Music and Audio Reviews Archives

Reseting the Podcast Playlist

June 20, 2020May 6, 2020 by Ken Newquist

Podcasts help soothe the locked-down soul. What do I mean by that? Well, something that’s driving me buggy about the COVID-19 lockdown is the remote nature of almost every conversation we have. Aside from talking with my wife and kids, and the occasional across-the-street or through the fence conversation with neighbors, every conversation I have … Read more

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Soundtrack

December 27, 2017November 21, 2017 by Ken Newquist

Captain America, in a dark blue uniform, is in the center of the photo while Nick Fury appears to the left and Black Widow to the right.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier tops two of my personal lists: best Marvel movie and best Marvel soundtrack. The movie works because it’s a tight, expertly crafted super-spy movie with a ton of heart and great action. The soundtrack works because it’s constantly carrying the listener forward while perfectly reinforcing the movie’s signature scenes. Since the movie came out it’s … Read more

Pacific Rim Soundtrack

November 21, 2017May 14, 2017 by Ken Newquist

Two human figures stand in front of the yellow visor of a giant fighting robot.

When its time to kick ass and chew bubble gum — and knock out an impossible amount of project work — the Pacific Rim soundtrack is my go-to music. The movie’s giant monsters (kaiju) and giant robots (jaegers) are well represented by driving guitar riffs, militant refrains, and thunderous basses.

An Even Scarier Solstice

November 25, 2023December 31, 2012 by Ken Newquist

An Even Scarier Solstice is the follow up to A Very Scary Solistice, a parody holiday album featuring songs inspired by equal parts Christmas carols and H.P. Lovecraft.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan/Razor

December 29, 2016December 4, 2012 by Ken Newquist

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan/Razor is a 19-track album including music from two of BSG’s standalone movies. Razor looks at Admiral Adama’s early days as a fighter pilot named Husker, as well as the dark path that led to the Battlestar Pegasus after escaping the carnage of the Cylon sneak attack.

The Stars Are Right for A Very Scary Solstice

January 26, 2017December 22, 2009 by Ken Newquist

Winter is here. The nights have grown long, and while they’re broken by the beauty of annual Christmas and holiday light displayers, they merely hide a daker evil. Talk of Christmas stars and Hanukkah lights gives way to memories of another set of stars … those who lock away the Great Old Ones in their … Read more

Halo 2 Soundtrack, Vol. 2 Delivers the True Halo Experience

January 14, 2017November 3, 2007 by Ken Newquist

Master Chief holds two submachine guns as the world explodes in a orange-yellow haze around him.

When Halo 2 was released, it was accompanied by a soundtrack. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the soundtrack fans had been hoping for: instead of one featuring the music from the game, it instead pulled the old “music from and inspired by the game” trick. While a few game tracks could be found on it, including “Halo … Read more

The Complete Two Towers: Disc Three

January 20, 2017July 28, 2007 by Ken Newquist

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – The Complete Recordings by Howard Shore and released by Reprise Records is a huge collection containing 3+ hours of music from the movie spread over three CDs and augmented by a video DVD documenting the soundtrack’s production. It’s so huge that a single review won’t do … Read more

Storming to Victory with the 300 Soundtrack

January 15, 2017June 17, 2007 by Ken Newquist

Maybe it’s having just listened to hours upon hours of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, but I truly enjoyed the 300 soundtrack’s martial mix of choral singing, Mediterranean/Middle Eastern-inspired music and a touch of hard rock explosiveness. The album has 25 tracks, from the opening “To Victory” to the final “Remember Us” and clocks … Read more

The Complete Two Towers: Disc Two

January 20, 2017February 8, 2007 by Ken Newquist