The Soundtrack

"James Bond Will Return" graces the end credits of every movie in the series since the 1960s, and for good reason. These films, while perhaps not individually, have collectively stood the test of time by being the driving force in the spy genre while also staying true to the decades in which they were released. In a way, this series is a sort of documentary capturing the world's rich history and cultures through action, adventure, espionage, romance, and of course, music. This episode aims to uncover specific themes and musical patterns (motifs) - the building blocks that create that unique "spy" sound in all the movies. Zack and Jon answer the question, "Why does James Bond music sound he same, yet fresh and original in each movie?" After an epic 3-week 007 marathon that led up to the premiere of Skyfall in 2012, Zack and Jon are excited to get back in the ring to talk about one of their all-time favorite franchises. "For England, James?" *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Much like how Link in Majora's Mask collects a variety of masks to transform into different characters for completing the game, all the music in The Legend of Zelda series has accomplished a similar thing throughout the years. Each and every game in the series has been significant to the franchise as a whole as they all have their own unique aesthetic and style - captured perfectly by the music. Zack explains the value of each style of music within these different tracks throughout the series, as well as the artistic layers that help each song achieve that style. So, in the words of Link's fairy guide, Navi... "HEY! LISTEN!" *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Alex Reed stops by one more time before returning to L.A. to continue his screenwriting career, but we just couldn't let him go without first discussing his #1 favorite franchise! Reed is a huge Trekkie and his knowledge of that music is no exception. Sit back and relax as we warp through 50 years of film and television soundtracks from the iconic space exploration series! *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Jon and Zack are taking the party to Japan as they share some of their favorite theme songs in the world of Anime! Over a span of 20+ years and from T.V. to internet (Crunchyroll, if you're listening...*cough cough*), Japanese anime has been responsible for some of our all-time favorite shows including Digimon, Trigun, and more recently...One Punch Man!  Get ready for guitar licks and horn rips in this action-packed episode! YouTube Artist Spotlight --> https://www.youtube.com/user/FamilyJules7X *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

What makes a great video game soundtrack? How many different ways can one use music in a game? Why are there so many memorable tracks in games? Why are you being asked all these questions? Using one of the most iconic characters and series of games as an example, Zack attempts to answer all these questions and more by breaking down the phases and aspects of an entertaining adventure game and how music can be created to enhance the player's experience from start to finish. The Donkey Kong Country soundtracks, composed largely by David Wise, effectively demonstrate the possibilities for impact that music can have throughout a game and how the music can set the tone going forward. Get ready for a lot of musical examples and a chat with Sydney Brega, retro gamer and DK superfan! *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

This episode is all about The Lord of the Rings as Zack shines a "leit" on the compositional technique known as "leitmotif" as used by Howard Shore throughout the iconic film trilogy. He shares a couple of his favorite tracks before opening up the discussion to his brother, Alex, but just as the Fellowship encountered many surprises during their adventure, there just might be a surprise or two in store for this episode...  Check out Nerdwriter's analysis of Shore's music at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7BkmF8CJpQ  Also, a quick shout-out to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and all the incredible soloists for their performances on these soundtracks since Zack forgot to do it during the episode!!*Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Jonathan Zimny rejoins the program to react to '90s sitcom theme songs in real-time with Zack! The two give their (totally not biased) opinions of theme songs belonging to an important decade of American television, and speculate as to how those theme songs affect their shows. Whatever happened to predictability? *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Following the December release of the exciting, new app game Mario Run, Zack decided to take a look back on some of Nintendo's most memorable music and how it has changed over the years. This episode also features the next installment in the YouTube Artist Spotlight series and a NEW segment where Zack challenges his special guests to a soundtrack-guessing test! Check out the fine work of Brent Black (brentalfloss) at https://www.youtube.com/user/brentalfloss and the Super Mario 30th Anniversary Medley by Marc Lovallo at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkL2kVA2uyc *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

With the latest release in the Star Wars franchise comes a special episode all about the music of Star Wars. What makes this episode so special, you say? Two good friends are joining Zack for discussion as opposed to the usual one person! Screenwriter Alex Reed defeats Zack in his own dojo when it comes to knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Then later, Tim Valentine (another one of Zack's best friends) visits all the way from Texas to ring in the new year and share his reaction to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! Check out Mr. Plinkett's Star Wars prequel reviews at https://www.youtube.com/user/RedLetterMedia/playlists and Star Wars Minus Williams at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

The holiday themed episodes continue for another month as Zack breaks down music from various Christmas movies as well as one of Family Guy's many musical numbers. His brother Alex also joins the program again to talk about his favorite (and least favorite...haha) Christmas songs and movies. Merry Christmas to one and all!See ASCAP's complete list of the 30 most-played Christmas songs of the last 50 years at https://www.ascap.com/press/2016/11-21-top-holiday-songsand check out the full recording of You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch plus other great music recorded by Take 6 on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/most-wonderful-time-year/id394759423 *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

Zack pretends to know what he's talking about when it comes to the soundtrack of a Halloween icon...that he's never seen! Hear Zack's fresh reactions to an old classic. Then, Jonathan Zimny makes his return for a discussion of Horror, Thriller, and other Halloween related soundtracks. Happy Halloween!*Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

In an episode that was originally planned to be a discussion of the Family Guy soundtrack, Zack runs into some issues and has to change topics on the fly! Instead, he attempts to cover some of his favorite theme songs across different decades and networks as he hangs out with his brother Alex  *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

In this episode, Zack attempts to take a closer look at the music of a franchise still going strong by discussing the transition of the classic video game soundtracks to the ever-popular anime. Do these tracks really hold up? Then later, singer-songwriter Kevin Ruby joins in for what just ends up being a huge Pokémon nerd-out session...  *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*

In this first episode, Zack shares his ten favorite Disney songs and sits down with one of his best friends and fellow trombonists, Jonathan Zimny, to talk about his favorite Disney songs!   *Mute City Music, LLC is a trademark of E. Zachary Demos. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The sole purpose of this podcast is for the criticism, commentary, and teaching of copyrighted works*