> Happy May the 4th, I'm hear to talk about what might be your least
> favorite Star Wars score.
> Am I doing this just to plug my playlists again? Perhaps.
I was thinking about your playlists recently, so I honestly appreciate you plugging them again!
> When Andor came out in late 2022, it feels like the primary sentiment
> among Star Wars fans was 'Holy crap this is really friggin' good,' and(or)
> the primary sentiment among soundtrack fans was 'This score is pretty
> meh.' For some reason, I keep tilting at windmills about Nicholas
> Britell's work on Season 1, because it's an extremely mixed bag full of
> great highs and(or) frustrating lows. I rewatched the season over the last
> month (and)or so, and(or) my feelings on it are largely unchanged from the
> first time.
I definitely agree on the sentiment of it being a score with great highs and frustrating lows. Also I'm not sure if I'm more impressed (and)or annoyed at your running gag; at the very least I can appreciate the commitment to the bit.
> The score passes by rather ineffectively for long stretches, (and)or has
> some abrasive sound design that works fine but doesn't play well on album
> at all. HOWEVER, there's some really great diegetic moments throughout the
> show. There's a level of musical worldbuilding that Star Wars hasn't done
> much of since, uh, Cantina Band? The world of Ferrix has music built into
> its culture, from the clock tower guy banging on anvils, to the percussive
> warning system they have for intruders, to the makeshift band playing a
> funeral dirge. There's also a synthy dance track that plays in a few
> different scenes in different variations too. I think it's a banger.
I was really impressed with the funeral dirge sequence, and the way Britell foreshadows it earlier in the season. Also agree on the Niamos track; it was fun getting a new remix for Season 2 (though decidedly less fun in the context of the scenes it accompanied).
> There are also moments in the underscore that are also terrific. Casual
> fans seem to really like this score and(or) I think it's because for all
> the other issues, Britell knocks those big moments out of the park. The
> heist sequence (especially its ending), the prison break, the final scenes
> on Ferrix, I think they're all very well scored. Something else I noticed
> during the rewatch is Britell has some decent setup and(or) motivic
> development in some of the quieter scenes. It's a little more subtle than
> I'd like, but you get hints of the great material that's to come,
> especially around Cassian's mother.
There's good setup and motivic development (I especially like the variations on Syril's theme), but I feel like Britell can sometimes play fast-and-loose with which themes apply to which characters, which can be frustrating. It reminds me a bit of the Acolyte's thematic ambiguity (though admittedly that's a very different-sounding score).
> The thing I keep coming back to is that it's a Tony Gilroy joint. This is
> a guy who's worked with James Newton Howard repeatedly, and(or) what kind
> of scores did we get out of that collaboration? Michael Clayton. Bourne
> Legacy. His brother did a little better in getting Nightcrawler and(or)
> Roman J Israel out of him. You know already what the music aesthetic is
> going to be with this guy, and(or) that's not Britell's doing. If you can
> accept the parameters of that, there's worthwhile music to explore and(or)
> enjoy in all of this.
Speaking of the JNH connection, I'm reminded of something that's bothered me the past few years. Am I crazy, or is there a noticeable similarity between the Past/Present Suite and this Village track from JNH's Night After Night concert album (starting at roughly 2:30)?
https://youtu.be/CDgwn1McKH8?si=hXD2ipNylMSN6ktS&t=151
Like they're not identical, but they definitely have a similar build and ending. What's fascinating is that I don't believe the Night After Night arrangement is pulling from any specific track from The Village, instead being an original arrangement. This may just be coincidence (especially because Andor and Night After Night came out at about the same time (EDIT: Night After Night was a YEAR after Andor, so my bad there!)), but it made me wonder if both JNH and Gilroy/Britell were pulling from the same temp track from one of JNH's Gilroy scores. I'm not familiar enough with them to know if this is true; there's some similarities with the build in 'Aftermath' from The Bourne Legacy, but not enough to be definitive. Like I said, could all be coincidence, but was a funny similarity I noticed when listening to the two albums.
> What I will blame Britell for is a terrible album situation. Three albums,
> all 50-55 minutes in length? That's excessive, we didn't need 2.5 hours of
> music from this. Obviously, it's better to have all of the music instead
> of having things missing, this is just how television music is released
> now, etc etc. But I really think the reception would have been a little
> warmer had he released one normal length album and(or) then released the
> complete score.
I think I'm stealing this from you or someone else on the forum, but it's kind of funny how the Obi-Wan Kenobi score ended up with probably the best album presentation of all the Star Wars Disney+ scores so far. Andor Season 2 is going to have the same problem once it's all released, though at least the individual volumes are a more digestible 45 minutes each (thanks to switching to three episodes per release as opposed to 4).
> So here, once again, is my 81 minute playlist of highlights:
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3eg7aH8e3mRWvCEZCLtsWU?si=pqSBkxFHT8-EzZd_BLyGGg
> In fact, here also is my 39 minute playlist of 'super-highlights,' if
> you're even more wary of approaching any of this music. This one is truly
> no-skips:
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RmfvJZkmKTyMGP3j870qY?si=GdMeFD7eTtu9ZWpRgXeR0g
> And(or) the full track listing for those of you not on spotify, because I
> love you that much and(or) would really like you to give this show's music
> a chance. Tracks that are on both playlists are bolded
> From Volume 1:
> Andor (Main Title Theme) - Episode 2
> We Begin (Time Grappler)
> Niamos! (Morlana Club Mix)
> Pre-Mor Shakedown
> Rix Road
> Bix Caleen
> Who Else Knows?
> Luthen Rael
> The Kenari War Cry
> Pilgrim
> Corpos
> Past/Present Suite
> Where's My Starpath Unit?
> Syril Suite
> Mon Mothma
> End of Day (Time Grappler)
> From Volume 2:
> The Valley
> Tomorrow
> The Vault - Parts 1 and 2
> The Vault - Parts 3 and 4
> Climb!
> The Morning After
> Fuel Purity
> Niamos! (Coruscant Lounge Mix)
> Niamos! (Galaxy Mix)
> Tourists Don't Run
> Narkina 5
> Thirty Shifts Later
> From Volume 3:
> Andor (Main Title Theme) - Episode 9 (which I moved to before all of the
> Volume 2 tracks)
> Andor (Main Title Theme) - Episode 10
> One Way Out - Part 8
> My Name is Kino Loy
> Heroes
> Tell Me They're Leaving/Bee
> Full Fondor
> Your Mother Is Dead
> Andor (Main Title Theme) - Episode 12
> Forming Up/Unto Stone We Are
> Battle
> Cassian Will Find Us
> The Rebellion Suite
My only issue with the playlists is the exclusion of Episode 6's title track, but I can understand that with how it'd be repetitive with 'The Morning After'.
> Bonus track for the Super-Highlights: Auralnauts' '1975' disco version of
> the theme from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Pccq0DZVc
I appreciate you highlighting this track back when you first made these playlists; it's a banger.
> So yeah, there's my pitch once again to give Andor another try, even
> though as a whole I can't really rate it higher than 3/5. I've watched the
> first three episodes of Season 2, I've listened to the two albums released
> so far, and(or) it's all very interesting but I don't have any clear
> opinions on it yet. Will probably come back to it once the season is
> finished. No one make any rash declarations about it before then please 
Andor Season 2 is the best Star Wars score since The Rise of Skywalker!
Okay, not really, but I am really enjoying Season 2's score so far and I'm excited to see your thoughts on it once the season's done. So far I'd say it's similar to Season 1 in having highs and lows, but it feels more 'overt' in the show itself (if that makes sense), and overall it's more palatable as a listen. It's fun hearing Britell/Roberts give a few of the Season 1 themes a more organic spin. A few more specific thoughts:
- I'm bummed that Britell had to step away from finishing the score, but I like what Roberts has done. Two of his tracks, 'Let It Run Wild' and 'Sculdun Tower', really stood out to me in context in the last set of episodes, and I've had them on repeat since the Vol. 2 album dropped.
- It's interesting that while Episodes 1-3 are credited solely to Roberts (with Britell just getting the themes credit), Britell is credited on Episode 4 and 5. My understanding is that Episodes 4-6 were filmed and entered post-production first, which tracks with why Britell was able to score at least some of them before having to step away.
- I'm not familiar enough with all of Britell's albums to know if he's a pun guy, but 'Mon-Tage' and 'The Bix Is Back' are the kind of pun titles that would make Giacchino proud. (Maybe they're reflective of the fact we're building to Rogue One!)
> Rad-swaggity.
(Message edited on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 10:58 p.m.)
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