Music From The Body

Patrick Gowers' score for the Grenada Television series about A. Conan Doyle's consulting detective has become almost as closely linked to Sherlock Holmes in the minds of fans as star Jeremy Brett (1933-1995). But those with no interest in Holmes can also enjoy this recording. Gowers' musical eloquence is richly displayed in these widely diverse, yet cohesive, tracks. Gowers begins the recording with "221B Baker Street," the vivacious theme (performed on Holmes' instrument, the violin, by Kenneth Sillito) that brings to mind Holmes' classic alarm call, "Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot. Not a word!" The cohesiveness of the album comes from Gowers' variations on this theme found throughout the rest of the recording. But the diversity within this cohesiveness is what is remarkable.

Michael Kamen is a master at capturing nostalgia, especially when the age in question is the bittersweet "tie a yellow ribbon" landscape of World War II. For the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, Kamen re-visits much of the same territory he explored with fellow sepia-tone junkie Roger Waters on Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Final Cut. Alternately tragic and uplifting, Band of Brothers is a raw, patriotic, and wistfully elegiac tome of swelling choirs, salvation army brass band, and melodious strings that compliment the series' balanced depiction of the horrors of war and the unpredictable sweetness of humanity.

The soundtrack to Woody Allen's 2011 Oscar-nominated romantic comedy Midnight in Paris features a variety of jazz tunes and popular songs that are all generally associated with the film's 1920s Paris setting. While Allen actually transports his movie's main character back to the '20s, most of the music here was recorded by contemporary artists who play in an old-school style. To these ends, we get such roiling and urbane Gypsy jazz tracks as Swing 41's "Je Suis Seul Ce Soir," Original Paris Swing's "Recado," and even several Cole Porter vocal numbers by Conal Fowkes – who appears as Porter in the film. Also featured are jaunty classic jazz cuts like Josephine Baker's conga dance number "La Conga Blicoti" and, of course, Sydney Bechet's "Si Tu Vois Ma Mère," which opens the film. Swooning and romantic in tone with a breezy, swinging jazz vibe throughout, the Midnight in Paris soundtrack is a must-have souvenir for traditional jazz lovers and any fan of the film.

Too bad the film "Sliver" wasn't a hit, or else this could've been one of the greatest film soundtracks of all-time. While most soundtracks just throw songs together without much thought, there's a theme on this album. You can feel the atmosphere of loneliness, lust, and mystery even if you've never seen the film. Enigma's haunting "Carly's Song" and "Carly's Loneliness" are great tracks to get you in a trance, Massive Attack's "Unfinished Symphony" is downright sexy, and Aftershock's "Slave To The Vibe" is the album's showstopper. The film (which was beautifully shot in an MTV style) could rightfully be a showcase just for these songs, kinda like "Purple Rain".

The soundtrack to director Ron Howard's 1995 blockbuster Apollo 13 effectively blends dialogue, actual audio clips from newscasts, classic songs, and portions of conductor James Horner's original score, creating a worthy aural companion. Included are songs from the period of the titular spacecraft's peril-fraught mission, such as the Young Rascals' "Groovin'," Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," the Who's "I Can See for Miles," and a classy version of the oft-covered "Blue Moon" by the Mavericks (produced by Nick Lowe). The orchestrated score manages to capture the drama of the events in a manner that ranges from quietly stirring to sweepingly epic, with Eurythmic Annie Lennox adding her distinctive, ethereal vocal accompaniment to several of the cuts.