When making a film, I play music constantly during "dailies" — the nightly screenings of the previous day's shooting. I test all kinds of music against the image, searching for the elusive "sound" of the picture.
In the case of The Truman Show, since it is the story of a live television program, I was also determining the music that the show's creator, Christof, would have chosen.
Orange Mountain Music is proud to present the new album ESCAPE from guitarist Gerard Cousins featuring arrangements for solo guitar of Philip Glass's best known music. Appropriately, Cousins starts with a flowing account of Opening, the first track from Glass's iconic 1983 album Glassworks, designed to introduce people to the public to the composer’s music. Cousins follows the mood with four tracks from Glass's piano pieces Metamorphosis, the second of which, Metamorphosis No.2, became the basis for the piece Escape! from the Oscar Nominated score to The Hours. The album concludes with Knee Play 2 from Glass's 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach, a landmark of 20th century theater, and finally Truman Sleeps from Glass's Golden Globewinning score to The Truman Show.
Valentina Lisitsa's double-CD of the music of Philip Glass is a generous collection of excerpts drawn from his film music, including The Hours, The Truman Show, and Mishima, as well as from concert works, such as Glassworks, How Now, The Metamorphosis, and Mad Rush, among other selections. While Glass achieved fame through his early ensemble pieces, where he developed a bright-edged sound through the use of electronic keyboards, his minimalism is easily adaptable to the piano, though the characteristic ostinato patterns that gave his earlier scores a fierce energy are somewhat softened in the piano's blander sonorities and more introspective tone. Lisitsa has found a niche in playing minimalist music, as she demonstrated on her successful 2014 album, Chasing Pianos, where she explored the film music of Michael Nyman. This collection is a natural follow-up, and Lisitsa's aptitude for Glass' style is shown in her steady, rocking rhythms and even dynamics, as well as in her poignantly lyrical expressions.
A Whiter Shade of Pale is the 2001 collection of Procol Harem's best-known songs. Not to be confused with their 1972 album of the same name, the album features 15 tracks that show one of the first bands to move in the direction of progressive rock…
A 2010 inductee into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of THE STOOGES, James Williamson is now set to make his most stylistically diverse musical statement to date with his new group, JAMES WILLIAMSON & THE PINK HEARTS. Fronted by Los Angeles-based vocalists Frank Meyer (THE STREETWALKIN' CHEETAHS) and Petra Haden (THAT DOG, THE HADEN TRIPLETS), THE PINK HEARTS' repertoire encompasses everything from feral rockers to soul-searching balladry. "Behind The Shade By James Williamson & The Pink Hearts" will be released on LP+CD, standalone CD, and digitally by Leopard Lady Records on Friday, June 22.