Out of Office

As you might have heard, I've been asked out on tour at the last minute to play for a guy named Ben. Operations here will be on hiatus until further notice. Thanks for coming and please come back again...

THE GOOD GERMAN now on iTunes!

An early Christmas present for Thomas Newman fans! iTunes has THE GOOD GERMAN's score available for sampling and purchasing. Amazon lists the CD release date as January 9th.

Amazon also lists the LITTLE CHILDREN CD for January 23rd.

Update: The mystery continues... The GOOD GERMAN score has been taken off iTunes. Ironically, the CD is out and on sale at Amazon.com, but they've confused the cover with The Good Shepherd. If I can't find it in stores soon, I'll be ordering one myself; I just saw the film and the score is just fantastic.

GOOD GERMAN score preview in the new FSM podcast!

Here's something to start your day off just right: The new Film Score Monthly podcast features, believe it or not, a preview of Newman's THE GOOD GERMAN score (as well as a few other upcoming scores). As the hosts say, people have been waiting a long time for Newman to be forced to do this kind of a score, and it sounds like they won't be disappointed!

Just search for "Film Score Monthly" in your iTunes Music Store and download the latest episode, or download it directly at this link.

I've just become a new fanboy of this podcast, that's for sure.

VARIETY Interview

A new Variety interview features a roundtable discussion with composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell, Fox Music prexy Robert Kraft and Sony Pictures Worldwide Music president Lia Vollack. Thomas Newman phoned in to contribute to an all-too-brief discussion about the state of film scoring. An excerpt:

"It can be a great time for film music. Does it turn out that way? Not all the time, because there are so many people -- middle-management people -- with agendas that can make things more difficult. I'm so grateful to just be in a room with great players and hang with them, and have lunch with them. Any time is potentially a great time. Yes, you may be shot down, and things may be awful, but things can also be potentially fantastic."

Read the rest, in which Newman reveals some frustration about LITTLE CHILDREN being released only digitally, here.

THE GOOD GERMAN soundtrack release date

Varese Sarabande has a release date -- January 9th -- and some high praise for Newman's THE GOOD GERMAN score:

An homage to the Golden Age of film noir thrillers, The Good German is a glistening reflection on a bygone era of film. The absolutely brilliant score by Thomas Newman is likewise cut from the cloth of such Golden Age masters as Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa and his own father, the legendary Alfred Newman. The Good German is one of the best scores of the year and a strong Oscar contender. The Warner Bros. film opens nationwide on December 22. Catalog #: 302 066 781 2

The question is will we see an iTunes release before this? I'm excited for this one folks, and I think it could easily overshadow LITTLE CHILDREN as Newman's Oscar-hopeful.

Shameless self-promotion

I normally won't be doing this kind of thing, but I just wanted to let any readers here know that I've just launched my personal blog for movie reviews. You can get to know a little more about me and some great new movies by visiting samsmyth.blogspot.com. Bookmark me, leave me some feedback, and stay tuned for more.

Little Children CD release in UK

Good news, UK fans: Silva Screen Records has announced that they will be releasing the LITTLE CHILDREN CD soundtrack in the UK on December 11th. Read the news item on their official site. For the US, I'm still hearing January, but I'm enjoying my iTunes copy just fine.

Rare Newman scores on eBay

A quick search for Mr. Newman on eBay turns up a few rare promotional CDs of some of Newman's otherwise-unavailable film scores. If you're willing to pay the price, you can get your hands on complete scores for Phenomenon, The Lost Boys, The Man With One Red Shoe, and others. Thanks to Douglass for the tip!

Still no LITTLE CHILDREN...

New Line has still not set a specific release date for the LITTLE CHILDREN CD, due in January, and in response to some readers' emails, I'm not quite sure when and if iTunes in UK will release the digital copy.

I can tell you that I caught LITTLE CHILDREN on my recent visit to New York City and while I can't yet agree with some that it's Newman's best work in years, it certainly works beautifully in the film, and you can hear Newman charting some new territory in his arrangements, particularly in the End Titles track. If you're still holding out for the CD, do yourself a favor and purchase this track if nothing else. I'll post a full review of the score soon.

Thanks to everyone who's shot me an email of support. Feel free to post comments here on the blog (see the links under each post). I look forward to and am open to all feedback.

Newman to recieve Frederick Loewe Award

Thomas Newman will be presented with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing at the Festival’s annual Awards Gala on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in California. Festival chairman Earl Greenburg commented, “From Jarhead to Cinderella Man, Newman’s music elevates each of the films he scores to new artistic heights.” The fest will also honor Shirley McClaine, Charlize Theron, David Cronenberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard and Michael London.

"Amazing Stories" tracks now available

Thomas Newman Complete (now up and running again) reports that Intrada Records has released a second volume of the "Amazing Stories" television soundtrack, which features holiday-themed Newman music from the episode "Santa 85." Intrada is selling it for 29.99 and it's limited to 3,000 copies. The tracklist on Intrada's site lists 5 Newman tracks totalling 13:05.