2/8/2020

Several items on my corner today. I’m happy many of you are giving support to our release earlier this week of Mark McKenzie’s score for Universal’s newest chapter in their long-running DragonHeart franchise. Not only did Mark score this one, DragonHeart Vengeance, he scored the previous several installments save for the initial 1996 movie. And we already have another CD for release this coming Tuesday. Time Bandits has at long last become a soundtrack reality. It’s by Mike Moran, boldly symphonic for the time travel storytelling with striking electronic opening and closing sequences. And yes, the CD includes the George Harrison song. When we first launched Intrada back in 1985 with Red Dawn, requests poured in for more releases. This was long before AFM restrictions and Historic Rates policies were in place so the countless soundtrack releases we all enjoy now were just pipe dreams back then. With all those still-unreleased treasures waiting in the vaults, Time Bandits was one of the very first we received requests for and the demand never dissipated. No doubt those famed “Monty Python” creators including Terry Gilliam, John Cleese and Michael Palin are major contributors to the ongoing popularity.

On another note. My long-time friend and fellow soldier in the soundtrack trenches, Lukas Kendall, pointed me to a recent film he directed, titled Sky Fighters. He’s been working on it for some time and should feel proud to see it completed. Intrada is merely a footnote here in that our friendship dates back forever and we gave modest support to his fundraising efforts via coupon codes. The film runs 15 minutes and is quite an extraordinary sci-fi experience. I watched it simply by going to YouTube and searching for “Sky Fighter Dust”, the latter word being the entity presenting the film. Enjoy!

And one final thought. All of us mourn the passing of screen legend, Kirk Douglas. Of his massive list of portrayals, Spartacus reigns supreme. Other personal favorites of mine include John W. Burns (“Jack” for short, as he tells his jailor), Colonel Martin “Jiggs” Casey, Vincent van Gogh, Brendan O’Malley, Commander Paul Eddington, Einar, Doc Holliday, David “Mickey” Marcus, Rick Martin and his most cynical character, Chuck Tatum. Challenge yourself and look up the films thus associated if need be and reflect on the gifts this actor left us. May he rest in peace.

1/26/2020

Laurence Rosenthal was one of the very first film composers we began a relationship with, following our debut productions with Jerry Goldsmith and Basil Poledouris back in 1985 and 1986. Yep. Feels like a million years ago. Anyway, our friendship with Larry continues to this day. The newest CD on Intrada arrives this week and features one of Rosenthal’s earliest scores, The Power And The Glory, dating from 1961. The film was made during the composer’s sensational period working with David Susskind that began with the Broadway show Rashomon in 1959. It's part of the era that also saw Rosenthal deliver scores for A Raisin In The Sun, The Miracle Worker and Requiem For A Heavyweight. The dramatic period film is set in Mexico and focuses on the conflicts and power struggles between the government and the church. It’s an obscure picture, which is odd given its incredible cast that includes Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, Julie Harris, Roddy McDowall and Patty Duke. Rosenthal’s colorful score captures the intensity of the disputes, the emotional weight and agony the characters experience, the rich Mexican culture and settings, the church and more! Enjoy the sound samples, peruse the artwork and contents Monday evening and consider adding The Power And The Glory, a personal favorite of the composer, to your collection.

1/11/2020

Check back here this coming mid-week and consider our newest release for your ever-growing library of soundtracks. We’re offering a 2-CD set of music from the Touchstone/Disney feature Alive, about the Uruguay rugby team and their tragic 1972 plane crash in the Andes of Argentina while enroute to a match in Chile. Their harrowing ordeal of survival formed the basis for this 1993 movie, directed by Frank Marshall, which earned the studio a rare R rating. James Newton Howard was inspired by both the emotional drama and intensity of the story and the incomparable majesty of the icy peaks surrounding the crash survivors. His massive symphonic score offers both richly powerful themes for the mountains of ice and snow and compelling, dramatic music for the survivors ordeal and their will to survive… no matter the cost.

An album was released at the time, featuring 30 minutes of highlights. However, James Newton Howard recorded over 100 minutes of powerful music, including numerous revisions and alternates to accommodate numerous editorial changes the challenging production underwent. On the final day of sessions, he also recorded two versions of a powerhouse trailer cue for the film’s promotion. Intrada’s presentation includes all of the 70-plus minutes used in the film, the additional half hour of alternate material plus the exciting trailer cues, mastered from pristine-condition scoring elements courtesy both Disney and the composer. The long out-of-print original 30-minute album also appears. Artwork, complete contents and sound samples will be available here this coming week. Take a look, take a listen and hopefully support this release… one of James Newton Howard’s most dynamic!

1/2/2020

It’s 2020! Welcome to the New Year! As Intrada begins this busy time, I start by saying I’m looking forward to a lot of cool albums coming up, not only from us but several other labels as well. Expansions, restorations, re-mastered editions, new discoveries… welcome one and all. I hesitate to mention “limited editions” since just about everything nowadays is limited by market interest, with re-pressings based on demand and titles moving about from one label to another becoming routine. But no matter what yardstick is used, the music is most welcome.

As we begin the new year, I’m really excited to hear such positive responses to our just-released new recording of Dial M For Murder. Much of the feedback divides into two camps: Those who are thrilled with the authenticity and quality of the release and those are stunned by the speed with which we went from recording the score to having finished discs available. Hearing from both camps either way is a really nice way to launch this series. We hoped listeners would be pleased with our efforts - your responses and support suggest we succeeded. Thank you! We worked hard to assemble a perfect team for our first crowd-funded project. Maestro Stromberg and I spent quite a bit of time over the holidays getting pre-production plans underway for our next release already. We have a long list of fantastic requests as well as our own personal favorites so we may just have to throw a dart and see where it lands!

Our first 2020 new soundtrack release hits mid-month and it’s one I’ve been excited about seeing happen for awhile now. A 2-CD set, a Disney title, a magnificent score from a favorite composer… what’s not to like? It arrives right on the heels of our Dimitri Tiomkin release mentioned above so the Intrada hamsters here in the shipping room will have plenty of stuff to stay caught up with. And there are plenty more fabulous releases in the works to follow. Hopefully you’ll stay tuned. I’ll make sure the hamsters stay fed.