Musicians Jim Carroll and Chris George
have released their appropriately titled collection of theme music on
an epic scale, “Cinematic Soundtracks – Epic Themes For Movies,
Vol. 1 – 3.” The trilogy of volumes literally includes scores of
scores, the first volume alone containing 18 full-length tracks, for
an approximate total of an hour's worth of excellent listening. The
wholly instrumental, entirely original compositions are capable of
evoking every emotion in the human spectrum, and the myriad
variations Carroll and George have included in these albums stagger
the music fan's comprehension.
The word “epic” is so well suited
to the task of describing Carroll and George's work that the listener
can see the sheer scope of their music in his mind's eye, simply by
reading titles from Vol. 1: “City Under Siege;” “A Hero's
Promise;” “Conversing With God / Redemption;” and “Funeral
for a Friend / Payback” are some of the more exciting examples.
Among the most vivifying and compelling themes contained in Vol. 1
(which exemplifies the collection as well as Vol. 2 or 3 might) are
the frightening and blackly heroic “Dark Pirates,” and the
heart-filling “A Soldier's Return.” “Avenging Heroes”
demonstrates Carroll and George's familiarity and godlike strength
with the strings section, while “Heroes of the Arena” and “Ivan
the Terrible” do the same for the electric guitar, as well as
showing their versatility in choosing instrumentation.
These songs are not (as yet) employed
as the background score to any feature film, and the musical
philosophy underlying Carroll and George's “Cinematic
Soundtracks...” is to place the emphasis on the music, itself, as a
compelling art form that well-deserves its own share of spotlight
without being inordinately thrown into the “background,” as such,
of some other spectacle.
This is a wonderful development in
music appreciation, as fans of cinema soundtracks are often scorned
by music collectors as having a taste for something disingenuous or
benign, not realizing that music orchestrated for cinema makes up the
largest portion of contemporary classical music. Composers such as
John Williams and Ennio Morricone, whose most famous works arguably
overshadow even the classic films for which they were written, stand
as irrefutable proof that the art of scoring music with a scene in
mind is one of humanity's finest musical endeavors, and Carroll and
George's “Cinematic Soundtracks...” is a marvelous piece of
evidence for the same.
“Film music, without the film,”
write the creative duo, “is music for the imagination. It tells a
narrative much like program music in the classical field. Our music
fires one’s imagination with visions of large-scale action scenes,
heartfelt drama, sweeping romance, and other genres of the silver
screen.” They punctuate their artistic principles with a single
afterthought: “It is more than just background music, though. It is
an experience.”
Jim Carroll and Chris George's
“Cinematic Soundtracks – Epic Themes... 1-3” is available
online worldwide beginning March 16, 2013.
-S. McCauley
Staff Press Release Writer
MondoTunes
The LPs “Cinematic
Soundtracks – Epic Themes For Movies, Vol. 1 – 3” are
distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com)
and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
MondoTunes
(www.mondotunes.com)
supplies the largest music distribution in the world and provides
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