WHO WROTE THE MUSIC

Copywatch 1: Daniel Powter

2010-06-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

Daniel Powter: he's had a bad day. He's taking one down (whatever that means). He sings a sad song just to turn it around.

Well, not exactly a sad song.

Think about putting on your blue suede shoes, and boarding a plane. Touching down in the land of the delta blues, in the middle of the pouring rain?

Yep, in his second single, Mr Powter took significant "inspiration" the intro from Marc Cohn's 1991 hit "Walking in Memphis". Check it out, Cohn's first:

We know you've had a bad day, Daniel - what with that being your only hit and all.

But there's really no need to take it out on Marc Cohn, is there?

-Copywatch: Cracking down on unoriginality since... I don't know, yesterday? x

Britain's (still) Got Talent

2010-06-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here we go again - the curtain rose once again over the live stages of ITV's fourth series of popular reality show Britain's Got Talent. Refreshingly (we hope) this post isn't your typical "overproduced!/rigged!/unrealistic!/degrading!/scam!" outcry - the likes of which all too often dominate the media coverage of such programming. Actually, we quite like Britain's Got Talent. It's been another bumper crop of talent from the fruitful fields of blighty this year, and we'll be looking forward to the rest of the week on ITV. It's great entertainment.
The only small - and it is small - qualm we have with the series is its use of the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. That's literally it - it just seems odd to feature the music from such a psychologically disturbing movie within the first ten minutes of a primetime and relatively light-hearted TV talent show. Though it seems producers were bored with Carmina Burana and wanted something new, yet equivalently epic. What can you do?

Well, maybe use an extended or looped version of the actual Britain's Got Talent music? Which brings us neatly to the little bit of BGT trivia we have for you: Andy Love and Jos Jorgensen are the two composer/producers behind the actual BGT title music. They're also credited as the composers of the equivalent music for ITV's other large-scale talent search, The X Factor and the american version of Britain's Got Talent. They also co-wrote the single Upside Down from Paloma Faith's debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?. So, there you have it...

WWTM x

PS: That's actually a great album, check it out: Do You Want the Truth Or Something Beautiful - full review to follow.

You just can't do that.

2009-11-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

So I'm in the movie theatre today and the pre-feature trailers are playing. Avatar looks amazing, and that Sherlock Holmes flick seems pretty neat too. I'm settling down to watch 2012, and on release date too. All is well. Then along comes the trailer for Richard Kelly's new The Box picture.
Now, don't get me wrong, the concept of this movie is nice - a woman given the option to effortlessly kill a random stranger in order to win $1million. The first minute and half is an enticing piece of trailer editing. Then they play the Saw Theme Tune. WTF? Seriously? I know it's an awesomely terrifying and claustrophobic little theme, and it seems to fit with the movie's concept, but... you just can't put it in a trailer for any movie other than Saw. Especially not when Saw VI was released not a month ago. It would be like using the Star Wars theme in a trailer for Lord of the Rings, the week after Clone Wars was released. It's just too iconic. Okay, rant over. The trailer's here, if you want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVK-hVGqCpo

2012 was epic, by the way. So was Thomas Wander's (of 10,000 BC and Buffy fame) soundtrack, out now on Columbia.

Twilight New Moon Soundtrack is awful already, say fans

2009-10-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

30-second clips of each song on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack have been posted on the UK Amazon website. Bad times.

Unpredictably however, the fanbase has erupted not with excitement, but with... criticism? :S

A YouTube video featuring all 15 clips, while it has received nearly 120000 views in 3 days, has been met with fan comments like "wow this really sucks ass" (pun unintended), "this suks i loved the twilight album :( this one just sucks", "I don't like the choice of songs" and of course the inevitable "Full Movies @ Watchitfree/org Lots of movies to choose from!". Tut.

But these Twilighters are actually criticising something bearing the sacred brand?? WWTM had to check it out.

They're pretty much right, actually. To summarise, the album consists mainly of generically angsty indie and alternative tracks, with a couple of slower, more indulgent songs (notably "Possibility", in which unknown singer/songwriter Lykke Li drowns dramatically in her own reverb) and the ONE score track by Oscar-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat (of Golden Compass and Benjamin Button fame) - "The Meadow". With a late classical melancholy character, this one's actually quite pretty, but it's the best of a bad bunch.

If you want to check it out go here.

Otherwise, you'd be better off getting a look at Michael Giacchino's adorable soundtrack to Up, released on EMI tomorrow.

-WWTM x

2009-09-04T08:31:00.001-07:00

WELCOME to Who wrote the music? - a regular blog on the what's-what and who's-who (and occasionally the when and WHY??) of Musical and Movie soundtrack music. I shall endeavour to keep both you and I entertained, educated, amused and informed on the global happenings and releases of note.

If you're a keen songwriter/lyricist/librettist yourself, I'd (gently) urge you to check out our sister site over at www.musicaltheatrewriters.com for a community of friendly musical-writers just like us!

WWTM out.