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| 6/30/11 - |
Update: Mormon station replacing SiriusXM's Cinemagic
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As if the loss of Cinemagic from SiriusXM is alone not enough of a blow to some
film music collectors, the company formally announced today the launching of "BYU
Radio" on July 1st in what is most likely the same bandwidth. Indeed, a genre of
music as universal as the movies they accompany is being replaced in the dominant
satellite radio lineup by a station dedicated to Mormonism, a minor religion
considered by many to be a fringe cult that espouses highly exclusionary,
historically bigoted beliefs.
Once again, if you haven't already done so, contact Jeremy Coleman,
SiriusXM's senior vice president of entertainment programming, at
"jeremy.coleman@siriusxm.com" to express the appropriate disappointment (or
outrage) at this ridiculous replacement of Cinemagic. Or, better yet, simply
cancel your subscription!
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| 6/27/11 - |
Boycott Alert: SiriusXM cancelling Cinemagic station again |
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It's no secret to film score collectors that their beloved genre of music resides
outside of mainstream tastes, and nowhere has their struggle for respect been more
apparent in recent years than on XM Radio and now SiriusXM. After pushing the
dedicated soundtrack channel Cinemagic around in the lineup several times and
cancelling it for a short time already in 2008-2009, SiriusXM has announced that
bandwidth will no longer exist for the channel beginning on July 1st, 2011. At that
time, some of the channel's segments will be shifted to slots on another channel
and anyone searching for the Cinemagic's current format will be forced to listen to
its ghost-like continuation on the Internet-only SiriusXM platform for an extra
cost.
According to those who operate the channel and make its executive decisions, the
final demise of Cinemagic is due to conditions of the recent merger between the
satellite radio companies. As an FCC requirement, SiriusXM is being forced to open
more bandwidth to minority-owned channels that are now supplanting long-standing
music channels. There is no hint about whether the channel could be resurrected
once again over the air once the upcoming "SiriusXM 2.0" finishes its development.
Concerns sent to the company's listener care & feedback website forms and to the
"cinemagic@siriusxm.com" address for the show are being treated with a form
response from Jeremy Coleman, the senior vice president who oversees SiriusXM's
entertainment programming and can be e-mailed directly at
"jeremy.coleman@siriusxm.com" (though expect only the same form response).
The meat of Coleman's form response to previous queries contains the following
statement: "Making the decision to pull Cinemagic from XM was really hard. Every
now and then, we have to pull a channel off our service. Our system and bandwidth
only allow for so many channels, and each one of our channels has developed a
passionate fan base and has taken a lot of care and creativity to put on the air.
Any change we make, even if it allows us to add something new that pleases a large
number of people and expand our subscriber base, will upset those that loved the
channel we are removing and that’s certainly the case for Cinemagic, which is so
unique and artfully done."
Granted, Cinemagic has never been perfect (some of its suites omit the scores' best
material and the interviews occasionally contain fanboy enthusiasm), but for a
decade it has been the digital airwaves' only true soundtrack representation and
was a reason why many film score collectors originally chose XM over Sirius when
the former was the sole provider of the station. It's been instrumental to the
running of Filmtracks through the years because its suites have assisted in the
editorial choices about which scores merit a review. Without Cinemagic over the air
(and with perpetual, obnoxious changes to the rest of the lineup and the company's
often incomprehensible service representatives in India), there is far less reason
to maintain a subscription to SiriusXM. It's strongly encouraged for anyone who
enjoys this channel to contact the addresses above or use the form at siriusxm.com
to express dissatisfaction with the decision.
Read this text and/or respond at the Scoreboard.
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| 6/25/11
- | Pee-wee's Big Adventure: (Danny Elfman)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
on the vintage Varese Sarabande CD if you seek an affordable, competent re-recording of the
unquestionably memorable and affably zany score that launched Danny Elfman's orchestral
career.
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Avoid it... |
on the 2011 Elfman/Burton 25th anniversary set unless you absolutely require all of the
available film versions of this score, strangely assembled with some of the Varese
re-recordings into a presentation with intellectual merits but challenges to casual enjoyment.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 6/21/11
- | The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music
Box: (Compilation)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have ample expendable income and are a forgiving soul, for no set of music from
thirteen film scores (plus odds and ends) is worth the price tag demanded by the excessive
accessories on this product.
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Avoid it... |
despite your love of Danny Elfman's music if you have no interest in a crushing,
wallet-busting disappointment that was released disastrously by Warner Brothers and fails to
offer music of a quantity and quality to justify its price.
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| Rating: | FRISBEE
Read the entire review
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| 6/18/11
- | Water for Elephants: (James Newton Howard)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you wonder where the vintage dramatic styles of James Horner and Thomas Newman went, for
James Newton Howard has managed to find them and restate their beauty for the benefit of
nostalgia.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect a well-rounded and passionate dramatic romance score, because Howard seems a bit
too comfortable understating his nebulous ideas throughout this safely pleasant but not really
engaging music.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/15/11
- | Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: (Paul Haslinger)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you're desperate to hear any form of continuation of Paul Haslinger's sound from the
original Underworld film, even if the result is not as interesting or compelling.
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Avoid it... |
if nothing drives you nuts in the film music world more than a missed opportunity, because
Haslinger fails to build meaningfully upon his established ideas in a coherent way.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 6/12/11
- | Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: (Rolfe Kent)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are understandably hesitant about dabbling into the romantic comedy genre for your film
score collection and desire a safely pleasant and engaging score with which to start that
exploration.
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Avoid it... |
if even the upbeat personality and thematic complexity of this impressive Rolfe Kent score
can't overcome the stigma of silliness that defines all music in the romantic comedy genre for
you.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 6/9/11
- | The Ugly Truth: (Aaron Zigman)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you deeply desire the lone souvenir from this movie on album, a score-only product
that goes through the motions but fails to really stimulate.
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Avoid it... |
if you're looking for any of the songs you heard in the film or, for that matter, anything
more than generic instrumental sounds for the romantic comedy genre.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 6/6/11
- | Taken: (Nathaniel Mechaly)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are among the few who consider this score to have a positive impact on the film and
seek its reliably predictable application of electronic and symphonic elements to each scene
without much creative deviation.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect a composer to aggressively enhance a film rather than cautiously keep out of its
way, a strange result for Nathaniel Mechaly in his international breakthrough score.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 6/3/11
- | Priest: (Christopher Young)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek Christopher Young's proof that fads in today's blockbuster film score conventions
can be re-packaged in ways that diminish the lesser composers who rely solely upon them.
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Avoid it... |
if you have no interest whatsoever in ever exploring Young's bombastically gothic side,
because Priest is about as easily palatable in its majority as any other score in his career.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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