Shuffleboard 13

1. "Hit" by James Horner from Patriot Games
Yes, James Horner has scored other things besides James Cameron films. I know, it's shocking.
Patriot Games has a interesting Irish-tinged score that's also fraught with action and tense suspense. It's an odd combo, but it makes for an exciting as well as dreary-sounding score, much like the film itself.
"Hit" accompanies the assassination attempt on Jack Ryan's family in the middle of the film. It's a harrowing scene featuring Sean Bean at his most brutal. The track is mostly ambient for the first three minutes, throwing some Irishy strings and flutes, before picking up a little around four minutes in, as the attackers near Ryan's family on the highway. The tension builds, and builds, AND BUILDS, speeding up and adding more flutes or drums or odd synth bass cues along the way.
I can't help thinking of Sean Bean's chilling line throughout this entire track: "How's the family, Ryan?"

2. "Heirloom Holiday" by Michael Giacchino from LOST Season 3
Another sad track from Giacchino's awesome LOST score.
This track is played when Liam gives Charlie the DriveShaft ring, telling him to keep the family going.
It features most of Giacchino's standard "sad cue" toolbox. It starts off with a simple string note, some swelling synth and piano (and soft strings), and then has the characteristic "LOST thinking noise," which is the one-note-slowly-plucked thing.


3. "Reels - Mullins' - The Reel Of Rio - Paddy Murphy's Wife" by The Cieli Band from Irish Traditional Fiddle Music
Before you pass judgment on me, just hear me out. Irish music makes me happy. It makes me bounce and want to drink some Guinness and dance around the room.
This track is no exception. While I don't know a lot about Irish music (so I can't really tell you what's special about this particular track), it's certainly a fun and bouncy tune.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find a pub.

Note: this is just a sample of the middle of the song. I couldn't find the whole combo.


4. "Smart Exit" by Trevor Rabin from Get Smart
Ah yes, Get Smart. What a great old show! Back in the day, I watched every episode I could on TV Land. And then, they made it into an awesome movie with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway. I loved the movie.
The soundtrack, done by National Treasure scorer Trevor Rabin, was only so-so. The redeeming quality was the rock-revamp he gave the classic Get Smart theme. Think the revamp of the James Bond theme was cool? You ain't heard nothing yet.
This track plays at the end when Max is leaving Control Headquarters and going through the different ridiculously complicated doors.


5. "Finding the Pebble" by Jeff Beal from Monk
Wow, that makes only one track non-soundtrack on this Shuffleboard. New record, folks!
Anyways, I got the Monk soundtrack back in the day because I loved the show. The official soundtrack only features music from the first season, but that's where all the themes were debuted anyway.
The track features a nice intro with an upright bass and some bongo action, with some flutes and clarinets thrown in there for nervousness' sake, I guess.
It's a pretty standard Monk track, sparse, jazzy, and a little cheesy. This track does feature some of the most obvious sampling ever in a non-sampling kind of song. Beal wanted some hi-hat action in the middle of the song (for about 15 seconds, mind you), so he took one two-second loop and repeated it a few times. It sounds pretty rough.
This track plays during a scene when Monk finds a pebble jammed in a car tire, allowing him to discredit a psychic who had been showing him up during the case.