon.com.

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HOMETHEATER FORUM REVIEW

The world's largest home theater enthusiast internet forum, the hometheaterforum.com posted a great review of the film and made mention of the 1980's action film feel AWAKEN has with its cast.

Of the music score, they said, "Effectively adding to the 1980s vibe is the score by Kays Al-Atrakchi and Brian Ralston, which is reminiscent of the work the late James Horner created early in his career for Roger Corman on films such as Humanoids from the Deep and The Lady in Red." 

RIP James Horner (1953 - 2015)

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The news of James Horner’s death has hit me harder than I ever saw coming. It was his music that inspired me to want to pursue a career in film scoring. Not John William’s music as so many other composers say. I love John William’s of course, but for me, it was James Horner. As a young Junior High school kid my three favorite scores were Willow, Krull and The Rocketeer. At the time…I did not even really pay attention to who scored them. But one day I paid special attention to the composer and it was James Horner. I instantly thought…I must like his music. I began collecting everything I could get my hands on from his catalogue of work on any media bootleg or not. I had to have it. I studied it. It was all I would listen to. I found hard to find recordings. Captain EO’s score from the Disneyland attraction…Battle Beyond The Stars…anything and everything. He essentially scored my childhood. I hear his themes today and they instantly take me back to a time when movies still had that Hollywood magic. 

In the Fall of 2009, I was invited by a friend of mine who worked for James to attend the Avatar orchestral scoring sessions at the 20th Century Fox Scoring stage.  Seeing Horner take command of the podium was nothing other than masterful.  The musicians loved playing for him...you could see it, hear it and feel it.  He used mostly the same musicians on every score he recorded in Los Angeles over his entered career.  Being there hearing Avatar come to life through its music is an experience I will never forget.  

Ironically, some of Horner's best cues were attributed to his musical interpretations of flying. Last year he had the world premiere of a concert work performed by the Pacific Symphony here in SoCal that was taken from a piece of music he composed for the Flying Horseman Aerial Acrobatics team. He scored their live stunt plane show. It made sense. He was a pilot as well. He loved to fly. So writing music for them was scoring an experience that only the few who fly can truly understand. But his music evokes the sensation of flying perfectly. It is a tragic bit of irony that his death was from piloting his plane. He loved to fly. He understood it so well. He tried to leave with us that feeling though his music. The video linked here below is so hard to watch now but you should take 7 minutes and watch it.  It is such an appropriate glimpse into his love for flying and his amazing music and so ever ironic given these events. 

I will miss not being able to hear anything new from you James. But your gift of music to us will live on forever. You inspired me more than you will ever know. And there is not a melody or theme that I write that will not have been influenced by your work. It is part of the fabric of what I hear in my head. And for that I am forever grateful. May you rest in peace and may your soul take flight.

 

To further understand what a fundamental loss this is to both Hollywood and the world in general, please take time to watch this video as well.  It is a compilation of a small sampling of just some of the beautiful and memorable music and themes James Horner wrote over the incredible course of his career.  

In the studio mixing a new soundtrack score release...

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In the studio this week with the amazing ears of my mix engineer Adam Schmidt working on the tracks to a new soundtrack CD release that I can not wait to share with everyone.  Adam and I have worked together on many projects now.  He mixed Crooked Arrows and my Private Dancer score.  Adam use to work over at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control under Alan Meyerson lending his talents to films like Christopher Nolan's Batman films and Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.  Especially in creating new samples and instruments that were used in those scores.  These Cues are sounding great.  More release info to come soon...

SCORECAST PODCAST SHOW #51

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SCORECAST PODCAST SHOW #51

The as-promised Q&A episode. Your SCOREcaster questions answered. Deane Ogden and I have TONS of fun in this episode and provide a grip of useful info for anyone scoring pictures or working in the film music biz. Plus, a few goodies about the future of SCOREcast and the podcast show. Also, Dean visits with the Output boys about SIGNAL - which is pretty damned cool!

http://www.scorecastonline.com/2015/05/27/scorecast-051-ask-us-anything/

AWAKEN is the opening night film at new Artemis Film Festival...

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AWAKEN is the opening night film at the new Artemis Film Festival celebrating Women in Action films at the Pasadena Laemmle Playhouse 7 on Friday April 24th. The red carpet gala starts at 6:30p. And the opening night screening after the red carpet starts with AWAKEN...then the evening ends with Terminator 3. If you want to see AWAKEN on the big screen...this is the next opportunity in LA. Artemis Festival honorees this year include Linda Hamilton (Terminator 1 & 2), Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3) and Gina Torres (Firefly, Serenity).

Tickets can be purchased at this link here: 
https://embed.showclix.com/event/ArtemisFilmFestival

AWAKEN is part of the opening night Red Carpet Gala Double Feature block and is $30.