This past week John Williams had his 80th birthday. One of the first thing he will do during his 80th year will be attending the Oscars later this month where the Maestro is nominated for 2 best score awards. Even at this age Williams is at the top of his game.

In honor of the most prolific film composer alive today I wanted to use my weekly film score soap box to celebrate the man who has provided the soundtrack to the imaginations of several generations.

Everyone knows about his contributions to Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, but how many people are aware that he wrote not one, but two classic themes for Lost in Space?

It was John Williams music that made me fall in love with film music. I can pinpoint it all the way back to a single moment in Jurassic Park when the helicopter approached Isla Nublar, the cue still gives me chills to this day, and nearly two decades later I still look to Mr. Williams as the inspiration for a life long passion.

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The Jersey Shore spin off you have all been waiting for is finally here. No, it’s not a loop of that clip of Snooki getting punched in the face from season one. It’s also not the long reported Snooki and Jwoww spinoff. It’s actually DJ Pauly D that is the first to get his own spinoff. Starting March 29, fans will be getting more of Pauly thanks to The Pauly D Project.

The Pauly D Project will chronicle DJ Pauly D DelVecchio’s life when he’s not in Seaside Heights or Italy with Snooki and the rest of the Jersey Shore gang. Pauly D is trying to make it as a big name DJ and this will follow his exploits along the way. We will get to watch him cut a recording contract with 50 Cent and he even tours as one of Britney Spears’ opening acts.

“It’ll be probably along the lines of, I used to be this DJ in Rhode Island, DJing two sets a week, hustling, promoting,” Pauly explained to MTV News back in January 2011. “And all of a sudden, I’m on this show, and now they’re sending private jets for me to DJ for these huge crowds, yet I’m still the same guy that was DJing for 200 people, just loving life.

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For nearly 50 years Doctor Who has captured the imaginations of countless minds, from the very young, to the very young at heart. The internet age has allowed that active fan base to accomplish some pretty incredible things, including the ambitious Doctor Who Fan Orchestra which takes individual YouTube submissions of each instrument and re-builds themes from the show.

From the video’s description:

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra invites musical fans of Doctor Who to take part in an online collaborative celebration of Murray Gold’s music. Participants submitted recordings for this work from November 2011 to January 2012.

This final mix includes a total of 177 submissions from 154 individual participants, ranging in age from 11 to 57, and who are located in at least 18 different countries across the world, including: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland.

The end result is incredible, a near flawless performance of two classic early run Murray Gold themes. The video itself is a collage of individual performances that is almost as interesting as the music they are playing. To see the pieces fit together in an intricate, 21st century weave of YouTube videos highlights this magnificent piece.

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Last month we spent time reviewing the Golden Globe nominated film scores, at the time I had only listened to one of them going in so it was a nice way to start award season and catch up on some great scores. Now that the Oscar nominations have been released I was going to do the same thing, only I have already reviewed most of them

Thankfully I spaced out and didn’t review the second of John Williams two nominated scores yet, The Adventures of Tintin, so I can knock out the last of the major nominated scores and be all caught up in time for the big show next month. After this week I will move onto the two films with Oscar nominated songs to spice things up a bit.

The Adventures of Tintin is the second score from Williams this year and in tandem with War Horse showcases the Maestro’s range as a composer, even today. Based on the action/adventure films Williams has composed for in the past, Tintin  marks a bit of a departure as the music is not dominated by specific themes, it is more a collection of classic action music that sets the stage for the impressive animated film.

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The worlds of rock and roll and film composing have been intertwining for a few decades now. Most people know the history of Danny Elfman who transitioned from Oingo Boingo front man to film music legend, and of course the recent notoriety of Daft Punk and Trent Reznor, have ushered in a whole new generation of film music fans.

Most people, however, don’t know of composer Cliff Martinez’s history in rock and roll. The Drive composer spent the better part of the ’80s as a drummer for several bands, and when conflicts rose during the early years of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers he stepped in. Cliff Martinez was the drummer for the band during their first two albums and associated tours, and now as the Red Hot Chili Peppers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so too is Martinez.

While he didn’t stay with the band long, original drummer Jack Irons was free of other commitments and returned after the second album, he was a part of the history of the band. Shortly after his stint with the Chili Peppers Martinez got his start in composing with a job writing music for an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

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Silva Screen Music is a class outfit, they release really good music and great collections from some of the top composers and movies of today. In the past we looked at their collections of music from Hans Zimmer and James Horner, as well as a well put together a great best of album from the Transformers trilogy. Today we take a peak at their big end of the year release, ‘Film Music 2011′.

This collection, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic and London Music Works, is a highlight reel from the most high profile film scores of the year. The music chosen for this set  isn’t necessarily the very best music of the year, but it is certainly a snap shot of what 2011 was for film and film music. We are in award season, so we will have plenty of lists and collections of the “best” music, but in this album you will find tracks that rank among many fan’s “favorites” of the year.

Interestingly enough, many of the movies represented on this album are scores I have previously reviewed, but only twice are one of my favorite tracks actually on this album. At first this caused me to roll my eyes and dread the listening experience. Not because I disliked the tracks, but because I felt they were passing over the better tracks for more obvious and less interesting choices.

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W.E. is the last of our Golden Globe nominated scores, perfect timing as the show airs this Sunday, and by far the most unexpected. In fact before this nomination I didn’t even know this movie existed. The film is actually directed by Madonna, which is interesting but not all together important for a review of it’s score.

The composer is Abel Korzeniowski and I can see why his excellent work was recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The score is very well put together with an emphasis on large, sweeping strings in a few very choice places. Listening to the music gives me the sense that it probably dominates much of the movie. While I appreciate that sort of heavy handed musical touch, I can also see where it might have played a role in the films less than stellar critical reception.

I am happy to see it nominated though, as there has been a recent trend of nominating more subtle and subdued scores in the last few years. This is far from it, and it plays very nicely to my personal film musical tastes. Strong string work always has a tendency to grip me, and this score delivers that in spades.

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The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most anticipated movies of the year for many reasons, one such reason is the new score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The previous movie had one of the more subtle, complex and ultimately effective scores for any Super Hero movie ever, so of course anticipation is high for this installment’s music.

While we wait on the upcoming score to be released it can be fun to reflect back on what has come before. A recent YouTube video has popped up with some very interesting revelations about the inspiration for one of the more memorable musical moments from the last film. It appears as if the track ‘Why So Serious’ bears more than a passing resemblance to the score of an early 80′s French film.

Now most people will use this as yet another moment to stand on a pedestal and try to tear down Zimmer as a plagiarizer. Hans Zimmer has a reputation of taking music from his previous films and re-purposing them in future movies, just take a listen to some of the action music in Rango and you will hear more than a little Pirates of the Caribbean.

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Last year Trent Reznor lead a resurgence of main stream musicians turning to film scores. The 80′s saw a lot of this trend, most notably Danny Elfman, of Oingo Boingo fame and Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream. The best two scores from 2010 came from popular musicians in Reznor’s The Social Network and Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy. 2011 might be shaping up the same with one notable score by The Chemical Bros. already released.

Reznor is back again, with compatriot Atticus Ross, for another David Fincher score. This time writing the music for a film that seems much more up the ally of the Nine Inch Nails artist. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a dark, thrilling murder mystery that seems a [perfect fit for they style of music Ross and Reznor have made previously.

Much like The Social Network, this score is deceptively complex, with subtle tracks that wash over your mind like the blankets of snow that define the movie. The music is not overly orchestral, but that works to the advantage of the film, helping cement a ton of tension and keeping everything feeling a bit off.

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The James Bond films are one of the longest and most storied film franchises in the history of cinema. Despite over twenty films and nearly five decades of action, the series has been rather consistent in the score department. For well over three fourths of the James Bond films music dudties have been held by two men, the late great John Barry and excellent David Arnold.

It was assumed that Arnold would be returning for his sixth Bond film with Skyfall, but it seems the delays caused by MGM have actually caused Arnold’s schedule to be too full, he will be spending much of the next six months being the musical director for the summer Olympics. MI6 is reporting that in Arnold’s absence, director Sam Mendes is calling on a long time collaborator to fill his shoes.

American composer Thomas Newman will be scoring the new James Bond film, “Skyfall”, due out later this year. It will be his first 007 adventure.

Newman has been a long time collaborator with “Skyfall” helmer Sam Mendes, having scored four of the directors other films: “American Beauty” (1999), “Road to Perdition” (2002) [which also starred Daniel Craig], “Jarhead” (2005) and “Revolutionary Road” (2008).

Newman is an interesting choice for a big budget action film, but in many respects so is director Sam Mendes. One thing is for certain, Newman always brings his A game, so you can expect to hear an exceptional Bond score once Skyfall hits theaters later this year.

The third score from this year’s Golden Globe nominated set that I have the pleasure to review is from The Artist. The film is an interesting one, a silent film shot in black and white, set during Hollywood’s golden age. The film goes through great lengths to simulate the style of films the movie is about, and one of it’s biggest assets is it’s score.

Musically this could have come right out of the late 20s, it has a timeless quality, that allows it to feel fresh at the same time it transports you back to film music of a long passed era. Silent films used to rely heavily on music to help convey emotion, and as a result the music would often tell you as much of a story as the pictures did. It is exciting to hear that style of music in cinema again.

There is also a tremendous positivity abound in the music. Ludovic Bource has crafted a musical composition that damn near forces you to smile. One of the things that we too often hear these days is dark, monotone notes played for a mildly uncomfortable effect. This score excels at the exact opposite, and is incredibly fun.

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Nothing like awards season to let you focus in on some fantastic film music! The Golden Globe nominations went out this week and in honor of that Film Score Friday is going to cover the nominated scores each of the next four weeks. I say four weeks because we already covered the excellent War Horse by John Williams. So let’s start off big with Hugo by Howard Shore.

Howard Shore is one of today’s leading composers, everyone and their mother knows his stuff from The Lord of the Rings, but Shore has had an impressive career beyond Middle-Earth. So it was an immediate pleasure to realize he was writing the music to Scorsese’s cinematic love letter to film.

Shore brings a fantastic French sound to the table. Much like Michael Giacchino’s Ratatouille score, Shore takes a the French style and makes it work beautifully within his own bag of tricks. The French influences are in almost every aspect of the score, yet at no time does it sound like wall to wall French music.

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