Krampus

Krampus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by Douglas Pipes

To accompany the Christmas holidays, Renovatio Records wants to recommend listening to Douglas Pipes' magnificent score for Michael Dougherty's film Krampus, starring Toni Collette, Adam Scott and David Koechner. Sure, it's a horror movie but it's also a lot of fun! The title refers to a Germanic folklore demon, the anti-Santa Claus, who punishes children during the Christmas season who have misbehaved. In the movie, a boy accidentally summons this demon after having a bad Christmas, which sets in motion the extraordinary events that he and his family are forced to face.

After having worked together on Trick 'r Treat, Dougherty resorted again to Pipes for the music. After the wind-like howlings and bells in "A Cold Wind", the composer starts with a false sense of security with dulcimers and chimes in the light-hearted "The Engel Family". But right after, the score takes a 180-degree turn and goes all the way back to orchestral and choral horror. You'll hear nods to Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal and even Alan Silvestri in Pipes' use of brass and strings for his superb action and suspense cues. Besides establishing and playing with his own leitmotivs for the titular creature, the young boy and her grandmother, Pipes interpolates Christmas carols into his score, in many occasions to a surprisingly chilling effect (the best example perhaps being the intentionally off-key rendition of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" in "Creatures Are Stirring"), while also including several instances of "Krampus Karol Of The Bells", a piece written Peter J. Wilhousky and arranged by Pipes. The composer even has time to take his own main theme to a lyrical and tragic mood with a piano and cello duet in the lovely "Omi's Story".

The score was originally released in 2015 by La-La Land Records in the form of a very long album including most if not all of the music composed by Pipes, though somewhat interrupted by the incorporation of full Christmas carols that generally affect the listening experience, failing to achieve the listener's mood Pipes is constantly trying to go to with his music. Renovatio Records has put together this new release of Krampus, containing the best parts of the score arranged and intertwined in a way that the score becomes gradually more intense as it moves forward, reaching some of the best highlights in the horror-comedy film music genre. This is the perfect choice for those who want to musically surprise some guests during the Christmas Eve! Happy holidays!

Track Listing:
1. A Cold Wind (0:44)
2. The Engel Family (2:52)
3. Max's Wish (2:39)
4. Bells, Bones and Chains (4:00)
5. Into The Storm/The Snow Beast (5:36)
6. Unholy Night (3:37)
7. Omi's Story (3:30)
8. Creatures Are Stirring (4:11)
9. Elfen (1:43)
10. The Shadow of St. Nicholas (2:05)
11. Sacrifice (3:49)
12. Cloven (4:51)
13. The Bell (1:05)
14. Gruss Von Krampus (End Credits) (2:11)
15. Krampus Karol Of The Bells (1:10)

Total Running Time: 44:03

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Die Hard

Die Hard (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed and Conducted by Michael Kamen

It's Christmas time and here at Renovatio Records we thought about tackling a title for the occasion. Thus, we present you Michael Kamen's original soundtrack for the 1988 thriller Die Hard, starred a yet-to-be-star Bruce Willis and directed by John McTiernan (Predator). In this action film, Willis plays New York cop John McClane who travels to Los Angeles with hopes of reconciling with his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) during a Christmas party at the office skyscraper Nakatomi Plaza. The party is interrupted by a German terrorist group led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) that takes all party-goers hostage and plans to rob the building's vault. McClane, however, escapes undetected and becomes involved in a cat-and-mouse game with the terrorists, picking them off one by one to rescue the hostages. While originally expected to be a flop, the film quickly became a total hit after its release, become an iconic motion picture described by many as the movie that invented action films clichés.

Musically, Kamen received this assignment after working with the producer Joel Silver in the Lethal Weapon franchise. The composer provided an intriguing score for Die Hard incorporating musical melodies, namely from Beethoven's Ode to joy and the songs "Winter Wonderland" and "Singing in the Rain", to great effect into the majority of his cues. Furthermore, he included several motifs, the most-memorable perhaps being a 6-note strings theme for McClane, introduced in this album's track "And If He Alters It?", which remained a trademark throughout the subsequent franchise entries. With this movie, Kamen was also given a chance to prove how a master he was at composing action music, evidenced in this album by the tracks "Assault On The Tower" and "Freeing The Hostages", two frenetic orchestral cues with bombastic percussion and brass sequences that will rumble your house when listened.

The score received album treatment long before the movie's premiere. Before the 2002 release by Varèse Sarabande and the La-La Land Records three expanded editions, there were only bootleg versions of the score available with very low audio quality. Renovatio Records has now produced a new rearrangement of the score, presenting you the highlights of Kamen's work for a consistent listening experience crowned by a full rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony to end the album. Raise those glasses of champagne and enjoy!!

Track Listing:
1. Terrorists Arrive (3:17)
2. McClane's Escape (2:35)
3. Wiring The Roof (1:49)
4. And If He Alters It? (2:26)
5. Going After McClane (3:44)
6. Welcome To The Party (2:04)
7. Assault On The Tower (7:06)
8. McClane Meets Gruber (2:53)
9. I Had An Accident (2:22)
10. Opening The Vault (2:00)
11. Freeing The Hostages (5:29)
12. Final Showdown (4:15)
13. We've Got Each Other (1:56)
14. Beethoven's 9th (End Credits) (4:00)

Total Running Time: 45:56

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