Universal Production Music: Best Of - New Releases, Friday March 3rd and 10th 2023 Edition
James Hilbig
Account Executive at Universal Production Music (Formerly FirstCom Music and Killer Tracks)
I completely spaced out on sharing last week's new release email, so we have a double header today!
Composed by?Universal Production Music US?Senior Music Director?John Lentz, the below excerpt from?John's weekly New Releases email contains a quick synopsis of a selected track from each of our new album releases?from?Universal Production Music US?for the week, or in this case 2 weeks!
Best Of - New Releases, Friday March 3rd Edition
"Looking for new music? Join those in the know reading about and listening to these fifteen new releases this week:
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OneMusic, OM273 Big Sports Mashup, #1, Taste Of Victory
A sports album that nearly any sport will love as the styles include trap, electronica, orchestral, big beat, rocktronica, and EDM. Part of what makes the album special is that the styles mentioned are mashed up on each other to create a track whose sum is greater than its parts. Those orchestral pieces move with authority when the electronic percussion is added. Exciting, driving, determined, hi-energy, and percussive, this is the sports album that producers need right now. It covers the wide wide world of sports like few others can. Once clients hear it they will be asking for a volume two.
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Koka, KOK2617 Koka Archives - Robot rose, #2, Scoop
Koka opens the vaults with a 1982 electronic release. The electronic sounds have changed quite a bit since 40+ years ago which makes the album an excellent source for period music. There are influences of video game sounds, disco, and synthwave along with moods like quirky, fun, cheesy, playful, and futuristic. Film/TV will love the authenticity to paint scene in the early 1980s, some of the tracks can work for young children’s programming, but this album is mostly for a specific time period when this sound was ruling the airwaves, turntables, and tape decks.
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Koka, KOK2616 TV Essentials - Crime & Investigation, #2, Digital Conundrum
Investigative music often follows a formula of intriguing dronish type atmosphere with light movement. Koka’s latest moves that sound up a notch with a more up front beat that is repetitive and effective. The moods are tense, dark, ominous, intriguing, anticipatory, and mysterious while also driving and determined. There are elements of house, techno, and synthwave in the mix but not too much to take the overall sound away from investigative. Crime shows will obviously love the album, news can use a few tracks, spy/espionage films will like the album, and documentaries will find the music attractive for times when tempo is needed.
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Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP370 Ninja Chiptune, #2, Finish Line
The love for 8-bit sounds is real and Ninja Tune addresses that love with an album of chiptune tracks. The 8-bit of yesterday is fused with modern production to create a fun and interesting collection of tracks. The moods are energetic, quirky, adventurous, hi-energy, dynamic, and sometimes robotic. All of it works well for early arcade type gaming, children’s productions, and some comedy.
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Indigo, INDG013 K-Lone - UKG Etc, #1, Me And You
K-LONE is a London electronic artist with six chart worthy tracks in UK Garage, house, and jungle styles. The sound is cool and smooth with vocals or vocal samples. With moods like exciting, intimate, dynamic, driving, and chill, the album not only works for youth lifestyle but also for advertising. A couple of the tracks sound ideal for luxury/upscale ads. Sports might also use some tracks and film/TV might like the album for source music.
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BBC Production Music, BBCPM157 Summer Fun, #3, Sensuality
Summer is never that far away, and editors can start preparing with the latest from BBC. This album has a variety of tracks ideal for summer in styles of pop, EDM, trap, rocktronica, house, and electro pop. The mood is fun, energetic, dynamic, and sometimes chill. The music works for advertising, youth lifestyle, and fashion. This is a terrific representation of the sound of summer.
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Sonic Beat Records, SBR272 Dark Electro Pulse, #3, Climax
The concept for this album is simple…edgy, dark, and driving electro music. The beat is consistent, and the moods are dark, hypnotic, edgy, sometimes tense, aggressive, and punchy. The applications are most apparent for sports, extreme sports, some news programming (especially news promos), and gaming. The mood is not so dark as to depict tragedy, but it is not a soundtrack for a hot dog eating contest, either. Some tracks can work for late night car ads that need a serious tone.
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Sketch Music, SKE032 Delicious Dramedy, #3, Countdown To Cupcakes
It seems that clients cannot get enough of the entertaining sound of dramedy. This release goes beyond curious pizzicato with acoustic guitars and woodwinds that add to the quirkiness and kitsch feeling of the music. There is some light suspense and mystery, which is expected on any dramedy album. In addition to dramedy productions, some of the tracks can work for storytelling, motivation, advertising, and children’s programming.
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Sound Pocket Music, PKT244 Dance Pop Beats, #1, Revolving Nights
A well fused combination of pop and dance with prominent beats. This is a fun and positive album with energy and smiles. Carefree, cool, fun, youth energy, and exciting only begin to describe this album. The sound lends itself very well for summer applications, youth lifestyle, fashion, and advertising. Positively perfect for parties or anything that needs to get the action going.
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BBC Production Music, BBCPM158 Kitchen Dramas, #1, Sharpen Your Knives
Dramatic contest shows are everywhere these days. Few can match the intensity of cooking show contests. BBC has provided the ideal soundtrack for shows like that with this percussive and dramatic offering. There are plenty of percussion sounds that mimic those found in kitchens in addition to the dramatic and edgy backdrop that makes those shows compelling. The music also works for reality TV, some can work for advertising, and some for promos. The knives are out but always remember how to hand a knife to someone…unless it is the competition. Somewhere Gordon Ramsey is smiling…or preparing for the next kitchen drama.
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Anyone ready for a summer European vacation? If so, take these tunes along for an enjoyable and fitting soundtrack. The album focuses primarily on France, Spain, Greece, and Italy with those regional flavors captured in pleasant melodies that are fitting for any travel audio brochure. A few tracks are up tempo, most are medium, and a couple are slower and more relaxed. For any type of production that wants to convey the popular spirit of these historical European regions.
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SaraoMusic, SA127 Really Motivational 4, #1, Fearless Life
Get motivated with these classical music infused tracks that are sure to inspire productivity in anyone. Piano and strings set the stage for tracks that build. The moods are elegant, bright, aspirational, determined, inspirational, and motivational. These are perfect for corporate/business, technology, education, and anything that needs a boost of achievement. Play these tracks and watch progress soar!
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ENERGY Music, EN064 BITTERSWEET - Minimal Piano, #6, The Best Of Friends
Beautiful piano that evokes many emotions. The approach is minimal to highlight the elegance and grace of the piano performance (backed with light strings). The moods are numerous including peaceful, poignant, delicate, dramatic (light), hopeful, sentimental, and introspective. Emotional dramas, human dramas, and advertising that focuses on caring and healing are where this album shines.
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Nuvotone Lime, NUVL1052 Melancholy Serenade, #1, Night To Kill
Male and female vocals are featured in a variety of melancholy tracks in indie pop, electro pop, trip hop, alternative pop, and pop rock styles. The album can be moody, introspective, melancholy, gentle, lonely, and romantic, to name just a few moods. The result is an outstanding array of creative approaches to emotion in contemporary styles with effective vocals and lyrics. Emotional, human, and teen dramas will love every track. The instrumentals can be used for advertising, promos, and the more emotional side of youth lifestyle.
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领英推荐
10 Miles, 10MILES162 Atmospheric Drones 5 - Mid East Tension, #1, Contagious Sand
Tension and the Middle East seem to have a long history with each other. The latest from 10 Miles combines the sound of the region in a drone atmosphere to create a group of optimal tracks that effectively capture the moods of tension, anticipation, and mystery. The atmospheric dark feeling works well for news and programming about Middle East events, tensions, and political intrigue. Documentaries dealing with similar subjects will also find the album quite appealing.
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Enjoy the music and your weekend!"
Best Of - New Releases, Friday March 10th Edition
"Thirteen new releases from thirteen labels with plenty of new music clients will love. Take a listen…
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EVO, EVO376 Big Angel Energy, #1, Energy
Continuing the celebration for International Women’s Day and Universal’s 100% HER initiative, EVO’s latest is an outstanding album of exclusively female created hip hop, trap, pop, and R&B. The result is some of the finest contemporary music in the catalog with lyrics of female empowerment, independence, being the best, and confidence. The music sounds like the latest popular playlist on music services as the tracks sounds as good as anything on the commercial market. The usages are many including film/TV source music, youth lifestyle, female empowerment productions, sports, advertising, and promos.
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Velocity, VL222 Buckets Bombs + One-Timers, #1, At The Top
Basketball is building to an exciting finish in the college ranks while the pros prepare for their playoffs soon. The latest from Velocity is an ideal soundtrack for hoops as trap styles are featured with vocals depicting achievement, championships, and winning. Every track is an ear grabber and perfect for basketball programming (highlights, promos, intros/outros), football, and sports where an attitude of winning is needed. Velocity producer Skin Wade (seen on Dallas Mavericks TV broadcasts as a color analyst) knows his hoops as well as anyone and this latest production is more evidence of that. Fill out that bracket while listening to these championship tracks.
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Koka, KOK2618 Modern Acoustic Sketches - Unreleased Gems, #1, Slavic Folk Dance
The album description labels the music as, “unusual acoustic pieces”. That may be true but the sound is also creative and effective as the five tracks on the album take a journey through the Slavic area of eastern Europe, sad and lonely emotions, delicate drama, and elegant piano/strings/bass clarinet. A couple of tracks can work for travel, some can work for emotional drama, and all work for arts programming, and nature. If unusual means well played and beautiful, then the album description is correct.
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Nordic ID, NORD126 Nordic Viking 1, #1, Blood At Sunrise
An album all about Vikings in various moods. Some of the tracks have vocals and wordless vocal effects in addition to authentic Nordic instruments like the langspil, Viking horn, and ethnic percussion. Many of the tracks are dramatic and bold (as if going to battle) while others are more atmospheric, quiet, and mysterious like a prelude to battle. The album works for anything related to Viking life, historical documentaries, and scenes of battle and pre-battle.?
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Sound Pocket Music, PKT245 Celtic Folk 2, #1, Molly Malone
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day is an album of Celtic folk music with original tunes and some old favorite well known ones. The moods are generally bright, positive, fun, and carefree. The instrumentation includes the instruments one would expect like uillean pipes, bodhran, mandolin, and whistles. A delightful collection of Irish/Celtic music that may not be for the driving Irish rock played at pubs late at night but rather for celebrations that occur a few hours before. The album also works for documentaries and any sort of advertising that needs a Celtic theme. An enjoyable listen.
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True Stories,TRU186 Royal Scandal, #1, Succeed At Any Cost
The latest from True Stories offers string quartets and woodwinds focusing on drama with elements of prestige, sophistication, and melancholy. The tempos and aggression range from slow to fast and mild to bold. The album works for human drama, period drama, stories on aristocracies, and some advertising. While not as in your face as other neoclassical albums with influences of regality, this release has a bit of everything that can work in a variety of ways.
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Hypersonic Music, HYPR042 - Monarch : Period and Sparse Neoclassical Trailers, #3, Court Of Kings
A trailer album that is classical, baroque, and neoclassical with aggressive live string sections, string quartets, chamber strings, and solo strings creating a different sound for trailers. The moods are aggressive, contemplative, prestigious, romantic, and delicate. Like any good trailer album, the music builds to an expected finish but with this one the endings are loaded with strings rather than a lot of percussion. Ideal for period dramas, trailers, promos, advertising (especially for luxury/upscale), and mystery.
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Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP358 Regal Melodrama, #1, Heirs Of The Body
Active and up front strings in a neoclassical style drives the music on the latest from Ninja Tune. The mood is decidedly melodramatic and flavored with a regal touch making it a bit more stylish and interesting. Most of the tracks are up tempo dusted with other moods that make the music sound noble, dignified, sophisticated, and prestigious. Perfect for human drama, documentaries, emotional drama, period drama, and stories of royalty in the UK.
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Abbey Road Masters, ARX036 Empowerment Pop, #2, Downtown
Another album of female songs of empowerment and self-confidence. Styles include pop, electro, and hip hop. These tracks are in step with anything released commercially and the album flows well (listen to the songs in album order for a fun ride). The vocalists capture the feel of each track exceptionally well making the vocals great for productions focusing on female achievement, some sports, and youth lifestyle. The instrumentals are perfect for advertising, summer, and promos. Play this one in the car for a fun listen anytime.
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Dancing About Architecture, DAA-027 Drill & Chill, #1, Iced Out
Ahh…so very nice, until the heist is executed. Deliciously infectious electronic chill grooves that relax a with sophisticated feel that has an upscale vibe. Sometimes the mood gets serious and other times it just chills. There is a small amount of tension in most tracks, but the overall mood is cool. Great for scenes that need an “active” chill feel or setting the scene for a complex heist. Advertising will enjoy the modern sound for the coolest of products and promos embrace the album, too.
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Model Music, MODEL093 Surge & Swirl - Positive & Hopeful Mallets, #3, Sail Home Easy
A good description of this album is intriguing, but not so heavy. Yes, the music conjures thoughts of wonderment, and awe all the while within a context of productivity. This is a result of the effective use of mallet instruments that offer elements of hope and warmth to create a pleasant and industrious feel. The moods are light making the album ideal for corporate, “how to” videos, education, documentaries, and scenes for human emotion. Few albums capture humanity and the world of productivity as well as this one.
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Nuvotone Stratos, NUVS1055 Building Hope, #10, Hold On To The Dream
What the world needs now is love. Familiar words heard for decades. The latest from Nuvotone Stratos puts that idea into music with a light approach using warmth, hope, and understanding as the moods for these positive tracks. Mostly acoustic and never overbearing, the music takes one to a realization of achievement and contentment. Perfect for corporations, promos, education, advertising…you name it. Need a positive message that delivers gently but effectively? This is the album for that message.
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Aurora Production Music, AUPM152 Intimate Strings, #5, Flowing Evolution
While technology gets better and better, there is still room in this world for live strings and Aurora delivers exactly that in this offering of beautiful string led tracks. And what a difference it makes. The music is stunningly beautiful in styles of contemporary classical molded into moods of atmosphere, panorama, emotion, reflection, heartwarming, some drama, and anticipation. Like the title suggests, the feel is intimate, but the effect is far more than that. Great for documentaries, film/TV, and advertising.
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Have a wonderful weekend and remember to set your clocks forward an hour as Daylight Saving Time will be in effect. More sun in the evenings!"