“Collateral” by James Newton Howard, Antonio Pinto, Tom Rothrock, Various Artists

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Michael Mann’s Collateral is a troubled rag rug of a score, with composer’s duties allegedly split up among nine different people. While James Newton Howard has been the one to walk away with the official credit, Brazilian film score composer Antonio Pinto and also musician/producer Tom Rothrock contributed easily as many musical cues as Howard. However, with the recent release of a Special Collection by Intrada’s this matter has been ended once and for all and Collateral is now officially being considered a James Newton Howard score. Despite that circumstance I’ve decided to keep my custom covers (#2, #3) fairly nonspecific. So no matter what release you…

“Lost in Translation” by Various Artists

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In retrospect, 2003 was a really strong film year. We got box office hits like Kill Bill, The Return of the King or Pirates of the Caribbean. But also allegedly smaller international films that were even better. 21 Grams by Mexican visionary Alejandro González Iñárritu for example. Or also two of the best Korean films ever: Jee-won Kim’s brilliant A Tale of Two Sisters and the original Oldboy by Park Chan-wook (which interestingly have both been remade into weaker Hollywood versions by now). There was one film however that stood out from the crowd and that was Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. It’s not only an absolutely…

“Vanilla Sky” by Nancy Wilson, Various Artists

Categories: Alternates/Rejected Covers · Custom Covers · Original Covers · Remakes · Singles/EPs · Tribute Covers · Vinyl CoversTags: · · 1 Comment

Vanilla Sky might be one of my favourite Cameron Crowe films, although it’s an almost frame by frame remake (or in the words of the director, cover) of Pedro Almodovar’s Open Your Eyes. Crowe even cast the same lead actress for it. But he created such a stylistic and well-directed film, that you can sense his love for the original material in every scene. It’s like customizing your favourite album art… (we’ll talk about that later) … a true labor of love. I actually created all of these custom covers in a rush sometime late last year – after hitting upon the idea…

“Whiplash” by Justin Hurwitz, Tim Simonec, Various Artists

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Whiplash is just as good a terrifying example of megalomania, as it is a love letter to music, musicians and drummers in particular. A parable of competitiveness and self-abandonment. How far would you go and what sacrifices are you willing to make on the way? Well… Whiplash goes all the way and over the edge and it stops at nothing. It’s the Black Swan and Fight Club of drumming. Maybe it’s because I’m a drummer myself or maybe it’s the insane filmmaking I’ve witnessed, but Whiplash left a deep lasting impression on me. I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie drags a crowd of young…

“Birdman” by Antonio Sanchez, Various Artists

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Congrats to Alejandro González Iñárritu for winning big time at last nights Oscars. He’s definitely among my favourite directors and I salute to his skill and creativity. I love his body of work ever since 21 Grams and it’s about time he gets his well-deserved recognition. The highly unusual drum score for Birdman has been “composed” (or rather improvised) by Jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez and is definitely worth a listen. It’s really fascinating how Sanchez is able to create moods and tensions only with the sounds of a drumset. My first custom (#1) is based on the fantastic one-sheet poster, designed by Mark W. Carroll and photographed…