NEWS: Marcelo Zarvos Score for 'The Bay' to be Released

Lakeshore Records is excited to announce it's upcoming release of the The Bay: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with music by Marcelo Zarvos. The Bay is a 'found footage' eco-horror film from Oscar winning director, Barry Levinson and the producers of Paranormal Activity and Insidious. The soundtrack will be available digitally on November 20, 2012.

Zarvos describes his experience composing for the film, "The Bay was both the first horror and completely electronic score I've done. Even though electronic sounds have been a part of my palate for a long time, doing a score top to bottom this way was fascinating and challenging. Finding the right tone was crucial, we needed to create and sustain tension without pulling the viewer from the 'real life' aspect of the story and its characters."

Brazilian-born Marcelo Zarvos burst onto the independent film landscape in the early 2000s with his scores featured in films such as Kissing Jessica Stein and The Door in the Floor. Zarvos was named one of the 25 New Faces of Indie Film in 2004 by FilmMaker Magazine and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards (for You Don't Know Jack and Taking Chance). His recent and upcoming scores include Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal's The Words, Daniel Barnz's Won't Back Down, David Mamet's Phil Spector and HBO series The Big C.

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NEWS: Mychael Danna's 'Life of Pi' to be Released

Sony Music announces the release of Mychael Danna's Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Life of Pi, a journey of adventure and a tale of personal discovery based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel. The soundtrack recording of Life of Pi is available from Sony Classical on Tuesday, November 19, 2012.

Life of Pi takes place over three continents, two oceans, many years, and a wide universe of imagination. Director Ang Lee's vision, coupled with stunning 3D visuals, has turned a novel long thought un-filmable into a thrillingly audacious mix of grand storytelling and powerful and provocative themes.

Since Mr. Lee came aboard the project almost four years ago, he has worked to create a singular vision of author Yann Martel's unforgettable tale of courage, perseverance, inspiration and hope. The film takes us through a young man's incredible adventure–at turns thrilling and spiritual; harrowing and triumphant; humorous and inspirational.

The main character Pi (as a 17 year-old) is played by newcomer Suraj Sharma. Suraj is a student who at the time lived with his parents in the suburbs of South Delhi. With no previous acting experience, Ang Lee cast Suraj for the role of Pi following an extensive, months-long search throughout India.

The contemporary (adult) Pi is portrayed by esteemed Indian actor Irrfan Khan, who was recently honored by the Indian government with a 2011 Padma Shri award recognizing his contributions to the Indian Cinema. Mr. Khan's many notable film credits include Maqbool, Haasil, The Warrior (winner of the BAFTA award for Best Film in 2003), Partition, A Mighty Heart and the recent hit The Amazing Spider-Man.

Mr. Lee, an Academy Award winner for Brokeback Mountain in 2006 and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001, carefully selected the international cast–and a composer whose talents and experience perfectly match the project: Mychael Danna, with whom he previously collaborated on The Ice Storm and Ride with the Devil. Danna is one of the most original composers in the world of film music, a pioneer in combining non-western sounds with orchestral and electronic sources. He has worked with such esteemed directors as Atom Egoyan, Terry Gilliam, James Mangold, Mira Nair, Bennett Miller and Marc Webb. Danna has been nominated 13 times for Genie Awards and won the Original Score award five times. He has strong personal connections to India: Danna's wife is Indian and he has travelled and worked there extensively.

Mychael Danna's sensitive composition and innovative choice of instrumentation reflect the international character as well as the religious and philosophical aspects of Life of Pi. The music, in the composer's words, "guides viewers by means of emotions through a film that raises big philosophical and religious questions." His thoughtful instrumentation also lends structure to the movie. The Indian flute, for example, is associated in the music with Pi himself, the mysterious woodwind sound of the Persian ney with the tiger. A Los Angeles studio orchestra recorded the score, while the use of an Indonesian gamelan and typically French instruments–celeste, accordion–also does justice to the cultural breadth of the story. Indian elements are recognizable in the sitar, percussion, and the mantras chanted by a choir. In addition to writing the original score, Danna co-wrote the film's original song "Pi's Lullaby" with Indian vocalist Bombay Jayashri, who performs the song in her native Tamil language.

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NEWS: 'Stand Up Guys' to be Released by Lakeshore Records

Lakeshore Records will release the Stand Up Guys ? Original Soundtrack on Tuesday, December 4, 2012. The soundtrack features two new original songs by Jon Bon Jovi ("Not Running Anymore" and "Old Habits Die Hard"), the first songs he has written and performed as a solo artist for a film since Young Guns II, which earned him the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and an Academy Award nomination and #1 single, with "Blaze of Glory," almost twenty-two years ago.

Also included on the soundtrack are classic and modern soul songs by Baby Huey, Gary Clark, Jr., Charles Bradley feat. Menahan Street Band, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Sam and Dave, and Muddy Waters. These tracks were hand selected, chosen because of their narrative relationship and the depth they add in understanding the motives and motivations of each character.

Stand Up Guys looks at the relationship between old friends, who just happen to be life-long criminals. "I was really just taken by the idea of the loyalty, the trust, the friendship, the brotherhood, of these two guys. These are underlying themes of a lot of my songs," said Jon Bon Jovi.

"The inspiration for writing the songs comes from the page," he continued. "I had to put myself into the characters' voice and utilize dialogue from the script to help tell these stories."

Val (Al Pacino) is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. His best friend Doc (Christopher Walken) is there to pick him up, and the two soon re-team with another old pal, Hirsch (Alan Arkin). Their bond is as strong as ever, and the three reflect on freedom lost and gained, loyalties ebbed and flowed, and days of glory gone by. But one of the friends is keeping a dangerous secret–he's been put in an impossible quandary by a former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out. As the sun rises on the guys' legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate and they finally confront their past once and for all.

"Whenever you're writing a song like 'Not Running Anymore'," Jon Bon Jovi explained, "You have to identify and express the emotions the characters are experiencing." In this case Al Pacino's character, "Valentine has for twenty-eight years, not said a word. He is the quintessential stand up guy, didn't betray his friends. They went on and lived a life without him, but he was always not far away from their hearts. In turn, Chris Walken's character job is to end the life of his best friend and he too, has to come to terms with a lot of compromise and loss and Al goes into a confessional booth and he wants to be absolved of his sins or at least, he's seeking absolution."

"Having the opportunity to write for film again has been a great experience," Jon Bon Jovi added. "The minute I read the script I was excited to get started and it's been an honor to work with actors of this caliber."

A separate album of Lyle Workman's score for the film will also be released by Lakeshore Records on December 4 (see Stand Up Guys - Original Score for details).

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NEWS: Lorne Balfe's 'Assassin's Creed III' Video Game Score Released

Composer Lorne Balfe (The Sweeney, Assassin's Creed: Revelations) is released Assassin's Creed III soundtrack on October 30, 2012.

"When I found out that the new Assassin's Creed was going to based on the American Revolution, and that we were introducing a new Assassin born from a Native American mother and a British father," said Balfe, "I realized this was going to be a difficult score to write."

"Visually, the game is rich in colors and I wanted the music to take players to new levels of the Assassin's Creed franchise," Balfe continued. "There are large naval scenes in the game and I wanted to create an epic feeling that would compliment the grandeur of the visuals. This was the beginning of America as we know it today–filled with cultures from across the world. With such diversity available, I was able to bring Celtic and other musical influences into the game to further accentuate the complexities of the game itself."

A native of Inverness, Scotland, Lorne Balfe is a Grammy Award-winning film composer, known for composing the scores to the Dreamworks' animation Megamind, and Ron Howard's film The Dilemma, in collaboration with Academy Award-winning composer, Hans Zimmer. In addition to being recognized for producing two of Zimmer's Oscar-nominated scores, Sherlock Holmes and Inception, Lorne has also received significant recognition for his work in the United Kingdom. In 2009, Lorne was nominated for the Discovery of the Year World Soundtrack Award for his score for BAFTA Award-winning Crying With Laughter and he was nominated for the prestigious Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award.

Balfe began his career in Hollywood providing additional music on several major motion pictures, including: the Pirates of the Caribbean II, and III, The Simpsons Movie, Angels & Demons, Iron Man, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Frost/Nixon. Complimented by his additional music, Balfe's role as a score producer on 2008's The Dark Knight earned Lorne a Grammy for "Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture."

Balfe's film and TV projects include the British made film The Sweeney, Ironclad, the TV anthology Five (directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins, and Penelope Spheeris) and the Ron Howard-produced Imagin8ion (directed by Bryce Howard). His work can also be heard in the video games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed: Revelations (featuring main theme, cutscenes & multiplayer music by Balfe), Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (co-composed with Hans Zimmer) and Skylanders: Giants. Balfe's upcoming projects include the thriller The Frozen Ground (starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack) and Not Another Happy Ending (starring Karen Gillian).

"Working with the Ubisoft team was a joy," said Balfe. "Their openness and enthusiasm for experimenting pulled away all musical restrictions, allowing us to create a new and exciting level of experience for the player."

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NEWS: Lucas Vidal's 'Invader' Score to be Released

Lakeshore Records will release the Invader - Original Soundtrack digitally on Tuesday, November 20 and on CD December 4, 2012. The album features original music by Spanish composer Lucas Vidal (The Raven, The Cold Light of Day).

"Invader is written for a full-sized orchestra, with quite a few percussive and electronic elements added," Vidal described. "I did a lot of research into Iraqi music for the flashback scenes, but the score is definitely grounded in Hollywood-style western orchestral traditions."

Lucas Vidal is a versatile and expressive composer nominated for Discovery of the Year at the 2012 World Soundtrack Awards. His feature film scores for 2012 include Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher, The Raven with John Cusack and The Cold Light of Day starring Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. A native of Spain, Vidal made history at the Berklee College of Music where he was the youngest student to ever compose and record the score for a feature film with an 80-piece orchestra. He then moved to New York to continue his studies under the guidance of Richard Danielpour while attending the Julliard School of Music.

Vidal was exposed to the intricacies of music composition at a very young age, allowing him to develop his distinct style of composition and a unique use of longhand writing skills. In addition to numerous feature films, his impressive resume includes writing a piece for the opening gala of the Boston Ballet, conducing at the Boston Symphony Hall, commercial advertising and video game soundtracks. He has recorded over 100 sessions in most of the major studios throughout the United States and Europe. Vidal currently splits his time between Madrid and Los Angeles.

Invader is set in Galicia in the Northwest region of Spain. Vidal recorded the soundtrack with the Orchestra of Galicia. "I had never worked with them before, but they played beautifully, and really exceeded the expectations of everyone on my team," said Vidal.

After an insurgent attack that nearly costs him his life, Pablo (Alberto Ammann), an army doctor stationed in an international mission, is repatriated back to Spain to be with his wife and daughter, where he is given a hero's welcome and decorated for his courage in the line of duty. Suffering from partial amnesia, Pablo only has vague memories of the events that took place that day in Iraq, but he begins to suspect that he is not being told the whole story. As he finally manages to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Pablo realizes that he will have to make a choice; to go along with the official version of events and protect his family or uncover what really happened that day.

The opening scene set the tone for Vidal's score for Invader. Vidal explained that the cue is "a big chunk of action music underscoring Pablo and Diego arriving in the midst of the urban warfare in Iraq, and is filled with loads of ethnic percussion. It was over 6 minutes long and helped me discover the right palette that I would then deconstruct throughout the rest of the score. You hear that cue again at the end of the film."

He continued, "There is a chord sequence that underscores Pablo searching for the truth about what happened in Iraq that developed naturally into being a main theme of sorts. I had a lot of fun varying the orchestration with that idea throughout the score."

Invader is scheduled for release in theaters on November 30, 2012.

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