Zulu Soundtrack by The City of Prague Philharmonic

John Barry’s soundtrack for Zulu finally gets the justice it deserves in this lavish rendition in HDCD format. Also included are tracks from many of his other movie scores on this two disc set that spans most of his career.

In these faltering times for classical music and orchestras, The City of Prague Philharmonic has carved out a niche by redoing film themes and soundtracks under the direction of Nic Raine. The best modern recording technology has been employed for maximum clarity. Often the result is superior to previous recordings and occasionally Raine’s arrangements are simply better than the original.

A few years back I discovered one track from Silva Records 1999 double CD Zulu set online and that led to me buying quite a few tracks performed by the Philharmonic of various film themes. But I wanted to get this CD and only recently did I find a used one in the price range I am miserly so fond of.

Upon receiving it I was delighted to find that while the case had a light crack, the CD’s were immaculate. Even better, they were in the relatively rare HDCD format. After setting up Windows Media Player properly, I could hear a difference between it and my normal Media Monkey playback. Decent speakers and headphones are a must for this, otherwise you will not be able to tell the difference. But how to rip the CD’s and preserve the 20 bit quality?  DBPowerAmp to the rescue and I used its demo to rip the tracks to FLAC.

Further adding to the quality of Silva Records issue is a nine page booklet packed with liner notes on the tracks. Insights into Barry’s process on each film answered some questions I had while listening to the compositions and that made listening even more enjoyable.

On to the tracks. What I wrote about them in the review of the Ember release still applies, so you will want to read that first.

Disc One:

1. Zulu Main Theme/Isandhlwana – The much richer sound and impeccable clarity are noticeable immediately.
2. News of the Massacre/Rorke’s Drift Threatened – The drums really stand out more with the strings and horns benefiting greatly from the digital recording.
3. Bromhead’s Safari/Wagons Over – The addition of the short intro for Michael Cain extends this track in a lovely Copeland-like passage.
4. “You’re All Going to Die!” – One of the missing pieces it features ominous strings reminiscent of Barry’s Bond compositions. It is a much better segue into the next track than Wagons Over.
5. First Zulu Appearance and Assault – Compared to the original, the strings shine and the harp is delicately pristine. It makes the Ember release sound muddy.
6. March of the “Men of Harlech” – The Crouch End Chorus led by David Temple sing the full song acapella and it is a fantastic addition that is just as stirring as when the soldiers sang it in the movie.
7. Durnford’s Horses Arrive and Depart/The Third Assault – This shows off what a modern recording does for trumpet and brass in general.
8. Zulu’s Final Appearance and Salute – The HDCD wider “soundstage” allows you to place where almost every instrument is. Superb.
9. “Men of Harlech”/End Title – Once again, fantastic.
10. The Girl with the Sun in Her Hair (Sunsilk TV Commercial) – Composed for a 1967 shampoo commercial it reminded me of Barry’s work on From Russia with Love. It is classic 1960’s soundtrack far and is quite good. Too good for a commercial!
11. The Specialist: Suite – A compilation of music from Sylvester Stallone’s 1994 action movie it was a rare outing into action films post Bond. In some ways it sounds like he was trying to reach back to his hey day and it turns very jazzy two thirds of the way in. Sadly it is not memorable.
12. The Cotton Club: Suite – Now this is fun. Getting back to his jazz roots, Barry composed a very George Gershwin style soundtrack in 1984. The first third features a playful piano and smoky sax, the middle darker and noirish, and ending in a mournful theme. A very good bit of music, indeed.
13. King Rat: March – Very military and strangely upbeat it does what a march is supposed to do – move your feet. It fits the 1965 film’s POW setting well.
14. The Tamarind Seed: Suite – Since no soundtrack was ever released from the 1974 movie, this is the first time the music has been made available. It is a moody string based affair about an affair. At one point a repeating instrumental phrase builds relentlessly, sounding much like a Morse code transmission, which reflects the spy thriller elements of the movie. It ends with a slow moving piece that reminded me of parts of Barry’s later soundtrack for The Black Hole.

Disc Two:

1. The Last Valley: Main Theme (Choral Version) – Big, militant, and sinister is how I would describe this theme. Appropriate for the 1970 film set during the The Thirty Years War. If you liked the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian you will like this. I liked it.
2. Love Amongst the Ruins – A gentle and romantic waltz befitting the 1975 TV movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Lawrence Olivier. Harpsichord and strings dominate. For some reason it reminds me of The Wrong Box, a completely different movie.
3. Mercury Rising: The Story Ends – A generic effort that wanders about aimlessly before deciding to walk a darker path. It appears Barry did not know what exactly to do with the 1998 Bruce Willis film and parts of it seem like leftovers from Dances with Wolves.
4. Midnight Cowboy: Florida Fantasy – Cheerful in contrast to the 1969 movie it came from it is more of a pop track than anything else in this collection. Notable for featuring guitar work and what sounds like bongo drums if I am not mistaken.
5. King Kong: Prelude & Love Theme – Large sounding like the title character of the infamous 1976 remake it was composed without seeing the film! The first part is more discordant than I am used to with Barry. The love theme sounds like Rogers & Hammerstein meet John Barry. I really do not know how I feel about that.
6. Frances: Theme – From the very depressing 1982 movie, it combined Mozart’s Sonata in A major with Barry’s own music. Unfortunately, the outcome is slow, boring, and forgettable.
7. My Sister’s Keeper: Suite – Another rarity in that it comes from a 1986 period piece set in 1943 that ended up going straight to video. Opening with a harmonica and a bluesy piano, it gives way to strings and what seems to be only the left most keys of the piano. That makes for a deliberately uncomfortable passage evoking feelings of bad news. Then it gets darker in tone before finally lightening up. This is my favorite track on Disc Two and was a very nice surprise.
8. Hammett – Chinese motifs blend with piano and clarinet for a feeling of being in smoke filled and dimly lit dive. Can’t get more appropriate for a private eye film dealing with Chinatown! It is a good composition from a very troubled production that finally came out in 1982 after years of problems.
9. Dances with Wolves: The Buffalo Hunt – Gorgeous horn work and strings star in one of the best pieces from what I believe is Barry’s best soundtrack. It is a great rendition, but I still prefer the original soundtrack version from 1990. Go buy that, now!
10. The Deep: Theme – Slow, relaxed, and well… blah. I vaguely recall the 1977 movie only because of Jacqueline Bissett in her prime.
11. Mister Moses: Suite – Nic Raines went back to the original compositions of this music since Barry had compromised them to appease the film makers of the 1965 movie. So in a way, this is another first on this release. I would describe it as a very fun mix of Zulu and Dances with Wolves. Very enjoyable to listen to and it will bring a smile to your face.

All in all, this is an interesting overview of John Barry’s work over the decades. The performances are all very good and benefit from the all digital recording, not to mention the 20 bit HDCD format. However, there have been no new HDCD capable players made since the 1990’s so that is a problem.  But if you have the know how, you can decode it like I did and it will sound terrific on a decent soundcard.

This version of Zulu is simply superior in every way but one to the original Ember Records release. All that is lacking is the narration by Richard Burton. Otherwise everything about the modern version is better mainly due to modern recording techniques, but also the inclusion of a couple of missing pieces. Add in all the other tracks from different movies and it becomes a slam dunk. One caveat is that it will cost you more than twice as much as the Ember release to buy in physical or digital format.

I highly recommend this two CD set to fans of Zulu, John Barry, and good film scores.

Squid Girl Season 1 DVD Set 2 and Ep. 7 Review

UPDATE September 4, 2018

More DMCA take downs have hit the blog despite screen captures long being considered fair use. Due to my not being able to afford a lawyer, I have no choice but to remove them or have the blog suspended. Only the words will be left.

TVTokyo is proving to be foolishly draconian in targeting posts meant to get people interested in seeing the Squid Girl anime and perhaps even purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray. Being anti-piracy myself this is infuriating that they are targeting posts I wrote hoping to encourage people to try out a delightful show.

Squid Girl returns to inkvade TV sets in the final volume of the first season. Will she take over the world or settle for taking the hearts of the viewers? Oh and was that defective DVD case problem fixed? Read on to find out!

There is still a place for utterly silly humor and the best place for it is in animation. Without the constraints of reality, there is a freedom to have anything happen. The idea of an anthropomorphic squid hybrid walking around trying to invade the world is a perfect example of this.

Squid Girl could have relied on pure silliness exclusively, but fortunately the original material and the anime adaptation have a gentler side. The little things in life are shown both comically and with warmth in a blend that makes you smile, if not appreciate life a little more. Episode 7 is a gentler and slower moving one that relies more on character insights and situations than slapstick comedy.

Is Somesquid After Me?

Poor Nagisa. She gets the job of her dreams at the beach so she can surf whenever she likes, only to find herself working next to a possibly alien invader out to conquer the world. Being the only sane one in a bunch of weirdoes  is a burden to the teen, but someone must protect humanity. Right?

So when she is invited to the Aizawa residence for a welcome dinner for joining the restaurant staff, Nagisa is shocked to find Squid Girl living there. Unable to resist tormenting the only human afraid of her, Ika Musame brags how her plans are going ahead.

Despite seeing the relative normality of Squid Girl’s life with the family, the surfer girl becomes even more paranoid. Delusions about brainwashing going on lead her to ask to stay overnight, where she observes the invader’s behavior. Confused by what she sees, Nagisa decides a desperate new tactic must be used to save the Aizawa clan and humanity.

Heartbreak follows as does a terrific talk between Eiko and Ika-chan. Will things go back to normal? Is there a normal in this show?!

Why Don’t We Inkvestigate?

A rare bridge between segments has Nagisa meeting Cindy Campbell for the first time. Yes, the alien obsessed blond from MIT has returned to try to get Squid Girl to submit to being tested. For some reason being a lab rat does not appeal to the betentacled girl.

Tired of the lack of respect, not to mention fear, from humans, Ika decides that she needs to change her identity to gain that. It is time to become Squid Queen! Since royalty requires servants, she hatches a plan to recruit followers – a plan that includes blackmail. Yes, she will stoop that low to get her tentacles around the globe.

Sadly for her, she is outwitted once again by Cindy and agrees to go to her lab in exchange for her servitude. Realizing she has been played for a sucker, Ika reluctantly goes. Surprisingly, the lab is a hidden lair in the rocks near the beach! Inside are three more MIT graduates, Martin, Harris, and Clark. Like Cindy, they are obsessed with aliens.

Finding herself in the clutches of mad scientists can Ika survive without being dissected or worse? Or will childish verbal games be her undoing…

Can I Inktrest You in a Job?

Eiko rescuing a pretty girl being hit on by Goro’s life guard buddy leads to Ayomi joining the waitressing staff of the Lemon Beach House. Yes, she is girl who wore a fake Squid Girl head in an earlier episode. Her beauty is only eclipsed by her terminal shyness. The girl does not even speak and only nods in agreement.

With a beautiful girl as a lure, business booms and Squid Girl finds herself in the rare position of not being the center of attention. But that is not the worst thing the day has to offer. Being traded to the girl’s father to work at The Southern Winds has to be worse. Harsh does not begin to describe the man’s methods. If you have ever been in boot camp and had a DI you will recognize some similarities.

Being thrust into the spotlight leads to a sad epiphany for the young squid as the episode ends. Can Ayomi find her voice? Can Ika handle working for her father?

Thoughts

That was a fun episode despite not being manic. I particularly liked the clever usage of music with melodramatic tones used for Nagisa’s delusions and the 60’s movie homage for the mad scientist lair.

Speaking of (or more accurately, writing of) the mad scientists, this is the introduction of their reoccurring characters. On the Net they are often referred to as the Three Idiots for good reason. There is a bit of snarky social commentary about wasting one’s talents that I also appreciated.

Eiko gets some good character moments in each segment. It is nice to see a “voice of reason” character treated well in a comedy and she gets some great lines throughout the series.

One of the best sight gags I’ve seen in a cartoon is committed by Cindy and that had me laughing out loud. Keep an eye open for that.

Technical

The unorthodox case covers continue and the front is a clever lampoon of group photos gone wrong. The back has a typo in the first sentence that proves you cannot rely on spellcheckers alone. Also, the synopsis is annoying because it overplays Sanae’s unwanted obsession with Squid Girl as if it were the main story. Ah, otaku’s and their obsession with perviness.

The case itself is a vast improvement over the previous one. Many discs from set one were damaged in shipment due to the poor quality of the cases. Gone are the flimsy center post design and the plastic is much firmer with less flex. Discs will not depart on their own with this case. Kudos to Media Blasters for rectifying the problems there.

The second set for Season 1 of Squid Girl maintains the high visual quality of the first set reviewed here. The video scales up nicely again and the sound is clear Dolby Digital.

Episodes 7-10 are on Disc 3 and Disc 4 contains the final two episodes plus the same trailers from the previous set.

But the big bonus are the two OVA episodes of Mini Squid Girl on Disc 4. These short and relentlessly cute stories are great fun.

All in all, Media Blasters did a good job on the DVD sets and now have announced there will be a Blu-ray set released this coming Spring.

Drone Follies

Iran has put the RQ-170 Sentinel on display for the world to see. Yes, one of America’s most secret aircraft is in their hands. Video here. From that it looks like it may have landed gear up rather than crashed. The airframe looks completely intact though. It also makes me wonder if the virus going around the Air Force base might be related to it. Could it have been hijacked?

Something of interest to me is the fact that it is painted in a yellow sand color. That would suggest daylight operations for the top secret reconnaissance drone and a great deal of belief in its stealth abilities. Also interesting is the used of a radar scattering grid on the intake like the F-117ANighthawk had. This is a very low observable aircraft. So much for stealth being a magical shield.

This is up there with the Gary Powers U-2 shoot down in the early 1960’s. Now I assume Russia and China will be bidding on access to the drone, if they haven’t already.  You would have thought there would be a self destruct device in the RQ-170. This is embarrassing.

Full video follows:

RQ-170 Sentinel on Display in Iran

Blu-ray and the Blog

I have to say I am loving my new Blu-ray drive and the quality difference in the handful of movies I have in that format. While I had some minor issues figuring out how to do screen captures, that has been resolved thanks to some codec pack changes.

As a test run, I have updated the TRON: Legacy review from earlier this year with HD screen caps at 720P resolution. I went for an optimum compromise in quality and size by choosing that resolution, which is 1280 x 720 pixels for those wondering.  The review itself was cleaned up, added to, revised, and shrunken by removing the bonus screen caps.

Now I have a bunch of leftovers to make wallpapers from while I fantasize about getting a bigger monitor!

At some point in the near future I will be reviewing a few more Blu-ray’s I have including Captain America, the Gammera trilogy, and 2001. I’m really looking forward to the last because I have read that it is an exceptionally good transfer.

Oh and I had a bit of luck on Saturday. A trip with a neighbor to a local grocery turned up a used Blu-ray copy of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for ten bucks. While the original case had been looted of the DVD and digital copy discs, it appears the original had never been played. Not a smudge, not a spec, and nary a scratch on it. It played with no issues and that my friends is what I call a steal.

It is also one of the few things to go right lately. Nothing like finding out the rear brakes on the car need parts that are very hard to find and very expensive. My father will have sunk almost one grand into this attempt to do it on the cheap. Meanwhile, winter weather has set in and we only have the front brakes working reliably and one of the rears sort of.

At least the jump to Blu-ray is as impressive as I had hoped. It is as big a leap as from VHS to DVD.

Zulu: The Soundtrack Review

John Barry is most famous for his many James Bond soundtracks but his resume is considerably larger than that. His score for the movie Zulu is one of his more memorable early efforts, despite being a relatively small amount of music. This is the first of two reviews of different releases.

Watching Zulu the music always stands out due to it being overtly dramatic and “in your face” when it is used. There is nothing subtle about it and that was hardly unusual in the late 1950’s and 60’s scores. Used sparingly in the film, it made a bigger impression then its scanty twenty minutes of use in the long movie should. So it is a pity that the movie was only released in monaural format given how good it was.

One of the nice things about the Web is the ease of obtaining hard to find music in digital format. In this case it was Amazon’s MP3 store that provided me a chance to get the original soundtrack issued on the Ember label for a reasonable price.

Originally put out on stereo LP, the album surprised me in including extra tracks by The John Barry Seven. I scratched my head and wondered why. Then I saw the total time for the film score amounted to 18:26! They clearly needed the extra music to pad the flip side of the LP. Running time for the album is just shy of thirty six minutes.

The stereo presentation of the music is not very impressive and appears to be artificially shifted from the monaural sources used for the movie. Still, it is better for stereo systems and should allow some matrix expansion whether it be Dolby ProLogic or DTS. The MP3 files are of high quality variable bitrate (VBR) and given the source do not lose much fidelity. That will put this release at a bit of a disadvantage in comparison to the Silva Records version I will review in the future. Well, not the only disadvantage.

John Barry got his start as a jazz musician and the use of musical motifs in variation is something he carried over to his orchestral composing. Zulu is an extreme example of this with nearly every track being a version of the main theme. It is an amazing demonstration of doing much with very little, in my opinion.

On to the tracks!

1. Main Title Theme/Isandhlwana, 1876 – Proud, dramatic, and deliberately over the top, it states the main theme forcefully. Brass and drums dominate before fading into Richard Burton’s narration from the beginning of the movie. Oddly, the narration was placed so it came through the left speaker only.
2. News of the Massacre/Rorke’s Drift Threatened – This is the fanfare from the title reveal in the movie seguing into a brief restatement of the theme. Not content to restate the theme, Barry continues into a muted version ending with military drums and a lonely trumpet evoking the feeling of being alone against the world. Or in this case against 4,000 Zulus.
3. Wagons Over – Again the muted version of the theme but punctuated with fanfares to raise the tension. It is a short but effective track conveying the growing conflicts within the outpost.
4. First Zulu Appearance and Assault – A slower building piece that relies heavily on base drums at first and then adds horns and strings to push the theme. It is all about dread and tension building, then fading and building again. Which is a perfect companion to the ebb and flow of battle, of course.
5. Durnford’s Horse Arrive and Depart/The Third Assault – The first part of this is oddly out of order on the soundtrack, having accompanied the scene showing the local cavalry before the first attack. As a result, the hopeful and lilting horns playing an optimistic version of the main theme seem out of place. The silence that bridges the two passages aggravates things somewhat. The later half is a stately reprise of the theme.
6. Zulu’s Final Appearance and Salute – It starts out quiet with underlying tension before becoming a despairing implementation of the theme. It fits the scene in the movie perfectly in the changing moods.
7. The VC Roll and Men of Harlech – Burton narration from the film lists the Victoria’s Cross winners and fades into a men’s choir singing Men of Harlech. It is somber and at the same time brings forth a feeling of pride, just as in the movie.
8. Stomp and Shake – Female Zulu singers provide the vocals over very surf/jazz rock guitar for a piece of 60’s pop kitsch. It reminds me somewhat of the soundtrack to Hitari.
9. High Grass – More of the same, minus the singers and slightly mellower. At this point I was thinking this is 60’s movie music 101.
10. Zulu Stamp – While more rhythmic, it is more of the same again, albeit in a playful form.
11. Big Shield – Okay, this is pure 1960’s light jazz material and could have been composed by Henry Mancini for a Pink Panther film. That is not necessarily an insult, but it is hard to adjust to these tracks after listening to the score part of the album.
12. Zulu Maid – The female singers return for a song that is fluffy lightness.
13. Monkey Feathers – Ever imagine the main theme of Zulu done on an electric guitar? I had not and that is exactly what this is. The problem is the presentation being like the previous tracks by The John Barry Seven. A more serious attempt at this would be a classic piece of electric guitar -- which is not to be found here, sadly.
14. Zulu Stamp [Mono Single Mix] – It is what it says it is, the mono version of track 10.
15. Monkey Feathers [Mono Single Mix] – You guessed it, the mono version of track 13.

The album is a mixed bag thanks to the split personality between orchestral score and pop jazz. While I love the soundtrack, I do not love the pop side of it. Other than Monkey Feathers, it felt flat to my ears and condescending. What was serious is turned into superficial twaddle. I have no idea what Barry was thinking other than “I need to pad out the record.”

On the other hand, the score is wonderful for fans of the film. I cannot say how someone who has not seen the movie would rate the music, but I can guarantee it is not boring. Anyone looking for the Zulu singing from the film will be disappointed because none of that is part of the score. That is a pity, since it was as memorable as the orchestral music.

I recommend Zulu to those who absolutely have to have the original soundtrack, the Richard Burton narrations, or are curious about the pop jazz tracks. Otherwise, there is a much better version available taking advantage of modern recording technology.

Christmas Musings

It is that time of year when bright lights and inflatable Santa Claus lawn ornaments start appearing. As the years go by, I find myself becoming more like Charlie Brown in lamenting the commercialization of the holiday. Christmas is not supposed to be about such things, but about celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Substitute any good rant about the subject in place of this sentence and it will cover the important points. Instead of dwelling on the negative, I find myself thinking of other things. Especially one thing. It has been nearly five years since that experience and I think of that dying young mother every Christmas time.

It can be strange what haunts you when you travel the musty corridors of memory. Talking to her at that gas station has stayed with me in a way most memories have not. For me, that has become the Christmas memory above all others and I am not sure why.

One thing that I wish to do is surround myself with things more important and real than the trappings of the popular culture. Perhaps watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional is a good start to this. Making the time more Christ centric is always a good idea, but certainly more so when you have things like Black Friday dominating the news. Materialism is not what this is supposed to be about.

So I will turn my eyes toward the spiritual and try not to allow what others do annoy me. So I will meditate and contemplate that sacred first coming of Jesus so long ago in humble circumstances.

Oh my, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s rendition of The First Noel just killed me. Absolutely beautiful.

Drone Shot Down by Iran?

Show me the pictures or it did not happen is my response. Claiming to do a thing for propaganda purposes is not something unknown with the Iranian government. What makes it interesting is the claim that it was a RQ-170 and that it was forced down mostly intact.

If true, it would be a coup for them in more ways than one since it has advanced stealth construction and materials. While I am no fan on relying on drones, I am skeptical that they succeed in shooting down a stealth aircraft. There will be quite a few repercussions if this does turn out to be true.

I am amused that all the photos I have seen from the news agencies reporting this have shown anything but a RQ-170 Sentinel. So far I have seen decidedly unstealthy Predators from the clueless media. You would think they are able to use Google to find the right bird!

UPDATE:

It appears the Iranians may have gotten their hands on a RQ-170 after all. According to The Telegraph, NATO has admitted to losing control of a drone over western Afghanistan last week. No admission of a shoot down, but a crash has not been ruled out. Looks like we just gave Iran a free peek into top secret stealth technology.

Oh and this is what the drone looks like, for those searching for a picture.