X-Files mythology, TenThirteen Interviews Database, and more

Archive for October, 2013

La La Land Records : The X-Files Volume 2

xflllvol2

After Volume 1 was released on May 10, 2011 and came to fill a gap for audio(X)philes everywhere, who were waiting for this since 1996’s The Truth and the Light, we were waiting for a second volume that was then promised for 2012.

Meanwhile, Volume 1‘s 3000 copies went out of print, in August 2012. An in-depth music selection process and a busy schedule for La La Land pushed the release to 2013, first to Q1 2013, then May, then August/September. Dan Goldwasser revealed it would be a 4 CD set at the Festival Internacional De Musica De Cine (International Film Music Festival) in Cordoba, Spain, in June 2013. And eventually, the date for the release of Volume 2 was set for September 10th 2013, to coincide with the show’s 20th anniversary (thanks to a message to LLL from yours truly) — this marked the only official (i.e. not fan-initiated) XF-related event on that anniversary date.

Leading up to the release, LLL teased us with a list of the episodes that were selected for Volume 2 on Facebook and the FilmScoreMonthly message boards on September 3. LLL also promised that a Volume 3 is “most likely unless sales of Volume 2 are terrible“. For 2014? LLL also did not close the possibility of a release of a complete score for Fight the Future.

The press release for Volume 2:

THE X FILES: VOLUME TWO: LIMITED EDITION (4-CD BOX SET) LLLCD 1270
Music by Mark Snow
Limited Edition of 3000 Units

STARTS SHIPPING Sept 10th
RETAIL PRICE: $49.98

ORDER “THE X FILES: VOLUME TWO: LIMITED EDITION (4-CD BOX SET)” starting Sept 10th at 12pm PST at www.lalalandrecords.com and get your CD tray card (clamshell front cover) autographed by composer Mark Snow at no additional charge. Autographs are available while supplies last and are NOT guaranteed.

La-La Land Records and Twentieth Century Fox mark the 20th anniversary of the beloved television series THE X FILES with this second, 4-CD volume of Mark Snow’s original score to the award-winning landmark program. More than 5hrs of incredible X-Files music, complied from many episode favorites, have been assembled in this strikingly attractive collection, produced by Mark Snow, Nick Redman and Mike Joffe and mastered by James Nelson. The 40-Page CD booklet contains exclusive, in-depth liner notes from film music writer Randall Larson and features comments from show creator Chris Carter and writer/producers Frank Spotnitz, Glen Morgan and James Wong. Limited to 3000 units, the set’s CD Booklet and 4-CD Clamshell case are housed in a hard cover slipcase, in the same fashion as our acclaimed, sold-out first volume. The truth is in here – this is truly some of the most daring and enthralling music ever created for television.

The 400 autographed copies were sold within 10-15 minutes of the release!

Compared to Volume 1, the tone of the selected cues is consistently darker, where Volume 1 had a mix of dramatic/horror music with interspersed lighter/comedic cues. This makes Volume 2 a more coherent and enjoyable listening experience — but it’s not music that you might listen to hours on end! Nevertheless, there are some of my most awaited pieces here, making Vol 2 an instant favourite! Many cues are also often longer and more immersive than on Volume 1, very atmospheric and nearly more sound design than music — especially from the first two seasons.

Again, some statistics, to be compared with Volume 1 (considering all these early episodes apart from E.B.E. as stand-alones, and F. Emasculata as mythology):

Episodes Tracks Length
Season 1 5/24 13 40:26
Season 2 6/25 13 50:38
Season 3 5/24 9 24:37
Season 4 6/24 11 75:56
Season 5 4/20 7 40:31
Season 6 2/22 3 10:55
Season 7 2/22 3 16:23
Season 8 2/21 5 26:34
Season 9 1/20 1 09:00
Miscellaneous 7 04:00
Total 33/202 72 299:00
Mythology 20/72 39 208:10
Stand-Alones 13/130 26 86:50

For a grand running total of:

Episodes Tracks Length
Season 1 10/24 26 69:28
Season 2 10/25 27 93:11
Season 3 9/24 16 52:19
Season 4 10/24 20 114:23
Season 5 8/20 12 71:19
Season 6 8/22 18 57:50
Season 7 8/22 13 45:30
Season 8 5/21 9 36:32
Season 9 5/20 9 45:05
Miscellaneous 16 14:41
Total 40/202 166 600:18
Mythology 22/72 80 355:39
Stand-Alones 18/130 70 229:58

That’s about one CD per season, which is what most TV shows get nowadays. Season 4 is particularly well-treated!

In 2010, LLL had released a preliminary list of episodes they had opted for release. Sure enough, many of them are in here: Young at Heart, E.B.E., Blood, Soft Light, The Blessing Way, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, Talitha Cumi, Home, Redux II, The Red and the Black, All Souls, S.R. 819, Biogenesis, Theef, Requiem, DeadAlive, Existence, 4D.

Volume 2 is much more focused on the first, “classic”, seasons of the show, whereas the first volume was much more evenly spread: 7 episodes from the Los Angeles era in Vol 2 against 19 in Vol 1. This is also reflected in the number of photos in the booklet. Clearly, what fans have requested and what the show is associated with resides much more in these early seasons. Actually, all of the opted music from seasons 8 & 9 from the 2010 list has been included here — which makes me wonder whether future sets will focus exclusively on earlier seasons!

Vol 2 is also much more focused on the mythology: two thirds in Vol 2 against half in Vol 1. In essence, all mythology two-parters have been covered, apart from Duane Barry/Ascension and certain parts of two-parters (Apocrypha, Patient X).

Over seasons 6-8, particularly for the mythology episodes, Mark Snow mixed his music with recordings he made for Fight the Future, and whereas running time could be saved on those they are featured in both volumes (One Son, Essence). If there are more volumes down the road and we come closer to a complete music collection, we can’t complain!

Finally, apart from the episodes not yet covered, there is still some very interesting music that was not selected in the episodes already covered — it’s difficult to satisfy rabid fans! For example: Paper Clip, Grotesque, Talitha Cumi, Redux II, The Red and the Black, Requiem… more on that on a separate post.

Full tracklist follows (reordered for some tracks in seasons 8 and 9, which were out of order for reasons of listening experience):

Episode # Track Name Time
1.1 THE X FILES Main Title (Season 1) 0:47

Season 1

1X11: Eve 1.2 Swinging Dead Daddy 1:26
1.3 Meet Your Clone 1:19
1.4 Attached 0:53
1X16: Young at Heart 1.5 The Eyes Don’t Lie 1:46
1.6 Ain’t Dead Yet 4:03
1.7 Youth 3:37
1.8 Shot in the Crowd 2:29
1X17: E.B.E. 1.9 Swimming With Sharks 5:14
1.10 Here We Go 2:42
1X21: Tooms 1.11 Druid Hill 2:42
1.12 Rats & Babes 1:59
1.13 Toilet Tooms 5:49
1X22: Born Again 1.14 Psycho-Electric Attack 6:27

Season 2

2X03: Blood 1.15 Drive for Blood 3:26
2X14: Die Hand die Verletzt 1.16 Prayer 0:45
1.17 Suicide Exam 2:34
1.18 Snake Hold 1:22
2X16: Colony 1.19 Hypothermia 2:43
1.20 Alta 2:35
2X17: End Game 1.21 Scully’s Discovery/Mulder’s E-Mail Message/Skinner Helps Scully 8:19
1.22 Showdown/Saving Mulder/Faith to Keep Looking 1:18
Disc One Total Time: 74:49
2.1 THE X FILES Main Title (2nd Season) 0:49
2X23: Soft Light 2.2 Eaten by Light 2:44
2.3 Spontaneous Combustion 4:39
2.4 Shadow on the Wall 2:21
2X22: F. Emasculata 2.5 Flesh on Bone 4:31
2.6 Pustule Package 3:21

Season 3

3X01: The Blessing Way 2.7 Blown Up and Beaten 2:50
3X02: Paper Clip 2.8 Smoky Gets in Your Eyes 2:52
2.9 Outmined 2:23
2.10 Sacrifice/Skinner Gets Skinned 4:04
3X04: Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose 2.11 Yappi 2:18
2.12 Dumpster 3:00
3X14: Grotesque 2.13 Disarmed 1:28
3X24: Talitha Cumi 2.14 Fries and Faith 2:38
2.15 Discreet Distance 3:04

Season 4

4X01: Herrenvolk 2.16 Needle Neck 6:54
4X02: Home 2.17 Newborn 2:11
4X09: Tunguska 2.18 Worm Rock 2:48
2.19 Chicken Wire Wrap 7:57
2.20 THE X FILES End Credits (Extended ) 0:35
Disc Two Total Time: 74:23
3.1 THE X FILES Main Title (7th Season) 0:35
4X10: Terma 3.2 Black Vermiform 6:03
3.3 Fire of Terma 8:47
4X17: Tempus Fugit 3.4 Pieces 6:28
3.5 Nine Minutes 3:24
4X24: Gethsemane 3.6 Trails 5:37
3.7 Thawed 1:30
3.8 Deep Dupe 4:17

Season 5

5X01: Redux 3.9 Little Vials of Proof 8:23
5X02: Redux II 3.10 Remission 5:42
5X14: The Red And The Black 3.11 Red Letter 2:46
3.12 Resist or Serve 3:45
3.13 Lil’ Cabin in Quebec 8:42
Disc Three Total Time: 76:35
4.1 THE X FILES Main Title (9th Season) 0:36
5X17: All Souls 4.2 Baptism 3:45
4.3 Four Faces 7:28

Season 6

6X09: S.R. 819 4.4 Orgell 2:26
4.5 Bill of Health 4:29
6X22: Biogenesis 4.6 Map of the Genome 4:00

Season 7

7X14: Theef 4.7 Voodoo Doll 7:19
7X22: Requiem 4.8 Déjà vu 3:55
4.9 Ray 5:09

Season 8

8X15: DeadAlive 4.14 Deep Six 2:53
4.15 AliveAlive 1:03
8X21: Existence 4.11 Something Feels Off 3:03
4.12 Replicant Revolution 6:21
4.13 Under Investigation 3:14

Season 9

9X04: 4-D 4.10 Pulling the Plug 9:00
4.16 THE X FILES End Credits (1st Season) 0:30
4.17 I Made This/20th Century Fox Fanfare* 0:08
Disc Four Total Time: 76:04
Total Set Running Time: 298:27

Elsewhere on Eat The Corn

 

Season 10 News: #8, Lone Gunmen get spin-off and more

On the menu: Season 10 progress, covers, teaser art, scripts, Lone Gunmen madness, Joe Harris interview, Michael Walsh inkings and Season 10 reviews.

The solicitations for IDW for January 2014 are out: “Hosts” is followed by #8, a single issue story titledFor the Benefit of Mr. X“.

The X-Files: Season 10 #8
Joe Harris (w) • Michael Walsh (a) • Carlos Valenzuela (c)
With hints of a new conspiracy bubbling to the surface, and whispers of a new “Syndicate” organization in the wings, a secret from the past poses a threat that only Agents Mulder and Scully can tackle. But what does the former fixit man—and long-deceased informant—named “X” have to do with it?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Ask your retailer about the Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) cover!
A special standalone story revealing secrets of the long-dead informant known as X!
Series artist, Michael Walsh, returns!

The covers by Carlos Valenzuela continue to impress:

X-Files Season 10 #8 cover A - Art by Carlos Valenzuela

X-Files Season 10 #8 cover A – Art by Carlos Valenzuela

This all sounds exciting! Season 10 continues to play a lot on nostalgia, bringing back more beloved characters — but at least for this one he is unambiguously announced as “long-dead”. Flashbacks could be involved.

Indeed, when X-Files News interviewed writer Joe Harris, he said:

I also look for little hooks and opportunities to tie something I’m writing, today, into the past a bit… […] In an upcoming story, we take some cues from the incident detailed by Deep Throat in “The Erlenmeyer Flask” involving children in a “southern state” being exposed to Purity. And I am absolutely—almost obsessively—determined to dramatize Mulder’s trip to a DC-area headshop to buy the “I Want to Believe” poster, as described in “Chinga,” in a flashback that’s also important to whatever we’re doing, presently, that month in the series.

And so it’s not impossible that Season 10 might flow on its own pace, mixing flashback stories or scenes with Monster-of-the-Week stories, new characters and new mytharc developments. With Mr. X, #8 might be one of those flashback issues.

Other quotes from that interesting interview:

“Believers” allowed us to bring back a lot of the characters, with some new baggage and mysteries in tow. The next short arc, “Hosts” brings us the return, and sheds some light on the origins of, Flukeman, and that’s been a lot of fun as that was always my own friends’ favorite episode from those early days. And I’m really excited to start rolling out the next big mythology arc later this year, which will bring back more classic X-Files concepts, elements and characters while pushing the overall mythology, and emerging neo-conspiracy, to some new places.

But I think I’m most excited about the new stuff we’re doing. The new monsters and mysteries. Some new characters we’ll be introducing. We need to make all of this stuff work in concert, so we’re mining the past in the right ways, and pushing things forward too.

What I want for fans to take away from this series is a feeling that we both delivered that old-timey feeling which was just retro enough to feel comfortable and classic, but also aspired to something on its own. One thing I really love about this book is how it doesn’t look like most might expect a licensed comic book to look. There aren’t any super photo-referenced likenesses, rather, there are interpretations which are as faithful as the dedicated hand will draw them, while offering our own spin. We aspire for this series to add its own chapter to the mythos, and to be its own thing while hitting the right notes along to way to keep it connected. I think of Michael, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and I as having our own band and doing our own thing, as well as carrying the mantle of what’s come before.

What is more surprising is all the Lone Gunmen craziness that accompanied that January 2014 solicitations announcement! More below.

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S10 #4: The Lowdown

A belated rundown of this issue as the fifth and final issue in the “Believers” arc is barely days away. Lowdowns for #1, #2, #3.

This is largely an issue that is based on action and memorable scenes using the story threads that were set up in the previous issues. Essentially this issue brings both ex-agents together again (in a very dramatic fashion) in the place where the resolution of the story will take place, Yellowstone National Park — piece-moving for the grand finale.

10X04_deacon

(Spoilers ensue…)

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