Jonah Hill’s “Mid 90s” (2018)

[Swykk]

http://collider.com/trent-reznor-atticus-ross-mid90s-score-jonah-hill/


Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s (http://collider.com/tag/mid90s/) is set to debut on the fall film festival circuit next month, but there’s one more surprise in store: he nabbed a pair of incredible composers. Film Music Reporter (http://filmmusicreporter.com/2018/08/21/trent-reznor-atticus-ross-scoring-jonah-hills-mid90s/) reports that Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Aticus Ross have composed the original score for Mid90s, adding yet another layer of excitement to what was already an exciting project.

[ltrandazzo]

Swykk - added a quote to your post since this is kinda big news.

[WorzelG]

Wow well I wouldn’t have predicted them scoring a skater film even if it is set in the 90s

[bobbie solo]

Wow. This could be potentially awesome. Wonder if they'll be going for a retro sound to match the film, or more the general feel of their score work so far. Probably the latter if I had to guess, but the former is more intriguing.

[BRoswell]

Sweet! I was curious about the film after I saw the trailer, but now I'm definitely interested.

[gorast]

What a bizarre choice. Very interesting in seeing how it sounds.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

No skater film will ever top Thrashin or Gleaming The Cube

[eversonpoe]

Gleaming The Cube

https://media3.giphy.com/media/ZwIW4M15JlZu0/giphy.gif

i had such a crush on christian slater because of that movie. holy shit. i wanted to learn to skateboard because, in my mind, that would have made me cool enough to be able to hang out with him.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

https://media3.giphy.com/media/ZwIW4M15JlZu0/giphy.gif

i had such a crush on christian slater because of that movie. holy shit. i wanted to learn to skateboard because, in my mind, that would have made me cool enough to be able to hang out with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5OeNBQG9mY

[fillow]

I expect this score to be more like The Social Network, aka less dark and more upbeat.

[joplinpicasso]

The title is on-the-nose and kind of lazy. Still, will be interesting to see TR+AR score this as I'd never have guessed that. All the other works they've scored make sense.

[zecho]

The title is on-the-nose and kind of lazy. Still, will be interesting to see TR+AR score this as I'd never have guessed that. All the other works they've scored make sense.

You must not have been around when everyone was criticizing them for doing "that Facebook movie" before it came out. Or Patriots Day, before it came out. Or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter when they were in talks to do that. Or when Trent did the Call of Duty theme song. I'm probably missing some things that fell through as well. I happen to think this is a great fit for their sound.

[theimage13]

I'm not as blindly optimistic about this as I am previous releases, but I think that's because in my head, the mid-90s is connected more to alt-rock and I'm having a really hard time piecing Trent's music in there. Which is, I know, really stupid. That's when some of his best-known stuff was at the height of its popularity. That's when I was hooked on NIN. But I just can't get a totally different genre out of my head when I think of that era, and so when I picture Trent and Atticus writing that sort of genre, it doesn't sound right in my head.

That said, I'm still pretty certain that all of my preconceived notions are wrong and I'm going to end up loving this soundtrack.

[zecho]

I'm not as blindly optimistic about this as I am previous releases, but I think that's because in my head, the mid-90s is connected more to alt-rock and I'm having a really hard time piecing Trent's music in there. Which is, I know, really stupid. That's when some of his best-known stuff was at the height of its popularity. That's when I was hooked on NIN. But I just can't get a totally different genre out of my head when I think of that era, and so when I picture Trent and Atticus writing that sort of genre, it doesn't sound right in my head.

That said, I'm still pretty certain that all of my preconceived notions are wrong and I'm going to end up loving this soundtrack.

I'd bet that there's going to be a soundtrack separate from the score. Probably a bunch of '90s alt-rock, but probably more hip hop, judging from the music in the trailer, which is all songs that have been sampled by popular rappers.

[wizfan]

Atticus proved how well he can work with pre-existing songs in Love and Mercy. I'm stoked for this.

[valiantsteed]

So looks like the world premiere of this film is Sun Sept 9th at TIFF.

Wonder if the boys would be in attendance? Probably not I'd imagine, especially given the tour starts a few days later. But there's also no Toronto stop on the tour, and they do usually play there so maybe get two birds stoned at once?

[BRoswell]

Wonder if the boys would be in attendance? Probably not I'd imagine, especially given the tour starts a few days later. But there's also no Toronto stop on the tour, and they do usually play there so maybe get two birds stoned at once?

They could easily fly to Toronto and back for the premiere since the tour doesn't start until the following Thursday. That said, they're definitely not doing a show if they go up there.

[botley]

I didn't get to see the premiere, as I was busy elsewhere yesterday, and also getting around town on public transit to and from the TIFF venues really sucks for me this year. But here's a reddit thread from someone who did see it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/9eji6e/i_saw_the_world_premiere_of_mid_90s_jonah_hills/

May skip work this afternoon and try to get into a matinee screening in a couple of hours.

[BRoswell]

I wonder when the score will be released. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed until Trent & Atticus are finished with the tour.

[botley]

I wonder when the score will be released. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed until Trent & Atticus are finished with the tour.
Before the Flood also premiered at TIFF (almost two years ago to the week) and the score release followed a couple of months later. It was a bit different because there was already a wide distribution deal in place timed to coincide with the election cycle. I don't think the turn-around will be quite that fast, in this case; I guess they'll probably look for a distributor and then sign a deal for release maybe for late this year or early next.

[paul_guyet]

Just got word from my editor that the release date is slated for 10/19.

[imail724]

Just got word from my editor that the release date is slated for 10/19.
For the film or the score?

[paul_guyet]

For the film or the score?Sorry, the score.

[thefragile_jake]

This movie looks great. I adore Larry Clark's movie "Kids" and this seems to be in a similar fashion. Very interested to hear the score.

A24 has been on point with their movies over the last couple of years.

[katara]

Weird choice of film. Hopefully they go for a CD release this time around.

[paul_guyet]

Weird choice of film. Hopefully they go for a CD release this time around.I mean...it IS called "Mid 90's"...

[snaapz]

^Reddit review: The soundtrack was another highlight of the film really brought you into that era.

Interesting, I lived in a city in Northern Ontario, Canada. My friends and I were AVID skaters from 1995-1999 (age 13-17). When there wasn't snow on the ground we were skating and pissing people off throughout the entire city. I'm sure, depending on where you lived, peoples memories and memorabilia from that era vary.... but the music we listened to and considered "sk8r music" was...

- NOFX (and dozens of other punk bands dominated)
- The Offspring
- Rage Against The Machine
- Green Day
- STP
- Beastie Boys "Ill Communication"
- Nirvana
- rap (though I never bought any rap CDs some of my friends would). I did have Doggy Style on cassette and I played that a lot.
- etc....

I've not heard any samples or reviews on the style TR and AR produced, nor do I know whether this is a serious/drama or a fun/flashback movie but I feel like TR/AR should have taken a different approach with 'Mid 90s' than they did with any of their previous 5 OSTs.

I cannot wait to hear the OST and see the movie. I'm guessing TR/AR didn't write any songs and they stuck to ambient music but Im realllllly interested to see what they have produced, seeing as they are on the outside looking in; I don't think 'fishnet armyboot Trent Reznor' was ripping up the half pipes in the mid 90s.

On the other hand there were many days where I sat alone in my head, watching my friends perform better than I do (smoke more weed, get hotter girls, cooler clothes, ollie 4-6 decks...); Come to think of it the MID 90s for me were a constant bombardment of emasculation and struggles.

So traditional ambient thought provoking OST could work if MID 90s deals with some of the struggles teens dealt with on their own.

[butter_hole]

Any more news about this?

[paul_guyet]

Any more news about this?According to my editor, it's still slated for release on the 19th, although the fact that no one's heard anything yet is a little weird. We're still waiting for review copies.

[Neon]

A formal review just appeared on Entertainment Weekly : https://ew.com/movies/2018/10/10/mid90s-movie-jonah-hill-review/ . It briefly mentions TR/AR score. Guess more reviews will come soon!

[StockAvuryah]

https://youtu.be/WxTN9J-p1Pg?t=243

Talking about T&R @4:00 and such

[BRoswell]

Talking about T&R @4:00 and such

"If you need someone to sing backup on "Head Like A Hole"..."

Bwahahaha!

[chuckrh]

Jonah Hill was of Fallon last night & talked a bunch about working with Trent & Atticus. Jonah appearantly volunteered to sing back up on "HLAH" several times. Finally, at the end of the production Trent responded "ha".

PS: sorry Ima sloppy post-er. Didn't see post several above with the whole interview. kill me now.

[butter_hole]

Seems as if it'll just be another web-only release. Will probably just pop up on Spotify this Friday.

[katara]

Seems as if it'll just be another web-only release. Will probably just pop up on Spotify this Friday.
Hopefully not just that.

Production of physical media takes time. TRAR are on tour right now, so they probably won't have time to see proofs etc until they get back.

I have faith. We'll see a CD release.

[Toadflax]

I have faith. We'll see a CD release.

Let me know when you get the CD so I can borrow and copy it to a Maxell 90 minute cassette (just got a 5-pack on sale at Circuit City). I don't have a stereo with both a CD player and tape deck, though, so I'll have to put them up against each other and try not to make any noise while it's recording. Long live the mid-90's!

[Jordan]

Let me know when you get the CD so I can borrow and copy it to a Maxell 90 minute cassette (just got a 5-pack on sale at Circuit City). I don't have a stereo with both a CD player and tape deck, though, so I'll have to put them up against each other and try not to make any noise while it's recording. Long live the mid-90's!

I would LOVE a cassette release!! Ha Ha

[Haysey_Draws]

I would LOVE a cassette release!! Ha Ha

...in all seriousness a cassette release sounds like a great idea considering the subject! And i'm all for it!

[simonn]

So of people who've seen this film so far, what kind of score is it - low key, upbeat, bit of both, something else? Is it the film that's due out tomorrow, the Reznor/Ross soundtrack, or both?

[paul_guyet]

So of people who've seen this film so far, what kind of score is it - low key, upbeat, bit of both, something else? Is it the film that's due out tomorrow, the Reznor/Ross soundtrack, or both?The film is due out tomorrow and, originally, the site I review for was given a release date of 10/19 for the score, but we still haven't gotten review copies and have heard nothing from the PR dude. Hopefully, it'll just show up tomorrow and, at a later date, there'll be some cool physical options.

[untold]

https://preview.ibb.co/kp4uRL/Capture-d-cran-2018-10-19-00-03-13.png (https://ibb.co/myVZRL)

available on Apple Music here in Europe
4 tracks EP

https://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/mid90s-original-music-from-the-motion-picture-ep/1439078975

[untold]

slightly different work compared to the other soundtracks / melodic piano, eerie, beautiful... make me think of the Max Richter's works.
guitar + piano on the first track, love it

[streetman]

slightly different work compared to the other soundtracks / melodic piano, eerie, beautiful... make me think of the Max Richter's works.
guitar + piano on the first track, love it

Thanks for the link. Sounds beautiful. I definitely think this is more of a nuanced and emotional score. I hope they get recognized for it.

[streetman]

It's amazing that Trent can play the piano like this. It seems so effortless yet packed with emotion and melancholy. It's like he's a Mozart of the modern age.

[paul_guyet]

Wow, this is sparse as fuck.

Nice to hear R/R returning to some straight up piano/guitar compositions.

[Lerxto]

Can't wait to hear the full version when it becomes available here.

[Tyson]

The EP is also on Spotify, for those that have, or prefer, that.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4fyH8qQJjj9WR939GCL1Sr

[snichols]

available at the nin.com store. just purchased and listened. its great!
https://store.nin.com/collections/music/products/mid90s-original-music-from-the-motion-picture

[butter_hole]

seems as if it'll just be another web-only release. Will probably just pop up on spotify this friday.
oh look.

I was right.

[Tyson]

available at the nin.com store. just purchased and listened. its great!
https://store.nin.com/collections/music/products/mid90s-original-music-from-the-motion-picture

Did your files have tags? Downloaded the wavs, and they're tagless.

[fillow]

Wait, that's it? 4 songs?

[snichols]

tags? i dont know what that means:) i downloaded the mp3

[Lerxto]

Did your files have tags? Downloaded the wavs, and they're tagless.
FLAC files have tags. WAV is untaggable by nature.

[simonn]

Can't wait to hear the full version when it becomes available here.

Unless this is it...

[streetman]

Unless this is it...

The full score is released on the 29th. From what I heard. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe it's only 12 minutes long.

[BRoswell]

Digging the light piano compositions. There's a nice contrast between them and the more electronic elements.

[simonn]

The full score is released on the 29th. From what I heard. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe it's only 12 minutes long.

Well he did release a 4 track teaser before TSN, so hopefully you're right! Liked what I've heard...

[streetman]

Well he did release a 4 track teaser before TSN, so hopefully you're right! Liked what I've heard...

But with this one the tracks all feel so similar and end so similarly that I do wonder if this is it. Also considering the movie uses a bunch of existing songs and is only 90 minutes long.

[Tyson]

FLAC files have tags. WAV is untaggable by nature.

I've never had a problem tagging my wavs. Can anyone screencap the metadata from the mp3s or flacs so I can properly tag my wavs?

[Lerxto]

I've never had a problem tagging my wavs. Can anyone screencap the metadata from the mp3s or flacs so I can properly tag my wavs?
To be more specific, one player can recognize the tag while others cannot. The whole tagging WAV thing is a big mess.

[Lerxto]

Unless this is it...
I only could listen to the snippets at the time because it was still Thursday. I think this is it.

[Tyson]

I understand the limitations of wav metadata, but I'm never sure if the non-existent metadata is intentional or not, due to past issues with digital files from the TR/AR camp.

[chuenthez]

Are the FLAC 24/48 or 16/44 ?

[Haysey_Draws]

Well that was beautiful and uplifting (albeit short little EP)...exactly what i needed right now :)

[botley]

Are the FLAC 24/48 or 16/44 ?

They're 24bit FLAC files at 48kHz sample rate in a single zip. All tags present and accounted for... artwork too!

[Tom]

Playing this now on the big system at home - very pretty, some lovely bass rumbling on that first track.

[StockAvuryah]

Hm, been a long time since we got "simple", evocative piano melodies in this style. This is great. Really does feel like its one little movie, with the melody at the beginning re-appearing at the end, but.. tainted. The piano sounds so effortless but evokes a lot. With just the name of the film and this short album my imagination went wild enough to imagine a nice little atmosphere. I look forward to the whole piece. Now to hope the movie it gets released in theaters where I am..

[simonn]

But with this one the tracks all feel so similar and end so similarly that I do wonder if this is it. Also considering the movie uses a bunch of existing songs and is only 90 minutes long.

Certainly sounds feasible - shame, as the more hear I hear this, the more I'm enjoying it. Maybe that's why there's been so little buzz about it from the Reznor camp (though obviously the tour is taking up most of his time at the moment). Hopefully then this one is one of the 'minor' projects he referred to in an interview earlier this year...

[ParaGun]

Right now, for me, this is (another) snoozefest by TR and AR. Vietnam had it's interesting moments, but this is just...boring. Beatiful, but boring.

[cdm]

Completely out of the loop on this. Accidentally clicked the bookmark to NIN.com instead of ETS and landed on the homepage to see the Vulture writeup and, more importantly, new music. Made my morning. I REALLY dig the vibe...would love to hear more in this vein.

[Neon]

Love it. There is something so evocative and soulful in these simple tracks. It creates a bittersweet atmosphere that makes me nostalgic about growing up in the "Mid 90s"... Personally I think this is very powerful on an emotional level. Kudos T&A!

[buckaroo]

I really like this. Too bad it is so short. Hopefully they release more stuff in the future they way they released those few Gone Girl outtakes. I would love to hear more of what they came up with during these sessions, even if it didn't make the final cut. A deviations type release of the best leftovers from their scoring jobs would be pretty cool.

[Toadflax]

The full score is released on the 29th. From what I heard. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe it's only 12 minutes long.

Surely they wouldn’t charge for the EP if it was just a sampler of a full release to follow a week and a half later.

It seems it’s been their tendency lately to make the official release be almost a greatest hits of what they composed, as opposed to something like Dragon Tattoo, where they pretty much released all the music they made for the film, including some that didn’t get used.

[botley]

Surely they wouldn’t charge for the EP if it was just a sampler of a full release to follow a week and a half later.

*shiftily looks left and right*

[bobbie solo]

*shiftily looks left and right*


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zn5h_AT-NA

[thefragile_jake]

Honestly, I loved this and can't wait to hear more. I haven't been as big into their score work as of late, but this feels like it's going to complement a film I was immensely anticipating.

[joplinpicasso]

Loved this little gem at 1am last night. Excited for the full score.

[Horican]

You all know that this is the full score, right?

[simonn]

Honestly, I loved this and can't wait to hear more. I haven't been as big into their score work as of late, but this feels like it's going to complement a film I was immensely anticipating.

More? I think this is it. But yes, very nice work, though I've really liked the majority of the score work tbf.

[AThousandDaysBefore]

This is beautiful, this is my favorite ost from Trent
I really like it

[Toadflax]

1. The Start of Things - Reminds me of the end of The Social Network score, in a very good way.

2. Big Wide World - Maybe the "nicest" TR/AR piece ever? I can't think of anything this un-brooding from their entire collection, other than maybe a track or two from Before The Flood.

3. Finding A Place - As people pointed out, really nice to just have some straight piano work from (presumably) Trent. Backing layers aside, it almost feels like a piece could you sneak into a playlist of Chopin's Nocturnes without anyone noticing.

4. Further Along - Kind of a combination of my thoughts on 1 and 3. It sort of strikes me to an answer to the first track - a very similar piece melodically but with a different attitude.

Overall, yeah, really lovely but frustratingly short. Starting to think about making a playlist of little TR/AR snippets that we can collectively design to give all their smaller score work a home.

[ltrandazzo]

Very beautiful and way too short. I'm sure TR + AR have a ton of things on their plate right now, but I'd love to hear more music in this vein.

[joplinpicasso]

You all know that this is the full score, right?

Welp! If so, cool. They clearly like the EP format...I was only thinking about the teaser EP for TGWTDT. I had to refrain from playing out those songs.

Glad to know I can happily play this out all I want now.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

Movie about the mid 90s and the soundtrack is only released via streaming services...Oh the irony..

[streetman]

You all know that this is the full score, right?

We do now lol.

[zecho]

So I finally got to listen to it just now. I absolutely love it, and I've really wanted a piano based record from these guys for a while, and this is perfectly what I was hoping for. All that said, does it bother anyone else how incredibly loudly it's mastered? Like, it's not super compressed (which is generally the problem with loud records) but there are a few parts that the piano's volume peaks for a few seconds and gets that nasty crackling distortion. Thing is, there doesn't seem to be a real reason for it, since this a pretty quiet record by nature. I hate to be a buzzkill, but while I absolutely LOVE the compositions themselves, digital clipping is one of my pet peeves in music, and it just seems so avoidable here that I had to mention it.

[arsenic]

This EP/OST is incredible, although almost disappointingly too short and it let me craving for more. I personally can't wait for the full release of The Walled Off Hotel, as I'm a huge fan of TR+AR playing the piano.

Big Wide World is amazing, and I just realised that the melody is somewhat similar to Not The Love We Dream Of by Gary Numan.
Am I the only one hearing this?

https://youtu.be/dUvx5ieUP3U?t=56s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUvx5ieUP3U)

[streetman]

Behind the scenes footage of Trent recording score for Mid90s. Word is he did it all in one sitting at this grocery store cafe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8JDD_VzoI&frags=pl%2Cwn

[botley]

So I finally got to listen to it just now. I absolutely love it, and I've really wanted a piano based record from these guys for a while, and this is perfectly what I was hoping for. All that said, does it bother anyone else how incredibly loudly it's mastered? Like, it's not super compressed (which is generally the problem with loud records) but there are a few parts that the piano's volume peaks for a few seconds and gets that nasty crackling distortion. Thing is, there doesn't seem to be a real reason for it, since this a pretty quiet record by nature. I hate to be a buzzkill, but while I absolutely LOVE the compositions themselves, digital clipping is one of my pet peeves in music, and it just seems so avoidable here that I had to mention it.
What version are you listening to? I don't hear what you're describing on the FLAC copy from nin.com, nor on Tidal HiFi, so maybe it's a lossy compression thing? It would help if you indicated some specific timing points in the songs and I can take a closer look to see what's up.

[butter_hole]

So I finally got to listen to it just now. I absolutely love it, and I've really wanted a piano based record from these guys for a while, and this is perfectly what I was hoping for. All that said, does it bother anyone else how incredibly loudly it's mastered? Like, it's not super compressed (which is generally the problem with loud records) but there are a few parts that the piano's volume peaks for a few seconds and gets that nasty crackling distortion. Thing is, there doesn't seem to be a real reason for it, since this a pretty quiet record by nature. I hate to be a buzzkill, but while I absolutely LOVE the compositions themselves, digital clipping is one of my pet peeves in music, and it just seems so avoidable here that I had to mention it.

I get heaps of it listening on Spotify

[brotha52]

Unless this is it...
The Tonight Show interview suggests that Jonah Hill got this done on the cheap. Perhaps 4 songs is what you get just for having an epic film.

[zecho]

What version are you listening to? I don't hear what you're describing on the FLAC copy from nin.com, nor on Tidal HiFi, so maybe it's a lossy compression thing? It would help if you indicated some specific timing points in the songs and I can take a closer look to see what's up.

Sure, I'm listening to the album right now; I'll add the timestamps as I go. I'm listening to the FLAC from nin.com through foobar2000 on decent, but not great speakers, but it's also noticeable on my high end headphones.

The Start of Things: 1:46 - 1:49, 2:28 - 2:32
Big Wide World: 1:03 -1:07, 1:22 - 1:27, 1:51 - 1:53, 2:13 - 2:18, 2:24 - 2:27, 2:50 - 2:54
Finding a Place: 1:18, 1:56, 2:17
Further Along: 0:37, 0:40, 0:43, 0:48 - 0:50, 1:17, 1:21 (this one is extreme); 1:30 - 1:32, 1:35 - 1:39, 1:47 - 1:50, 1:58 - 2:04, 2:08 - 2:12, 2:14 - 2:17

This isn't even all of it, just the parts that are so extreme that it actually takes away from the music, and in many cases the sound of the clipping actually exceeding the volume of the piano itself. You have FAR more experience than I do, botley, but I do want to throw in that I did go to school for and work as a professional audio engineer for a few years before I made a career change, and I'm pretty sure I can identify this distortion accurately as just a case of being mastered too loudly and clipping. If you think it's something else, let me know! I also want to emphasize (in case Reznor is lurking) that I do genuinely love this album, it's something I've wanted for years (a piano based album), I just have this one mild criticism of it, and it's not even a criticism of the music.

Edit: Here's a screenshot of the waveform for Further Along just to illustrate my point for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about (anywhere the peak of the waveform is cut off instead of pointed produces the distortion, the wider the cutoff, the more pronounced the distortion):

https://imgur.com/LmCGYOThttps://i.imgur.com/LmCGYOT.png

[simonn]

Brotha52 - Is your user name a Fish reference? If so, cracking song!

Must admit, I said to my wife last night it sounds like its distorting....and not in a good way. Didn't massively detract, but it was a distraction from the effortless beauty of the tracks.

[botley]

Hm, that's weird, so it's not just on Spotify. Their lossy compression scheme goes down to as low as, what is it, a 96kbps stream? So I wasn't surprised it sounded bad. But my FLAC version sounds great.

Sidebar, kids. Don't ever listen on Spotify, unless you're paying for the "Extreme" quality option (even that is only around the normal bitrate for Apple Music or Tidal). I believe they just issued an updated advisory for Spotify uploaders, saying that their truly extreme amount of compression causes excess waveform peaks well above the original master's full scale limit, and you should change your masters to be quieter first before uploading to avoid added distortion (yikes, not good news for the Definitive Edition remasters appearing there any time soon).

Back to the mid90s FLAC, though, I do see the peak limiting you're indicating @zecho (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1086) but those peaks don't have any audible distortion on my end. There's a little bit of 'pumping' but no obvious "shit, that's clipped" crunchiness. Maybe there's something foobar2k or your sound card is doing on playback to introduce inter-sample distortion, perhaps converting to a different sample rate somewhere, or doing something else to change the waveform and pushing those peaks higher than they originally were. I say this only because, after looking closely on a spectrogram and playing the tracks at full volume through my Yamaha monitors, nothing on the EP produces nearly the same level of distortion you're describing. Do you have any EQ, or other DSP settings engaged? Is the output going directly through your soundcard, or is it being mixed with other audio inputs from other applications? Is there a way to turn on 'exclusive mode' and have all that stuff bypassed?

One other thing to try is just lower the input volume on foobar2k, then compensate by turning your speakers up. According to Adobe Audition waveform statistics, the FLAC files I have all peak at or just below 0dBFS, with only one case of a true-peak possibly above the 0dB limit in "Further Along" (which doesn't register as clipping), so it's not a case of there being clipping baked into the files themselves... but perhaps they're pushing the limit a bit for some extra playback volume. Maybe I'll try lowering the volume of the files losslessly and see what happens then.

[zecho]

Hm, that's weird, so it's not just on Spotify. Their lossy compression scheme goes down to as low as, what is it, a 96kbps stream? So I wasn't surprised it sounded bad. But my FLAC version sounds great.

Sidebar, kids. Don't ever listen on Spotify, unless you're paying for the "Extreme" quality option (even that is only around the normal bitrate for Apple Music or Tidal). I believe they just issued an updated advisory for Spotify uploaders, saying that their truly extreme amount of compression causes excess waveform peaks well above the original master's full scale limit, and you should change your masters to be quieter first before uploading to avoid added distortion (yikes, not good news for the Definitive Edition remasters appearing there any time soon).

Back to the mid90s FLAC, though, I do see the peak limiting you're indicating @zecho (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1086) but those peaks don't have any audible distortion on my end. There's a little bit of 'pumping' but no obvious "shit, that's clipped" crunchiness. Maybe there's something foobar2k or your sound card is doing on playback to introduce inter-sample distortion, perhaps converting to a different sample rate somewhere, or doing something else to change the waveform and pushing those peaks higher than they originally were. I say this only because, after looking closely on a spectrogram and playing the tracks at full volume through my Yamaha monitors, nothing on the EP produces nearly the same level of distortion you're describing. Do you have any EQ, or other DSP settings engaged? Is the output going directly through your soundcard, or is it being mixed with other audio inputs from other applications? Is there a way to turn on 'exclusive mode' and have all that stuff bypassed?

One other thing to try is just lower the input volume on foobar2k, then compensate by turning your speakers up. According to Adobe Audition waveform statistics, the FLAC files I have all peak at or just below 0dBFS, with only one case of a true-peak possibly above the 0dB limit in "Further Along" (which doesn't register as clipping), so it's not a case of there being clipping baked into the files themselves... but perhaps they're pushing the limit a bit for some extra playback volume. Maybe I'll try lowering the volume of the files losslessly and see what happens then.

Holy shit, you're right. It was a sound card problem. I'd have never guessed, as I haven't had any problems with this system before, and I've had it for a few years. I wonder what made this different. So yeah, maybe I should come to you for audio issues in the future. It's still a little loud for piano album for my tastes, but the clipping completely disappeared after I fucked around with the settings for my sound card. Thanks for mentioning that, it's really gonna improve my listening experience! I kind of feel like I have egg on my face, just assuming it was mastering and not on my end.

PS. apologies to everyone for apparently bitching about nothing.

[brotha52]

Brotha52 - Is your user name a Fish reference? If so, cracking song!
Nah, first I've ever heard the song, but I've had the handle for about the same time. It's referencing the mushroom shape a 52 makes on a pager.

[gorast]

This sounds truly wonderful and I'm disappointed it's only four tracks. I know a lot of people tend to see the score work as sort of same-y, and I tend to agree for post-GDT scores (though they still sound very good), but this EP feels distinct to me, probably because it's entirely piano-driven. Not a lot of mysterious electronic sounds, no slow brooding, just strong piano melodies with some additional background noise. Each track feels identifiable to me, moreso than some of the other recent score work. I would love to hear more in this vein.

[xfocalinx]

Very easy to listen to! I, on the other hand enjoy that it's only four tracks. I love how many soundtracks the guys are doing now..but SO many instrumental songs, they're all starting to blend together to me. I really enjoy the short soundtrack!

[armogi]

I really like this. Too bad it is so short. Hopefully they release more stuff in the future they way they released those few Gone Girl outtakes. I would love to hear more of what they came up with during these sessions, even if it didn't make the final cut. A deviations type release of the best leftovers from their scoring jobs would be pretty cool.

Sorry to derail but are these gone girl outtakes available somewhere? i mean officially.

[TheBang]

Sorry to derail but are these gone girl outtakes available somewhere? i mean officially.
They were officially posted on Trent Reznor's Apple Music Connect feed:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.7448a436-2aab-11e5-bbe4-039dd4f77b10
https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.16ee4efd-2eab-11e5-aff3-e42cb86dc273

Since they were publicly freely posted, I don't see a problem with sharing and downloading them via other means. The original files were 256 Kbps AAC.

[GulDukat]

Any idea if this will be available via amazon, either to download or as a physical release?

If this movie were set five years earlier, they could release it in CD in a longbox. Remember those?

[botley]

Any idea if this will be available via amazon, either to download or as a physical release?
Download is right here (https://www.amazon.com/Mid90s-Original-Music-Motion-Picture/dp/B07JG92JCF/).

[spahn]

botley, if you get FLAC files and upload them to Google Music, I assume that it convert's it to 320Kbps versions with less compression than what I found on Spotify?

[nmitchell86]

Any idea if this will be available via amazon, either to download or as a physical release?

If this movie were set five years earlier, they could release it in CD in a longbox. Remember those?


With the time frame of the movie, long boxes where gone... long boxes where a super late 80's waaaay early 90's thing.

[Haysey_Draws]

With the time frame of the movie, long boxes where gone... long boxes where a super late 80's waaaay early 90's thing.

I had to google Longboxes, i didn't have a clue what it was...apparently we didn't get them in the UK!

[snaapz]

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have created a beautiful soundtrack for a kind and sweet boy who stands at the end of his safe and sheltered youth; now eagerly embracing streets which are filled with excitement and countless opportunities for success, failure, and most importantly danger.

The whole Wu-Tang bad ass beats and songs are good for illustrating the temper and vibe on the streets; but that's not the mindset of Stevie... its TR/AR soundtracks that remind us of the sensitivity and fragility of what we are watching.

[botley]

botley, if you get FLAC files and upload them to Google Music, I assume that it convert's it to 320Kbps versions with less compression than what I found on Spotify?

That's what I've heard; never used that service myself.

Anybody have a list of the other soundtrack songs that are on the Spotify playlist so I can listen on Tidal?

[Ascender]

The Start of Things and Big Wide World are absolutely stunning and a couple of my favourite instrumental tracks the duo have done. I like how The Start of Things just ends, I could also see it as an intro/scene setter to something with the way it builds before cutting out, kind of like The Frail in to The Wretched.

[davemuzik85]

They were officially posted on Trent Reznor's Apple Music Connect feed:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.7448a436-2aab-11e5-bbe4-039dd4f77b10
https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.16ee4efd-2eab-11e5-aff3-e42cb86dc273

Since they were publicly freely posted, I don't see a problem with sharing and downloading them via other means. The original files were 256 Kbps AAC.
anyone know where i can get these "abandoned sets/bonus tracks/unreleased songs"??? i checked the old GG thread and i saw some "PM's" floating around. anyone care to help a brotha out?
I just can't get enough of the score work from these guys. Everything is absolutely brilliant and the mid90s score is no different. great work, cant stop listening. I wish it was longer though

[idioteque...]

The full score is released on the 29th. From what I heard. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe it's only 12 minutes long.

Where did you hear that?

[sonic_discord]

anyone know where i can get these "abandoned sets/bonus tracks/unreleased songs"??? i checked the old GG thread and i saw some "PM's" floating around. anyone care to help a brotha out?
I just can't get enough of the score work from these guys. Everything is absolutely brilliant and the mid90s score is no different. great work, cant stop listening. I wish it was longer though

As Final Destiny pointed out in the ninwiki thread, "Escape Attempt" is literally the exact same track as "Inquiries" from the Patriot's Day score, but I sent you "Abandoned Sets" via PM.

[davemuzik85]

As @Final Destiny (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=228) pointed out in the ninwiki thread, "Escape Attempt" is literally the exact same track as "Inquiries" from the Patriot's Day score, but I sent you "Abandoned Sets" via PM.
thanks bud!

[SIR.LONDONCLEANLILY]

I too would like this information. Thanks!


anyone know where i can get these "abandoned sets/bonus tracks/unreleased songs"??? i checked the old GG thread and i saw some "PM's" floating around. anyone care to help a brotha out?
I just can't get enough of the score work from these guys. Everything is absolutely brilliant and the mid90s score is no different. great work, cant stop listening. I wish it was longer though

[TheBang]

anyone know where i can get these "abandoned sets/bonus tracks/unreleased songs"??? i checked the old GG thread and i saw some "PM's" floating around. anyone care to help a brotha out
You can get all the material that Trent posted to Apple Music Connect (including the Gone Girl tracks) from here:

https://mega.nz/#!uBMyVQoC!CqZKOv4TdfCpTtQ-q_STDPgL43Su4iiyiY94-ERArSg

[neorev]

This article makes it seem like these four tracks are it.

Perhaps the soundtrack coming out on the 29th, if there is a full soundtrack coming, is a various artists compilation with the four score tracks???
https://www.nme.com/news/music/trent-reznor-atticus-ross-score-jonah-hill-mid90s-2393228

[astfgyl]

I just listened to the tracks on youtube today and I must say they are absolutely stunning. I have immediately fallen in love with them. So hauntingly beautiful and melancholy. Really great stuff from the lads and I also like the fact that it is only 4 tracks, it forces more of my attention on each one.

Also, although it is not NIN, I think it would make a nice coda to the EP trilogy, sort of like the credits rolling at the end of the story. I must try that later. Lastly, I know it gets said all of the time, but we really are getting spoiled with the level and the quality of releases from TR/AR these days.

[PhoenixML]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abIJ1VjYTSI

[astfgyl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abIJ1VjYTSI

Does anybody else think that the interviewer should have let the interviewee answer some of the questions?

[BRoswell]

Does anybody else think that the interviewer should have let the interviewee answer some of the questions?

I think that any time someone is on Howard Stern. :p

[spahn]

for anyone who has purchased this on nin.com, is there a null# and/or catalog number in the notes?

[StockAvuryah]

You can get all the material that Trent posted to Apple Music Connect (including the Gone Girl tracks) from here:

https://mega.nz/#!uBMyVQoC!CqZKOv4TdfCpTtQ-q_STDPgL43Su4iiyiY94-ERArSg

Thank you.

"There's five altogether"

>Only 2 tracks

Aw

Really interesting though, feels like another type of music they could go into

By the way, if you have all the "samplers", multitracks for the scores, that would be very nice. I think there was one for The Social Network and one other soundtrack ?

[idioteque...]

The full score is released on the 29th. From what I heard. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe it's only 12 minutes long.

So fake news?

[gorast]

for anyone who has purchased this on nin.com, is there a null# and/or catalog number in the notes?

Nope. Just the files and artwork. No notes embedded or anything.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abIJ1VjYTSI

While I agree that Howard should probably let the guy answer a question before spitting out a bouquet of his bullshit, I have to give Jonah Hill props for being so adamant about making sure Atticus is equally credited for their contributions. I love TR, but Howard seemed like he was focusing entirely on TR’s contribution and no one else’s.

[nmitchell86]

for anyone who has purchased this on nin.com, is there a null# and/or catalog number in the notes?


No null number that I can find... weird.

[nmitchell86]

You can get all the material that Trent posted to Apple Music Connect (including the Gone Girl tracks) from here:

https://mega.nz/#!uBMyVQoC!CqZKOv4TdfCpTtQ-q_STDPgL43Su4iiyiY94-ERArSg


Mega wants a decryption key... key?

[TheBang]

Mega wants a decryption key... key?
It downloaded and extracted for me without prompting for any key or password.

[nmitchell86]

It downloaded and extracted for me without prompting for any key or password.

What browser did you use? I tried with Chrome. I'll try some other browsers tonight.

[zecho]

What browser did you use? I tried with Chrome. I'll try some other browsers tonight.

Make sure you copy the ENTIRE URL. Part of it IS the decryption key. If you're getting the prompt for a key, look at the URL you're at, whatever isn't there that is in the post here is the decryption key.

[nmitchell86]

Make sure you copy the ENTIRE URL. Part of it IS the decryption key. If you're getting the prompt for a key, look at the URL you're at, whatever isn't there that is in the post here is the decryption key.

So I was copying and pasting the link which as presented it is shorten with "..." in the middle. I clicked on it from the post and it opened with no request for the key. What appears in the browser bar is definitely different than what the link looks like in the post. I should have looked at the properties of the link vs what is presented. Thank you zecho!

Anyway, thank you TheBang for sharing this! I really appreciate it!

[TheBang]

So I was copying and pasting the link which as presented it is shorten with "..." in the middle. I clicked on it from the post and it opened with no request for the key. What appears in the browser bar is definitely different than what the link looks like in the post. I should have looked at the properties of the link vs what is presented. Thank you @zecho (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1086)!

Anyway, thank you @TheBang (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=176) for sharing this! I really appreciate it!
Yes, vbulletin shortens the display of long URLs, but the full URL is in the hyperlink, of course. If you want to copy/paste, you should right-click the hyperlink and choose "Copy Link Address".

Don't thank me for the archive. @ninjaw (https://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=746) is the one who compiled and uploaded it.

[onthewall2983]

While I agree that Howard should probably let the guy answer a question before spitting out a bouquet of his bullshit, I have to give Jonah Hill props for being so adamant about making sure Atticus is equally credited for their contributions. I love TR, but Howard seemed like he was focusing entirely on TR’s contribution and no one else’s.

He can be insufferable on many topics, music being one of them.

[pushingreality]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOzZDdXetUA

New Nike commercial with Kyrie Irving features "The Start of Things". I love this track and it fits extremely well with the sentiment of this commercial.

[ninlive]

New Nike commercial with Kyrie Irving features "The Start of Things". I love this track and it fits extremely well with the sentiment of this commercial.

DAAAAAAMN.... I thought I heard this in that commercial. But I wasn't too sure! Righteous!

[guy8707]

This is my favorite TR/AR score besides The Social Network

[Steven]

I haven't seen the film yet but I listened to the four tracks and...jesus "The Start of Things" hit me really hard. It's been playing in the back of my head ever since I heard it and makes me want to cry because it's so vulnerable/melancholy, kind of like A Warm Place.

[botley]

Just watched the film earlier this week, and I enjoyed it a lot! It would be nice for the original score to exist in some physical form; maybe a one-sided 12" record would be fun. But a cassette would perhaps be more period-appropriate...

[wizfan]

Watched it yesterday. Excellent film. Amazing acting. I was pleasantly surprised by how little music the film had, as I like movies with little to no music (e.g. No Country for Old Men).

[StockAvuryah]

Just watched the film earlier this week, and I enjoyed it a lot! It would be nice for the original score to exist in some physical form; maybe a one-sided 12" record would be fun. But a cassette would perhaps be more period-appropriate...

Oh. I would buy a cassette of this score. That's pretty much perfect.

Movie will only be out at the end of April here, that's a long wait.

[BRoswell]

Finally saw the film and really liked it. Trent & Atticus' score moves in and out of the film at the right times. It's probably their most understated score, which also makes it one of their most effective scores to date.

[m0reta]

FYI the movie is up on Amazon Prime Video here in US.

[spahn]

my wife and I watched the movie over the weekend and we thought it was okay. nothing ground breaking. the score does make its appearances but is not so prominent as are TRAR other scores.
the movie is a bit slow paced at the beginning and does pick up (as much as this movie can "pick up") towards the middle-end). the acting was pretty good but I would have to give it a 6.5-7/10.