Rio 2 & other soundtrack news

Blu, the rare blue macaw from a bookstore in Minnesota, US, is back on the screen in all 3D glory in Rio 2, the sequel to the hit animated film from two years ago. Voiced once more by Jesse Eisenberg, Blu is now married to the only other existing bird of his kind found in Brazil, Jewel played by Anne Hathaway, and they have perpetuated their species with the birth of little blue birdies. Blu, his whole family, his old friends and some new ones, star in new adventures in Rio 2. And once again, they all sing in the star-studded soundtrack.

Rio music was notable for its engaging mix of hip-hop and samba-tinged Brazilian pop. In fact, Real in Rio, which was composed by Sergio Mendes, Carlinho Brown and Siedah Garrett and performed by Jesse and Anne with Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, will.i.am and The Rio Singers, was nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars in 2012. Some of the other tunes included were Fly Love by Foxx, Telling The World by Taio Cruz, Hot Wings by will.i.am, Foxx and Hathaway and a sultry Mas Que Nada by soundtrack producer Mendes and Gracinha Leporace.

Rio 2 has more of the same sounds and an even more wide-ranging line-up of star performers. At the head is the theme song and first single What Is Love? by the sensational Janelle Monae. We all remember her singing with fun. in the big Grammy-winning hit We Are Young. Also contributing a tune is the most-talked-about addition to the cast, Bruno Mars in his first albeit, voice only, movie appearance. He plays the cocky Roberto, who makes Blu very insecure. He does his own composition Welcome Back in the soundtrack, while his frequent collaborator Phillip Lawrence has It’s A Jungle Out Here.

Mendes does not perform any number this time around but he is the album producer. He has included another Brazilian music legend in the album, Milton Nascimento performing Favo De Mel. I am sure that everybody will also enjoy the riotous Batucada Familia by the cast as well as a show-stopping I Will Survive by the villainous cockatoo Nigel played again by Jemaine Clement who has found a soaring singing partner in Wicked’s Kristin Chenoweth. They also perform Poisonous Love together.

Speaking of Chenoweth brings me to Wicked. I am sure that fans of the musical already have the soundtrack album. I am sure though that they would still want to have a copy of the recently released two-CD set. This is not just because they have already worn out their CDs while trying to sing Defying Gravity, but also because this one is different. The album contains the original cast recording in one disc. That means Idina Menzel and Chenoweth and others who launched Wicked on Broadway, singing the songs.

And then there is CD 2 which is made up of special bonus recordings. These are excerpts from the German and Japanese cast recordings of Wicked and pop versions of the songs. These are For Good with a country vibe by LeAnn Rimes and Delta Goodrem produced by Phil Ramone; I’m Not That Girl sang by Kerry Ellis and produced by Queen Brian May; Making Good by Stephanie Block with Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz on the piano; a dance mix of Defying Gravity by Menzel; and the Popular Song by Mika with Ariana Grande on vocals.

And now we go to Frozen, which has become the biggest-grossing animated feature film of all time and where Wicked’s heroine Menzel heads the cast. The two- disc deluxe edition soundtrack album of the movie is now available in the local stores. I am sure that the kids will really love this one.

The songs, all of them, as performed by Menzel, Kristen Bell, Santino Fontana, Jonathan Graff, Josh Gad and others are in disc one. Frozen Heart, Do You Want To Build A Snowman? For The First Time In Forever and, of course, the Oscar-winning Let It Go and more are all here. There is also the pop version of Let It Go by Demi Lovato plus the music score of the picture.

So, what is disc two made of? Song demos and scores from outtakes. I really have to hand it to the people of Disney for all the clever ways they have of being able to monetize anything. As the term clearly says, demonstration recordings or demos are the early versions of the music out of which the final soundtrack is developed. As for outtakes, these are songs or music scores from scenes that did not make the final cut of the movie.

Those usually land in the vaults for possible future use, or if considered really bad, into the trash. But these now make it to soundtrack albums. Ordinary listeners are not likely to make much of these tracks although film scorers may find them interesting. Besides that extra disc makes for an impressive packaging. Add in the booklet filled with colored pictures from the film and the lyrics of the songs and you have a great album.