Browsing Tag

OST

Andi Reisner – dark espionage with ‘Die Zwei Brüder’

Posted on 26 June 2021
Soundtrax by Andi Reisner

Composer Andi Reisner was born in Köln in Germany in 1960, and currently has over forty television and movie soundtrack pieces to his name, alongside his founding-membership of new music ensemble Ugly Culture.

With ‘Die Zwei Brüder’, he’s delivered a powerful, disturbing instrumental neo-classical work which evokes images of film noir, monochrome spy thrillers, all rain-soaked streets and cold-war double-dealings. Dark, brooding, Bauhaus-inspired, and filled with impending-doom, echoing and sparse then fierce, distorted and upfront, Die Zwei Brüder – from Reisner’s ‘Soundtrax’ album – is potent, unsettling, challenging, and totally captivating. Inspired, disconcerting, stimulating, and provocative, ‘Die Zwei Brüder’ is quite simply an epic piece of instrumental noir.

You can hear Andi Reisner’s ‘Soundtrax’ album on BandCamp; check out Andi Reisner’s website here.

Review by Alex Holmes

 

Nizar Bredan starts a ‘Journey’ with his latest neo-classic composition.

Posted on 21 June 2021

Libya-born, Brussels-based self-taught neoclassical composer and pianist Nizar Breden has released his latest composition, Journey; through the gentle melodic crescendos, Bredan’s diverse cultural heritage emerges through the delicate score that is provoking and profound in equal measure.

By switching between dramatic, uplifting and tentative cadences, Journey is a score that will leave you hooked by its multifaceted nature, expressive textures, and Bredan’s ability to melodically flit between melancholy and an almost Machiavellian style of playfulness.

After finding influence in the wandering tones of Chopin, the circulating melodies of Tiersen and the evocative works Ólafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi and Nils Frahm, Bredan discernibly found his signature style that will easily enamour any fans of the aforementioned.

Journey is the first of the singles to come from his new series of original compositions; the rest are due to follow throughout 2021 and 2022.

Journey is now available to stream via Spotify.

Billy Moffat has released his symphonic masterpiece, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett.

Posted on 19 June 2021

Scottish-born composer Billy Moffat brought plenty of his experience touring the globe with the show, One Night of Queen, to his latest release, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett on guitar.

Starting with dramatic neo-classic keys, there are no hints in the production to warn that the stunning crescendos will soon give way to over-driven scuzzed-up guitar solos that easily match the furore in an Apocalyptica track. Davie Brockett’s searing solos blazon the professional instrumental score with even more virtuosic stripes.

Though the Eyes of God is, quite literally, a jaw-droppingly symphonic masterpiece that will easily leave you ensnared by the sheer nuance and Moffat’s ability to compose a score that will put your rhythmic pulses under instant command.

The orchestral release is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia

Lee Olivier-Hall – This is Only the Beginning: A Conceptually Profound Neo-Classic Account of Lockdown-Melancholy

Posted on 4 June 2021

Artist and composer Lee Olivier-Hall is set to release his most candid work to date. His EP ‘Moments in Sound’ was written during the pandemic as the film composer captured the emotional impact of uncertainty, fear and isolation.

The conceptual duplicity of the lead single, This is Only the Beginning, plays with our newly found pessimism and fear of beginnings as the tender ambient neo-classic keys reflect the fragility of our optimism. The use of spatial effect and instrumental minimalism is devastatingly profound as it mimics the hollow, vacuous nature of our new world.

Since graduating from BIMM London, the artist has primarily focused on composing for film, his experience scoring for film reflects in the visual nature of the four-track EP which is easily one of the most stunning accounts of lockdown melancholy.

This is Only the Beginning will be available to stream and purchase on all major platforms from June 4th. In the meantime, you can check out Lee Olivier-Hall via his website, Instagram or Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Michael Livschitz mellifluously hammers home the tragedy of silent suffering with ‘When Broken Hearts Are Silent’

Posted on 11 March 2021

Between the title and the stabbing intensity of the piano progressions which mellifluously hammer home the tragedy in silent suffering, you can’t help but engage with the evocative potential within Munich’s Michael Livschitz’s latest score ‘When Broken Hearts Are Silent’.

Of all the things that have been lost and have been changed since the pandemic started, I consistently find myself mourning the fact we seem to be slipping into hesitancy to speak, hesitancy to be loud, artful and incredible, hesitancy to be who we were before in the wake of catastrophe and ennui.

When Broken Hearts Are Silent is not a sombre composition, by any means. It is explorative and poignantly reflective through the way it tugs on tender heartstrings, allowing the keys to say what words won’t let us express.

Any fans of Hans Zimmer, John Williams and Ennio Morricone will undoubtedly want to get acquainted with the cinematic presence which resides in Michael Livschitz’s sound.

When Broken Hearts Are Silent is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spielbone has released their neo-classic electronica aid to rumination ‘Les mérites du doute’

Posted on 2 February 2021

German-Ivorian composer, Spielbone, made their debut in 2018 with their minimalist neo-classic twist on ambient electronica, in 2020, he released his pacifyingly immersive album ‘Infinitesimal’ any fans of Nils Frahm or similar contemporaries are going to want to pay attention.

In a time when sanctity of any form is scarce, meditative soundscapes such as Les mérites du doute are worth their weight in aural gold. As Chamber strings draw across the keys, the ruminative soundscape pulls you in deeper into the sanguine essence. Spielbone’s ability to set synapses alight and make heartstrings feel taut will undoubtedly see him going far in 2021 and beyond.

You can hear the album for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Zachary James & Rene Orth – Jabberwocky: A Harsh Electronica Sci-Fi Serenade

Posted on 14 January 2021

Electronica artists generally fall into two categories, the assimilators, and those who throw their authentic expression into their projects to create mind-blowing feats of indulgent insanity, ‘Jabberwocky’ from Zachary James’ 2020 album ‘Call Out’, definitely falls into the latter camp.

‘Jabberwocky’ is a theatrically enticing Sci-Fi laden hit which Zachary James created in collaboration with Rene Orth and Lewis Carroll. The progressive track runs through teasing melodic increments before crashing into tremulously bass-drenched Industrial electronica. It doesn’t matter which extreme the tempo is sitting at; you’ll be transfixed from start to finish in the mix which gives Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds a run for its money.

The multitalented artist’s experience as a Broadway actor discernibly fed into the monumental 7-minute visual single which becomes so much more than a soundscape as you embrace the chaos, imagination and cinematic style.

Jabberwocky is available to stream with the rest of the epic 25-tracker album via Spotify.

 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Find the catharsis in Ric Santos quiescently evocative ambient electronica track ‘Drift’

Posted on 6 December 2020

NYC Electronic artist and producer, Ric Santos, set his own bar exceptionally high with ‘In the Lead Works with the Beast’ which we had the pleasure of reviewing last year, but once again, he’s blown us away with his profound ability to make electronic arrangements bleed pure emotion.

His latest cinematic score, ‘Drift’ is just one of the standout tracks to feature on their forthcoming EP which is due for release in January 2021. After hearing the quiescently evocative alchemy in Drift, it is safe to say that we’re already eager to hear the rest.

The experimentally ambient instrumental mix would be perfectly placed in an OST to aurally narrate fragility experienced in an aftermath. Whether that be an epic battle or an intense interpersonal upheaval. It’s the calm after the storm, a space to breathe, a time to dare to be optimistic, a soundscape to simply exist within; and a stunning one at that.

You can check out Drift via Spotify. Keep up to date with future releases via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dario Pagano has released his sacramentally captivating score ‘Roma Invicta’

Posted on 4 December 2020

Composer of classical, operatic and liturgical music, Dario Pagano, has released his cinematically ensnaring latest score ‘Roma Invicta (Battle)’, an evocatively tensile aural narrative of conflict, resilience and hope. It’s the perfect abstraction from your own emotion, something I’m sure many people presently need and will undoubtedly appreciate.

With a mix of antecedent sounds ranging from Gregorian chants to liturgical choral elements combined with the sheer intensity of the production, also deftly handled by Dario Pagano, the score instils a potent sense of hope as you’re served a sonorous reminder that the world is so much bigger and more sacrosanct than we view it to be on a daily basis.

Roma Invicta is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

 

Sonophonix drive us ‘Crazy In Love’ with their latest single

Posted on 5 October 2020
https://vimeo.com/461511090

Commencing with a beautiful, arpeggiated piano motif before being joined by the deep, sonorous swell of cello, ‘Crazy In Love’ is a beautiful, haunting piece, an instrumental duet of resonant, musical artistry and elegance that showcases the talents of two incredible musicians.

Pianist Deborah Robb and cellist Xue Yang Liu met while students at the Mannes School of Music at the New School in New York City.  While attending Mannes they performed chamber music together and were members of the Mannes American Composers Ensemble (MACE) under the direction of composer Lowell Liebermann.  Their Sonophonix duo merges their composing, arranging and improvisation skills, and ‘Crazy In Love’ is a perfect example of their art, allowing each performer the personal space to breathe whilst intertwining their individual contributions into something altogether greater, a delicate, mellow, composition of refinement and elegance that transcends the classical genre and becomes something altogether of its own.

Crazy In Love can be heard from the Sonophonix website.

Review by Alex Holmes