SoundtrackNet has posted a 30+ minute podcast interview with Hans Zimmer. In it he discusses in great detail his work on the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and the other Pirates movies. You can hear clips from the score, and there is also a bit at the end about the new Simpsons movie. Listen to the podcast directly.

It is really fascinating to hear first hand from the composer some of the thought process that goes into producing a full movie score, especially when it spans more than one movie. I’m really looking forward to this soundtrack (more so than the actual movie…). The soundtrack will be released on May 22, just in time for my birthday!

A few other articles of interest at SoundtrackNet:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - First Listen - A full preview of the score, including 30 second clips of each track.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Pick of the Week - An extensive review.

SoundtrackNet has posted a First Listen preview of the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End soundtrack. The preview includes a nice long description of the Hans Zimmer score, including 30 second sound clips of each track.

Where the first film brought us the often-played “He’s a Pirate” theme, this third film brings in a whole new melody - a song called “Hoist the Colours”. Originally written for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, this new pirate shanty is heard throughout the score, uniting all the pirates together under one melody. We’re also taken to Singapore, where Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun Fat) gets his own Asian theme, as well as to the ends of the earth where not only do Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) get a new love theme, but it’s a super-theme that also encompasses the lost love of Davy Jones and Calypso and is versatile enough to work as a new Jack Sparrow theme as well.

Check out the preview and sound clips on SoundtrackNet.

SoundtrackNet is holding a contest for the movie “300″. The grand prize winner will win a “300″ PSP game, an “Art of the Film” book, a leather bag with the “300″ logo, the “300″ special edition soundtrack CD, and a “300″ hat and t-shirt! There are runner up prizes as well, which include the hat, t-shirt, and the soundtrack. The contest ends on March 12th, 2007. Enter the contest.

SoundtrackNet has posted their Pick of the Week - the soundtrack composed by Harry Gregson-Williams for the movie The Number 23 starring Jim Carrey. There are 30 second sound clips available for each track, and the soundtrack will be released on February 20.

The Number 23 is not much different from his recent score to Deja Vu in its elements, but they are utilized in a different way. This score is less thematic and uses the electronics as the primary rhythmic tool rather than the moving string lines that were one of the thematic elements in Deja Vu. That having been said, there are a few moments where the strings do pick up a moving line, for example at the beginning of “Finishing the Book”, in a similar fashion to Batman Begins.

Check out the article on SoundtrackNet. The sound clips are very interesting… it sounds like an intense movie. I swear I heard a dog bark in the second half of the track #6 clip, “Finishing the Book”!

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have announced the winners of this year’s BAFTA awards. Here are a few of the highlights:

FILM:
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu/Jon Kilik/Steve Golin
THE DEPARTED - Brad Pitt/Brad Grey/Graham King
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Albert Berger/David T Friendly/Ron Yerxa
THE QUEEN - Andy Harries/Christine Langan/Tracey Seaward

ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE:
DANIEL CRAIG - Casino Royale
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - The Departed
RICHARD GRIFFITHS - The History Boys
PETER O’TOOLE - Venus
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE:
PENÉLOPE CRUZ - Volver
JUDI DENCH - Notes on a Scandal
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen
MERYL STREEP - The Devil Wears Prada
KATE WINSLET - Little Children

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music:
BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla
CASINO ROYALE - David Arnold
DREAMGIRLS - Henry Krieger
HAPPY FEET - John Powell
THE QUEEN - Alexandre Desplat

View the rest of the nominees/winners.

The Grammy winners for the October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006 year have been announced. John Williams received recognition for Memoirs of a Geisha by winning the Best Score Sountrack Album. He also won the award for Best Instrumental Composition for A Prayer for Peace from Munich.

To view the rest of the nominees and winners, check the 49th Annual Grammy Awards List.

SoundtrackNet has posted their Pick of the Week - the soundtrack for the movie based on Frank Miller’s 300. There are 30 second sound clips available for each track, although the soundtrack itself will not be released until March 6.

Tyler Bates chose a harsh electronic tone, fused with orchestra and epic choir for the film adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel, 300. This seems like a strange choice, but one has to remember that this film is not trying to be a historical representation of the Spartan’s battle at Thermopylae. Bates’ score uses tones heard in Hans Zimmer’s Black Hawk Down and elements of Bear McCreary’s scores for “Battlestar Galactica”.

Check out the article on SoundtrackNet.

SoundtrackNet has a new article up which features an interview with Aaron Zigman. The interview includes discussion about his scores for the new movies “Alpha Dog” and “Bridge to Terabithia”, and it includes sound clips for those scores and others.

Composer Aaron Zigman is becoming a quickly rising star in the film music community. Since his first feature film in 2002, Nick Cassavetes’ John Q, he’s written almost every kind of score possible, from restrained romanticism (The Notebook) to urban dance (Step Up). His latest two films are the ultimate dichotomy: The rock heavy Alpha Dog, and the orchestral fantasy Bridge to Terabtihia. SoundtrackNet had a chance to talk with Zigman about these two recent projects, as well as a few other works.

Read the interview and listen to the clips at Soundtrack.Net.

The International Film Music Critics Association have announced their nominees for the Best of 2006 (courtesy of SoundtrackNet).

Film Score of the Year

• The Black Dahlia (Mark Isham)
• The Da Vinci Code (Hans Zimmer)
• The Fountain (Clint Mansell)
• Lady in the Water (James Newton Howard)
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (John Powell)

Read the rest of the nominees. The winners will be announced on February 23.

Tracksounds is holding their 2006 Cue Awards to recognize outstanding composers in the film industry. It includes many categories, such as Surprise of the Year, Best Score Missed By Oscar, Most Memorable Theme, and many others. However, my favorite category has to be Disappearing Composer of the Year, which has one nominee: John Williams. Although he didn’t do any major scoring in 2006, he is returning to the Harry Potter movies to score Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and has quite a few plans for scoring for 2008.

Check out the Tracksounds 2005 Cue Awards. They are also holding a You Guess the Cue Contest for readers to guess some of the winners.