Universal Production Music: Best Of - New Releases, Friday April 21st and 28th 2023 Edition
James Hilbig
Account Executive at Universal Production Music (Formerly FirstCom Music and Killer Tracks)
I am sharing another 2 weeks of BIG new releses 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 .
Friday April 21st:
"We have a larger than usual harvest of albums this week featuring 24 different labels. Some words about the music…
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Chappell, CHAP549 Esoteric Scores, #2, Loosening Screws
The undercurrent of mystery and suspense for psychological thrillers is a good description for Chappell’s latest release. The music is draped in mystery with elements of moods like haunting, anticipation, edginess, and darkness flavoring the tracks for added impact. The impact is not harsh but more subtle letting the moods drive the overall effect. Great for crime dramas or documentaries, mysteries, thrillers, investigative reports, perhaps CSI shows, and some science/technology applications (with that degree of uncertainty the music brings).
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Chronic Trax, CM164 Female Rap 2, #14, Brat (Clean)
The ladies take over this album of rap, trap, and hip hop with unabashed and confident lyrics. The instrumentation is on the minimal side and takes a back seat to the featured vocals but deliver the precise sound making the lyrics so effective. Sports will love the attitude and swagger, film/TV will like the source music angle, and the album will work for youth lifestyle, promos, and reality TV. Explicit and clean versions available on the album.
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Focus Music, FCD459 New Vintage, #5, Fabulous
The opening piano on track one establishes the feel good vibe of the album. Vocals of positivity along with the styles of R&B, pop, and rap give the album an irresistible appeal for listeners. There is an overall funky mood with touches of old school and modern styles. Advertising will love every track (vocals and instrumentals), youth lifestyle is all about these sounds, promos, PSAs, and education can use these tracks for an overall positive fell. Cool smiles for everyone.
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Berlin Production Music, BER1329 Tech It Out, #1, Dancer
House music has many different sub-styles and this one is all about tech house. The tracks are driving and have a definite groove that is determined and unbridled. Vocal hooks provide an extra element for the punchiness and excitement the instrumentation brings. This is club dance that can also work for promos, youth lifestyle, sports, and advertising. Modern sounding and addictive, the music is the nighttime soundtrack for the coolest of the cools.
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Berlin Production Music TV, BERTV023 TV Tension, #2, Carpet Of Tension
Clients call these tracks tension beds and Berlin has created a dozen great ones on their latest release. All of the moods necessary are here…suspense, mystery, introspection, repetition, and darkness. The beds are consistent throughout (no builds) making them great for investigative reporting, crime, CSI shows, promos, and some have a dramatic game show feel.
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Galerie, GAL289 Klezmer Dramedy, #2, Detective Rubinstein
Klezmer and dramedy sound like a natural combination and Galerie delivers exactly that on this album. One will find plenty of clarinet leads and pizzicato strings in that light/friendly mysterious mood that is dramedy music. Some of the tracks have a Balkans feel but not too much to distract. Some of the tracks will work for any dramedy as the klezmer influence is not over the top. The album can also work for family comedies, and non-dramedy Jewish applications, too.
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MasterSource, MSTR350 Action Sports 5, #4, We Da Champs
MasterSource’s highly successful, “Action Sports”, series delivers a volume five of attention grabbing tracks outfitted for sports. Trap, hip hop, and rock propel that album and its energy into sports productions of most any kind. The formula continues with catchy vocal hooks, driving instrumentation, sports themed lyrics, and the melding of styles to create the ideal sports album. Football, basketball, baseball, hockey, combat sports…any type of sport that needs a puncy will love the album. Promos, commercials, and youth lifestyle will also want to audition this album.
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EVO, evo378 Meditations, #1, Hope Unveiled
Minimal and sparse with a gentle approach. The introspective and emotional tracks are gently played by piano and acoustic guitar and never get in a hurry. The emotions are not heavy but rather more contemplative. The beauty of the album is present in every track. Works well for human drama, reality TV, meditation, film score, and some can work for advertising that involves emotion in a soft sell environment.
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Essential Asia, EAS062 Chillhop Island, #1, Palm Skies
Summer is just a step away and this album is a great way to start the season. A cool and breezy chillhop style with a relaxed tempo is Essential Asia’s latest offering and is among their best. The mood is laid back and warm with a friendly and inviting vibe. Perfect for relaxing at the beach, advertising, on hold, and travel.
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Essential Asia, EAS063 Arcade Tournament, #10, Vapours
Arcade game music that is chiptune, 8-bit, 16-bit, and some synthwave in the mix. There is a 1980s presence with some of the electronic instrumentation and the overall effect is that of music in the style of older video games. A bit more musical than straight up arcade game music but that influence is up front and undeniable. The overall mood is fun and nostalgic with plenty of tempo, energy, and excitement. This is a specialty album that can work for documentaries about video games (or a 1980s segment), promos for programming of that era, and possibly some advertising that needs a dose of the 1980s sound.
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BBC Production Music, BBCPM161 City Living, #3, The High Line
Billed as a modern urban soundtrack, the album takes the listener on a journey of musical depictions of life in today’s cities. The electronic music has a variety of moods including atmospheric, sophisticated, funky, luxurious, cool, and exciting. The album can work for documentaries and possibly some (older) youth lifestyle but it really shines for advertising, especially luxury/high end. A lot of high dollar cars, diamonds, clothes, and chic products can be sold with this contemporary sound that is always in step with the latest trends in luxury.
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SoundBreakers, SB135 Epic Orchestral Hybrid Vol. 3, #1, One Mission One Goal
Need some dramatic attention getting cinematic music with a rock punch? Look no further than this album of powerful tracks that deliver a message of importance and (often) urgency. Some of the tracks have trailer type gothic choirs adding to the excitement. Sports will love every track for promotion and highlights, film/TV will like the trailer influence, and promos will embrace the impact and important sounding mindset of the album. The rock element sharpens the edges of aggression and intensity on many of the tracks.
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Hypersonic Music, HYPR045 - Super Deluxe! : Retro Revival Promos, #1, Take Action
There are several albums in the catalog that have retro styling with modern production. This is one that dials it in as good as any other with the production sounding like a 50/50 mixture of old and new. The moods are funky, fun, cool, and all tracks find a hip groove. There are some horns, lots of bass, boom bap breaks, and a sense of cool that cannot be topped. Excellent for advertising, promos, PSAs, and documentaries.
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Three Ingredients Or Less, 3ING-077 Black & White Bites, #4, Chase in Black and White (vintage)
Silent film, ragtime, and vaudeville styles make up this album. And most of the music has a vintage, clean jangle, and modern version. There is variety in the content with energetic silent film drama, cheerful ragtime, and vaudeville styles. These tracks are ideal for film/TV needs of either vintage or modern sounding music from a century ago, children’s programming, comedy, and documentaries on subjects from that time. Leave it to the License Lab to dream up such an interesting album filled with variations on the same tune.
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HypeKit, HK-23 Indie Rock, #3, We Want It Now
Oh, indie rock what do you want to be today? HypeKit says let’s give it some pop appeal, a friendly attitude, and suitable for nearly anyone listening. The mood is on the lighter side of rock and the music perks along at a nice pace. The last track is the one where the electric guitars take over. Great for advertising, youth lifestyle, road trips, film/TV, promos, and light drama.
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LMNTL Records, LMTL-041 30,000 Feet (Single), #1, 30,000 Feet
Laid back and dreamy with vocoder vocals. The alternative pop sound is light with a panoramic feel and a splash of blissfulness that has a sense of chill. The song moves along at a medium slow pace but never drags and keeps the listener engaged. The ending picks up the pace just a bit to finish a cool track. Film/TV might like it as source music, it can also work for advertising, and the panoramic feel lends itself to documentaries.
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Zone Plus, Zone 668 Beautiful Voices, #3, Sacred Souls
Wordless vocals lead this album of largely positive tracks. The album is worldly with Scandinavian, middle eastern, Celtic, and Indian influences. Beautiful vocal performances give the music an inspirational feel making it ideal for travel and documentaries for those regions. Some of the instrumentals will be appealing to advertising, film score, and nature applications.
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Zone Plus, Zone 671 Heritage, #1, The King's Coronation
Long live King Charles! That is the obvious message for the first track as the UK prepares for the king’s coronation this year. The rest of the album is a musical depiction of royalty and prestige in all its majestic regalia. The classically influenced orchestral tracks cover moods of celebration, reflection, honor, pride, and historical heritage. Film/TV can always use this type of album when dealing with subjects about royalty and the album also works for documentaries, some advertising, and nearly anything about the British monarchy. One of the finest albums of its type in the catalog.
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Sound Pocket Music, PKT246 House Band, #1, Improv In Blue
Your favorite jazz night spot has a band that works as the backup for a featured performer or plays music as the featured act. This album captures those band sounds with a delicious variety of 1960s inspired jazz. There is an abundance of organ, guitar, and horns on this gem and the music is always entertaining. Great for television, background music for film/TV, promos, talk shows, documentaries, and advertising. This is one of those albums that gets in the groove and stays there.
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Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP378 Trumpet Virtuoso, #1, Beauty On Bourbon Street
The trumpet is featured in this collection of various styles. Dixieland, New Orleans traditional jazz, modal jazz, jazz blues, and Latin/mariachi are some of the genres on the album. The trumpet always takes center stage and the moods swing from light and happy to serious and elegant. There are many applications for the album and given the variety of genres and moods, one size does not fit all. However, advertising, film/TV, promos, documentaries, and travel will find many of the tracks useful.
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Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP367 Natural Yogurt Band presents Surreal Lounge, #1, Open Roads
领英推荐
The Surreal Lounge is a place where one can go to unwind, visit with familiar faces, and listen to the coolest music in an array of jazzy moods. Ninja Tune delivers an album of jazzy tracks that are cool, luxurious, strange, psychedelic, comedic, and quirky. This is one of those albums that demands an audition to truly understand the content. Good for background music for film/TV, late night, luxury advertising, light comedy, and promos. The concept and music may be difficult to describe but one listen makes everything clear to the creative mind.
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Indigo, INDG014 Goldmund - Fields of White, #3, Remained
Beautiful ambient piano led tracks by Goldmund (Keith Kenniff). Down tempo and emotion filled, the music takes a subtle and minimal approach allowing the gentle and delicate performances to fully develop the intended effect. The moods are warm, sentimental, sophisticated, hopeful, simple, and genuine. Ideal for documentaries, nature applications, advertising (pharmaceuticals, ads with human emotion, soft sell, luxury, etc.), meditation, low intensity fitness, and PBS type of programming. Goldmund has tens of millions of plays on Spotify so give this album a listen and hear what others have been enjoying.
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Model Music, MODEL094 Riverside Reflections - Gentle Folk Moments, #1, Losing Light
The understated and often pastoral tracks in a folk style deliver contemplative and reflective moods of warm and positive feelings. The tempo is slow so that the listener can fully appreciate the delicate performance of acoustic guitars. Nothing but subtle positivity and soft emotions on this album. Advertising will love the laid back approach for soft sell, documentaries and nature programming will like every track, and a few can also work for PSAs.
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ENERGY Music, EN067 POWER 3 - Explosive Rock, #2, Gonna Take It All
A driving and determined album of hip hop rock that is intense and exciting. The music is powerful, edgy, heavy, confident, and driving. The vocals match the intensity of the instrumentation and film/TV will want to consider some for source music. These tracks also work perfectly for sports (vocals or instrumentals), promos, action oriented applications, some advertising, and anything that needs a powerful punch.
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Flexitracks, FLEX157 Heart Stopping Trailers, #1, Zero Sum Game
These trailers have some outstanding long builds with a wide dynamic range that makes them so effective. The tension and anxiety build into powerful/impactful endings played by an orchestra with punchy percussion and orchestral hits. All of the moods one finds in trailers are here…determination, strength, drama, energy, anticipation and intensity fuel the sound. In addition to trailers, the music can work for thrillers, suspenseful dramas, promos, sports, and some advertising.
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AFROSONIC, AFRS079 African Gospel - Clap, Tap and Traditional, #1, Uyingcwele
Male and female vocals drive this inspirational collection of African gospel tracks. Clap trap and traditional South African styles are well represented with beautiful and percussive sounding instrumentation backing the lead and choir vocals. Film/TV will want these tracks for specific source music while the instrumentals are great for advertising and documentaries.
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10 Miles, 10MILES164 Orchestral 9 - Fairytale Fantasy - Mid East Mediterranea, #9 Bolshevik Coffee Merchant
Orchestral and cinematic tracks that tell a story. Each track has a definitive middle eastern feel complete with regional instruments. The moods are exciting, epic, suspenseful, mysterious, intriguing, and exotic. Every track can be an excellent backdrop for storytelling in addition to being good for documentaries, travel, and middle eastern advertising and promos. This album captures the sound of the Middle East quite well.
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Have a wonderful weekend!"
Friday April 28th:
"There are fifteen new releases this including a new single from Saticoy.
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Front Runners, FRONT128 Saticoy Good Housekeeping, #1, Good Housekeeping
(This is the description found on the website…it describes the single best.) Driven by a catchy distorted bass line, this alternative rock/pop song kicks off the release cycle for Saticoy’s upcoming full length album “Origami”. With lyrics painting the picture of an introspective artist struggling with depression and trying to rediscover his voice, this song’s influence from late 90s/early 2000s alt rock shines through in its ethos as much as its sonic characteristics.
Killer Latino, KL045 Caribbean Underscores, #1, By The Sea
With summer just around the corner, it is a good time for underscores that have a Caribbean feel. The music is percussive with ukuleles and steel drums in the mix of reggae, afrobeat, reggaeton, and traditional sounding island music with a modern feel. The mood is often fun, simple, and flowing making the album great for summer applications, documentaries, advertising, and promos.
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Chronic Trax, CM165 Rage Trap, #2, Just Talk About It
Trap with a hard punchiness that makes it impossible to ignore. The synths and heavy trap beat mixed with some drama provides editors an ultimate album of sports related usage. Sports highlights, promos, and player profiles will work well with this album. The tracks can also work for some advertising and youth lifestyle, too.
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Sonic Beat Records, SBR278 No Limits, #1, Finish Him
This album has the percussive trap sounds that are a standard for sports. But it also includes strings and brass to give it more drama and polish. The energy is up front, and each track has a, “no intro”, version that gets right to the point (editors will love this). Of course, this is aimed at sports but will also work for promos, advertising, youth lifestyle, and drama. This album is pure trap and clients will be asking for a volume two soon.
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Sonic Beat Records, SBR277 Cosmic Disco, #1, Incandescent Inferno
Funky and beat driven tracks that fuse yesterday’s disco/funk styles with modern production. There are influences of soul, electro, pop, and funk in these fun tracks that bring the energy to any production. Excitement and fun are present in the music that harkens back to a day when this sound ruled the airwaves and sales. The string stabs that were a signature sound for disco are on some tracks while others are funkier. The music is great for celebrations, sports, fashion, promos, and documentaries about the mid-1970s/early 1980s.
Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP361 Funky Electronic Goodness, #2, Hypnotized
Funk for feeling good and having fun is what this album is all about. Influences of house music, jazz, hip hop, and rap give this album a cool and funky groove that will make any event a party. The hooks (both instrumental and vocal accents) deliver a euphoric mood that gives the music a positive appeal. Great for party scenes, fashion, some sports will find usages, advertising, youth lifestyle/energy, promos, and anything that needs a shot of positivity wrapped in a danceable groove.
Ninja Tune Production Music, NTP380 Cinematic Folk, #1, Ghost Town
One does not often think of the rawer and down to earth genre of folk having a cinematic side. Ninja Tune did and this album is a terrific example of how well the two sounds can work together. The cinematic backing gives the folk strings an ideal foundation to further the moods present on the album including drama, hope, introspection, anticipation, suspense, and intrigue. These tracks have the sound of film score for the right film and can work for travel, documentaries, emotional drama, and perhaps environmental productions that highlight human impact on the planet. The moods run deep on this well produced album.
SaraoMusic, SA129 Ethereal Pop Songs, #4, Fresh Outside
Ethereal pop can be a difficult task to produce but SaraoMusic nailed it with their latest release. The uncomplicated and honest female vocals shine on minimal tracks that are packed with emotion. Drama, hope, beauty, reflection, sadness, and melancholy are all represented in the dozen tracks on the album. Nothing gets in a hurry and the music’s intent is revealed early in each track. The vocal versions are great for film/TV source music and human drama. The instrumentals can work for advertising and album has piano underscore and piano/vocal versions for added flexibility for editors. A beautiful album for listening enjoyment, too.
Model Music, MODEL095 Clarity - Rich Calming Textures, #1, Infinite Tranquility
The soothing and atmospheric textures of this album are a gorgeous and flowing with a positive vibe that is not over the top. As the title suggests, the music is calming with flavors of inspiration, simplicity, introspection, and beauty in the music. Usages include documentaries, nature, aerial video, light inspiration productions, and some advertising. Anyone’s blood pressure will decrease listening to this beautiful album.
BBC Production Music, BBCPM162 Scoring Stories - Cello, #3, In Plain Sight
Few instruments express emotion quite like the cello. BBCPM has the cello front and center on fifteen tracks of varying moods. There is everything from determination, seriousness, and urgency to tension, tragedy, and melancholy in neoclassical and contemporary classical styles. The often minimalist sounding tracks have no shortage of impact as the featured cello expertly points the music in its intended direction. Great for human drama, film/TV, suspense/tension, PBS promos, some can work for corporate, documentaries, and some advertising.
Pedigree Cuts, PEDF141 The Sound Of 70's Film Soundtrack, #3, Shoebox At Sea
The 1970s was a wild time for music and soundtrack music saw an explosion of styles well beyond traditional orchestral film score. Those sounds are on full display with blaxploitation, spaghetti western, funky/jazzy/cool R&B, folk, electro funk, psychedelic rock, and exotica styles making up the album’s content. The moods are trippy (some are VERY trippy), dramatic, cool, groovy, and dramatic. Great for documentaries of the 1970s, film/TV, some can work for ads and promos, too. The vibes take one back to the “me” decade when films had interesting music tailored to the content of the film. A nice ride back into the day.
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Retro Music Library, RML011 Coronation Fanfares, #1, Celebration
When a new king is to be crowned, the perfect music is a must. This album is a collection of proper sounding fanfares ideal for any high level royal event. Eight of the ten tracks are jubilant, celebratory, grand, noble, and regal while the other two are more somber and reflective. Usages include music for special occasions, military, and special announcements/proclamations, ceremonies, and…coronations fit for a king.
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Network Music, NM359 Home Plate Heroes, #1, Sun Chaser
A rock and rock/pop album for having fun at the ballpark, stadium, or arena. Four of the first five are catchy pop/rock tunes and the remaining are on the heavier side of rock. There is plenty of energy and drive in the music making the album great for baseball, football, soccer, hockey, promos, and the heavier tracks can work for combat sports.
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HypeKit, HK-23 Indie Rock, #3, We Want It Now
Cool, confident, and carefree rock tracks that have a driving groove. There is nothing strange or quirky about the music. Just good indie rock that is ideal for road trips given its fat bass lines that make the music go. Perfect for car ads, motorcycle ads, documentaries, youth lifestyle, and promos.
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AFROSONIC, AFRS080 Warrior Tribes: Intense African Trailer Tracks, #1, A Battle Of Lineage
This is a percussion driven album of African themed trailer music. Some of the tracks have background vocal chants to add to the African sound and a couple of others have strings. But it is the percussion that dominates the sound building to intense finishes in a typical trailer style. While the album is made for trailers it can also work for drama, documentaries, promos, and some sports can use these percussive tracks.
Enjoy the weekend!"