Dragon Age LP hidden track titled "D'read Koda", composed by Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe. Potentially a Dragon Age: Dreadwolf soundtrack (source)

This week's favorite soundtrack

The Lego Batman Movie.

Lorne Balfe scored the film. Its Wikipedia page says that Balfe "did not think of the film as a Batman film, but a 'live-action film with Lego characters', and took the approach of a serious film, rather than writing 'typical animated film music'."

It absolutely shows. The score is full of fabulous stuff. But there's one section I particularly love. It's a spot in which Balfe adorns a very heartfelt moment with an absolutely glorious chromatically-scaled crescendo-cum-fanfare that scales up and up and up in paired modes of triumph and tragedy and then, before the harmonies resolve, does... something unexpected. (If you've got the film available via streaming, or have a copy, my version pegs this sequence as starting about 1:33:00.) It takes a very special kind of composer to pull this off... and it shouldn't have surprised me to find out he'd worked with Hans Zimmer.

...This segment from YouTube has the passage in question. Start from around 1:26 for best results: or take the whole thing from the top. Unfortunately the musical experience needs the sequence's video to fully express what happens next; but such is life.

I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the score behind the scene where Mat summons the Heroes of the Horn, because after rewatching it literally four times I finally realized why it hit me so hard – it’s scored like a modern movie or show of the genre usually would be.

This is the part where I admit that it took me most of the first season to warm up to Lorne Balfe’s compositions for Wheel of Time; I am an ardent enjoyer of the more classical, leitmotif-laden scores for things like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and for a while I felt a twinge of disappointment that WoT wouldn’t be getting the same treatment. But! I eventually came to my senses and realized that Balfe’s compositions perfectly suit Wheel of Time’s setting. WoT’s world is post-apocalyptic, risen from the ashes of an unimaginably technologically advanced society to form its own unique landscape – that’s wild!! It’s different!! And Lorne Balfe recognized that it warranted a different musical style to match. He relies on compositions that lean into synthesized, eerie reverbs, and substitutes the classic leitmotifs seen elsewhere for rhythmic choral chanting in the Old Tongue to explain characters and their motivations – if you have the ear to understand it, of course. ;)

This brings me back around to our good friend Matrim. As he summons the Heroes, something happens to the score. The choral element is still present, but the slow music beneath it is… a regular orchestra. Slow, soaring strings, the kind of sound western audiences typically associate with decades of moments of glory and victory on screen – the music we typically hear for our heroes. As Mat calls these warriors from past Ages, and as he says “I… I remember”, the music steps back with him, connecting Mat to them all. This is a moment that straight up would not have worked if Wheel of Time was scored like the Lord of the Ringses or Game of Throneses it’s so often compared to – there wouldn’t have been any contrast between this section of the score and all the others. But because the score is usually on a completely different plane, doing weird, unique, “out-of-genre” stuff, it clicks PERFECTLY. Even if you don’t consciously register it, the music has momentarily stepped into a style that’s completely different – but completely familiar.

Lorne Balfe didn't need to go as hard as he did on the Skylanders soundtracks but I am forever grateful that he did.

Okay y’all am I fucking crazy or is The Desert Warriors, the aiel theme about their cultural philosophy with old tongue lyrics from the season two soundtrack, a fucking waltz. Because OF COURSE that’s how you musically portray the dance of spears! Lorne Balfe the mad lad!!! He’s done it again!!!!!

It has been a hot minute since I posted anything...

But I just had a life-changing revelation that I need to share with the class (y'all).

So if you have seen my posts before, you will know that I recently (ish) watched the Top Gun movies for the first time. Well today, 10 minutes ago, I Ain't Worried (the song from the TGM beach scene) came up on my Spotify and I had the brilliant idea of listening to the TGM soundtrack (which is something I do a lot with movies that I like).

WELL, I already found it crazy enough that Lady Gaga herself worked on the music for a "totally straight" military action movie. And you know, Hans Zimmer has composed everything (and I mean everything, look him up). But I was unfamiliar with the other two names on the list Harold Faltermeyer and Lorne Balfe.

WELL, Lorne has a pretty simple background, he worked under Hans Zimmer, and he's composed for some pretty cool movies. Average Hollywood composer stuff.

BUT HAROLD FALTERMEYER WROTE G*D D*AMNED AXEL F!!!!! You know, the Crazy Frog song!?!?!?! Like, who sat down and said "Hmmm we're making a movie about pilots? We obviously need Zimmer, and he likes to bring Balfe along. Lady Gaga should be fun, she's young and cool. Oh and what about the man who wrote F*UCKING AXEL F!!!!!!!!!!!"

TL;DR The music team for Top Gun: Maverick is insane and I don't know how to handle this information.

I really enjoyed this interview with Lorne Balfe about the Argylle soundtrack

"When we were recording it [with an orchestra and choir] we didn’t use the title. I didn’t know what it was when I heard it. I think it meant a lot to many people that this was the last [Beatles] song. So being able to have an orchestra and write cues and put it into the movie was, I think, now when you process it, it was an honor because it’s not something you [usually] get to do. Also, having a choir singing it. Afterwards in the break, you heard them all singing the song and none of them knew it was the Beatles."

(and next time you go see this film - because you know and i know that if you're browsing the argylle tag on tumblr then you're definitely not a once-and-done with this chaoticly beautiful piece of cinema - make sure you're listening very carefully to the very end of 'run', and think about this choir as you do so)

If I was Lorne Balfe and I was feeling cheeky I'd make an Old Tongue version of Wonderwall for Asmodean to sing.

what lorne balfe did on the black widow soundtrack actually needs to be studied because it’s some of the best pieces of music i’ve ever heard!!!!

definitely in the top 3 best scores out of the mcu

the dragon reborn string rhythm from "aman syndai" + goldeneyes theme with the dragon reborn string rhythm layered underneath from "al'cair sei" + aes sedai theme with the dragon reborn string rhythm layered underneath from "the wisdom"

it was about them all!!!

The Wheel of Time soundtrack has every right to be fucking good but dammit, who gave it to them bc Lorne Balfe's score for this show fucking slaps.

— Ghost in the Shell (2017), directed by Rupert Sanders.

Okay so I have been listening to the soundtrack on repeat right, I was SO fucking hyped when Aviendha gave the ‘perrin aybara do you like to dance’ line and then her battle theme music started up with the ji’e’toh old tongue lyrics 😭🤘🏻

That scene RULED I love the change of Aviendha taking Gaul’s place meeting Perrin, this was a PERFECT re-introduction for the aiel following the Tigraine scene in s1.

Egwene al'Vere (from The Wheel of Time: Season 2) - Lorne Balfe