Argo Review and Feburary Scores!

Hey everyone! Two things today-First, I'm going to give my thoughts on the score for Argo by Alexandre Desplat. Why? Because Desplat's score is nominated for an Oscar and I have reviews for all the other nominated scores! Argo came out before I started writing this blog, so I didn't have a review for it, but now I will. Second, I'm going to list the scores being released this month, which I will review at the end of the month in a master score review post! Ready, set, go! 

Argo, by Alexandre Desplat-9/10
Did it fit the movie? Yes and yes. I just saw Argo itself for the first time last night and while I was watching it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had already seen the movie before, and it's not because the story was predictable or cliched. I think it's because I've actually been listening to this score for the past four months since Desplat is one of my top two favorite composers and I listen to all of his work. Each musical track was familiar to me, and each track came right when it should have in the unfolding of the plot. The music itself is a creative blend of exotic instruments, percussive vocals,  drums, and traditional orchestral sounds. A good example of the interplay of these is Hotel Messages.
Did it make me feel something? Yes. The first time I listened to the score, I was in the middle of doing homework. My roommate walked into the room and said "This is great working music!" And it is! Many of the tracks move at an urgent pace, but not like the angry, vengeful urgency of Desplat's Zero Dark Thirty score. It's a worried, rushed urgency, like there's a time limit that needs to be met. It is really great music to listen to while working because it heightens your sense of time and makes you move quickly. Not all of the tracks are like that, however. The Mission slows down, with horns blaring out a gorgeous, grand melody line that made me smile. Cleared Iranian Airspace is so gentle and peaceful, like coming out of a storm. I fell asleep listening to that track the other day.
Is it original? Yes it certainly is! I've never heard anything like those vocals I mentioned earlier. You can here them on Scent of Death too. It's almost as if Desplat decided to use the different sounds of fast and heavy breathing as percussion instead of drums. 
Did I like it? I liked it a lot. In fact, I'm listening to it now while writing this post! Purchasing suggestion? Buy it. The whole album is great and has tracks for every purpose, whether you need to relax or need to do work with some urgency.

And now, here is your list of scores for February! As with January, there's not many, because many films are released before awards season and not during it, but hopefully there will still be some great music to hear this month! These are the four full length scores that I found that will be released this month.

Side Effects by Thomas Newman      

Beautiful Creatures, by thenewno2

Escape from Planet Earth by Aaron Zigman

A Good Day to Die Hard, by Marco Beltrami

And that's all I have for you today! I hope you have a great week. Keep listening to those Oscar nominated scores and let me know what you think of them! The complete list of nominated scores can be found in last week's post. See you next week for our February composer of the month!