Rach's Musical Brain - w/c 12th July 2021

Well… my plan to only wait a week failed didn’t it?

To be honest though, after finishing my assignment, it’s been pretty amazing to just relax… and relax without the feeling of an assignment on my shoulders. I'll be honest, it's been really lovely!

So anyway, what is my theme this week? WelI, as always with me, it’s just a whole load of randoms! (Did you expect anything else?)

This playlist is pretty much what I mean by random. We go from something I Sound-Hounded to a remake of a Disney classic, then it’s Outlander (love Outlander) and we finish with the amazingness that is Tom Holkenborg’s soundtrack for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Okay maybe it isn’t that random! (At least not for my standards anyway haha).

So let’s see what kind of random thoughts these tracks generate shall we?

As ever, you can find the playlist here, and if you want to revisit the old playlist, that one is here!

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NUMBER 10.

Abandon Window - Jon Hopkins

I can’t remember where I heard this first, but given it’s Jon Hopkins I feel like it could be shortly after Normal People. If anybody has seen the show, I feel like this song describes Connell and Marianne in a really beautiful way. Soft and gentle, melodic and tuneful. The same four chords play the whole way through as the song builds, and I don’t know… It‘s sad but it’s happy at the same time. I feel like it’s the sort of song you would listen to sitting on a window seat, looking at philosophically at the world, wondering what was going to come next.

NUMBER 9. All That’s Left of Love - Angels & Airwaves

Angels & Airwaves is one of those bands that have remained constant for me. I first heard them when doing my first watch of One Tree Hill, and Peyton puts on a concert to support the troops because of her brother, and Angel & Airwaves were one of the bands that were featured. They’ve been in Gossip Girl - first episode, when Dan and Serena leave the party at the end - they’ve been in Smallville… they’ve been in all of the teen show I used to watch and their tracks just speak to me in a way where some people might think them strange. I love that their lyrics might not make any sense, or that they’ll just be repeating the same thing over and over. I love that kind of stuff.

NUMBER 8. Once Upon A Dream - Lana Del Rey

This song pops up every now again in my Daily Mix 2 because I swear my phone listens to my conversations. I was talking to a friend about how much I loved the first film, to which she asked me had I heard the Lana Del Rey version of the Sleeping Beauty classic Once Upon A Dream, to which I realised I hadn't! So I righted that wrong and very quickly it became a firm favourite. The first Maleficent film was amazing... so amazing. The cinematography was epic, and even if I'm not a huge fan of Angelina Jolie, I loved that they twisted the story slightly. It's a shame the second one was so crap. Ah well. Let's just pray they don't try to right it with an even worse third one.

NUMBER 7. A Tale of Sea Dragons - Marcus Warner

Another Marcus Warner favourite. I’ve become quite obsessed with his music now actually, and you can hear why. You can hear the playfulness in the track, the sea dragons dancing around in the water, and despite it being a track that’s full of repetition, you don’t notice. The flutes, pipes and the bounciness put me in a good mood when I hear it.

NUMBER 6. Rescue - John Paesano

What a way to start a film. An action-packed 6 minute sequence that everything any action fan would want. Cars at full speed, car chasing trains down tracks, bad guys being chased and tricked. My favourite part comes right at the end, which it’s building to. As the boys manage to commandeer a hovercraft, they attach it and lift a train carrier, rescuing what they hoped was their friend, Minho. Filming was delayed because of a major accident that happened to lead Dylan O’Brien during filming, but I think everyone would agree that it was well worth the extra wait. I’m glad he is okay.. and I’m not going to lie, it makes me cringe when I watch the scene,

The Maze Runner books were my favourite dystopian series after The Hunger Games, and I was delighted with the cast choices. After being spoilt with Dylan O’Brien with Teen Wolf, I was blown away by him as Thomas. And mostly truthful to the book too…!!

NUMBER 5. Fraser’s Ridge - Bear McCreary

Bear McCreary has kicked butt with the entire Outlander soundtrack, a soundtrack I still pretty much listen to daily. But one of the things I love about the themes within the soundtracks themselves is that the style changes dependent on whereabouts Jamie and Claire are in the episodes. Here, as you probably tell, they’re not in Scotland. They’re in North Carolina, at a colony they founded, called Fraser’s Ridge, and even though they’re not in Scotland anymore, you can still hear parts of the Scottish music in there somewhere. I mean, you can’t beat the seasons where they‘re in Scotland - season 3 is by far the best season, because it’s based on the best book - but Jamie and Claire are by far the best couple TV will ever see. Plus, Sam is a sweetheart who must be protected at all costs.

NUMBER 4. No Man‘s Land - War Horse

This is one of the most intense scenes of the War Horse film. With the Germans surrendering, Joey and Topthorn are left in No Man’s Land… with a tank coming their way. Joey stays with a collapsed Topthorn, but when he sees the tank, he starts to run. You can tell when he does, at 1:53. The music picks up pace, and as it does, you can sense Joey’s panic as he starts to see there may be no way out. Running along trenches, trying to jump at one point, until he’s finally brought to a stop by barbed wire.

War Horse is an amazing book, and puts the war into perspective of the animals on the front, who had it just as bad as the men did, if not worse. Horses having to pull guns, hospital trucks and more through thick, relentless mud. I recommend anyone read the book… Despite being a children’s book, it’s worth a read.

NUMBER 3. How We Operate - Gomez

You hear this song twice in Grey’s Anatomy - or at least I’ve heard it twice so far in my Grey’s journey (I’m only on season 7!). Once as a random track… the other in the musical episode, and MAN Kevin McKidd can sing. Since Grey‘s has come onto STAR - Disney Plus’ more adult TV show area (no, not that kind of adult!) - Josie and I powered through it for a while, but due to assignments, exams and the world opening up again, we’ve slowed up… that and the fact Love Island is on and Josie is incapable of watching anything else!

Back to the track though. I don’t know why I like this track so much. Probably because of how well Kevin McKidd sings it to be honest… :D

NUMBER 2. Greenback Boogie - Ima Robot

Yup. Suits theme. God, I love Suits. It’s such a clever show, and even though its more drama and less actual lawyering, it was absolutely addictive, and is due a rewatch. And I LOVE the original song, and the swagger Mike and Harvey have as the opening credits come to an end. I love every single character (main characters only) in this show - mostly Mike and Rachel tho.

NUMBER 1. Superman Rising pt. 1 / A Book of Hours - Junkie XL and Tom Holkenborg

“You smell so good…“

“Did I not before?”

This track is beautiful. Now, bearing in mind Justice League has been out since 2017, I’m not spoiling anything by saying that Superman returns. Albeit, with a little less memory than everybody had hoped. He does get it all back eventually. But this is the track where Lois takes him home… or rather he takes her back to his home in Kansas, and he’s reunited with his mum as well. Here, Tom Holkenborg and Junkie XL bring back the original Man of Steel theme from Hans Zimmer, and use it in a way that softens and strengthens it at the same time. On the one hand, he’s confused as to who he is, but then as the theme builds, he understands… and what he’s been brought back to do.

And no this was not just an excuse to post a picture of Henry Cavill shirtless. Okay maybe it is, but this technically is the correct scene, so… :p

So many questions were answered in Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, and despite being just over 4 hours and having a very confusing epilogue (I never really understand the significance of the Knightmare Batman scenarios) it was the film all DC fans were waiting for. We had more of Cyborg - his track will feature in a later playlist - we have more of a storyline as to what the boxes actually are, and we have so much more character chemistry. Film wise, we have Aquaman next, but I really hope there’s another one where they’re all together again… the fans and the characters deserve it.

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Well, that took a while, but I think the tracks are worth it right?

I shall let the tracks speak for themselves though, rather than rambling on…

Again, you can find the tracks here… and if you want to get any of my previous tracks, they can be found here.

Unless next time. See if you can guess what‘s coming next time!