Once Upon a Time

Since The Big Chill, too often directors and film producers have taken the easy way out in creating soundtracks for their big-budget Hollywood movies by licensing a couple handfuls of hits either from the catalog of yesteryear's pop giants or from hungry up-and-comers. It's a formula almost. Thankfully there are still film scores, though they all seem to be written by the same five men. Both of these poles sees to lie in stark contrast to Robert Rodriguez's approach to creating an audio environment both to accompany and stand apart from his films. On Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Rodriquez took matters into his own hands and procured a series of rather obscure existing tracks that viscerally underscore defined themes in his movie – such as Juno Reactor's "Pistolero," Brian Setzer's ass-kicking "Malagueña," and Manu Chao's "Me Gustas Tu." He also commissioned several tracks to actors and wrote others for his players. Thus Tito Larriva's haunting "Flor de Mal," or Johnny Depp and friends under the moniker Tonto's Giant Nuts offer "Sands Theme," while Rubén Blades and Antonio Banderas helped to flesh out their own character's themes musically as well as dramatically.

Walt Disney Records will release a new soundtrack album for the ABC drama Once Upon a Time. The album features selections of the original music from the seventh and final season of the show composed by Mark Isham (Crash, A River Runs Through It, The Accountant, Miracle), Cindy O. Connor (Not Forgotten) and Michael D. Simon (The Squeeze) who all received an Emmy Award nomination this year for their score for the series finale Leaving Storybrooke. The soundtrack will be available to download as a digital album tomorrow, August 17 (click here to download). ABC Studios and Intrada Records have previously released soundtrack albums featuring Isham’s music from Season 1 and Season 2. Season 7 of Once Upon a Time created by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz is now available on VOD and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 28. Visit the official show website for more information.

Once Upon A Time Live in Avignon, recorded at Avignon’s Théâtre des Halles in August 1994, presents Eberhard Weber’s unique approach to the solo recital. The album sees the bassist balancing compositions from his albums Orchestra and Pendulum with a vibrant rendition of “My Favorite Things” and his own “Trio for Bassoon and Bass”, revealing fresh aspects of his distinctive musical diction. Reviewing one of the bassist’s live shows the year this album was recorded, the Financial Times marvelled at Weber’s musicianship, insisting that “it is hard to imagine that anyone else could play what Weber plays“. Condensed into a concise programme, Once Upon A Time Live in Avignon captures the essence of Eberhard Weber’s solo performance.