The Cue Awards

Matt Uelmen (Torchlight II) Full Interview - Genius Choice Vote (2012 Cue Awards)

This is the full interview with Genius Choice Vote winner for The 2012 Marius Award, Matt Uelmen, who won for his original score for the video game, Torchlight II (Runic Games). An excerpt of this interview was presented, in part, in episode 58 of The SoundCast.

The Genius Choice Vote is the “people’s choice” branch of The Cue Awards. While the inaugural, official Marius Award went to Lifeformed (Terence Lee) for his score for Fastfall: Dustforce, the Genius Choice voter selected Matt Uelmen.

9 Mar 2013 cue awards genius choice vote matt uelmen torchlight II marius award

You Have Spoken: The Genius Choice Winners Revealed

You’ve had your say, and we’ve been thrilled by your thoughtful choices — many of which were surprisingly different from our own selections!

As this year’s Cue Awards come to a close, we’re happy to present your Genius Choice winners for 2012.

It’s A Shore Thing

We have many Middle Earth fans among us, it seems, as HOWARD SHORE’s powerful score to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey managed to take home an incredible five awards! Both the Best Cue, “Over Hill”, and most Memorable Theme, “Misty Mountains” came from SHORE’s grand opus, and The Hobbit was considered not only the Best Action/Sci-Fi Score, but also the Best Overall Score! SHORE’s incredible achievement is crowned by one final win for Composer of the Year. We look forward to seeing where he takes the franchise from here!

Synergy

While many category choices differed from our own, the Genius Choice selections sometimes aligned with our own, as in the case of MYCHAEL DANNA’s wonderful score for Life of Pi, which comfortably won Best Dramatic Score. Likewise, the Geniuses considered LA-LA LAND to be the Record Label of the Year, and NAOKI SATO effortlessly won The Monkey King Award for best East Asian scoring.

Elementary

It was DAVID ARNOLD and MICHAEL PRICE’s contributions to the second season of Sherlock that won your hearts for Best TV Score, by a long shot, and while you agreed with us that Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was a Surprise of the Year, you also found Halo 4 to be worthy of mention — the first-ever tie in the results!

Gaming the System

Both of our gaming categories featured completely different winners from the Genius Choice voting than our own picks, with the legendary MATT UELMEN, winning The Marius Award for best indie game score, and AUSTIN WINTORY’s highly acclaimed score for Journey taking home the award for Best Video Game Score.

Expect the Unexpected

Some of the most fascinating Genius Choice results came from the categories we least expected — Breakout Composer went to the talented FERNANDO VELASQUEZ, and you considered PATRICK DOYLE’s work on Brave to be the only one worthy of winning an award for Best Animated Score.

With such a diverse set of choices, we can safely say that, thanks to you, the goal of the Cue Awards — to give exposure and recognition to truly deserving composers — has been achieved!

Click through for a complete listing of the nominees and winners for each category.

Andrew Lockington Surprise Domination and Surprises from the East Mark 2012 Cue Awards

The votes are in, the SoundCast episode has been recorded and the composers have been contacted – it’s time to announce the TRACKSOUNDS CUE AWARDS for 2012! We’ve pondered endlessly over the wealth of music that has emerged from the realms of film, video game and television in 2012, but now the waiting is over; it’s time to bid 2012 a fond farewell by remembering the very best, and to turn our attentions now to what promises to be a very fruitful 2013.

Sweeping through no less than four awards is up-and-coming Canadian composer ANDREW LOCKINGTON, whose exhilarating and wondrous score for the Jules Verne-based adventure film JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND has been named not only the Best Action Score of the year, but also the Best Overall Score. Furthermore, LOCKINGTON receives the Best Cue award for the “Mysterious Island Main Titles,” as well as the Most Memorable Theme award for the Mysterious Island Theme.

The award for Composer of the Year travels east to land in the lap of Japanese composer NAOKI SATO, whose phenomenally busy year in both the film and television medium has produced gems ranging in diversity from the exuberant, over-the-top music for the TV comedy PRICELESS to the sweepingly melodic score for the drama ALWAYS: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET ’64. With no less than eight assignments to his name, SATO managed to balance quantity with reliable quality and joins compatriots JOE HISAISHI, TARO IWASHIRO and SHIGERU UMEBAYASHI in upholding the tradition of excellence in Japanese film, TV and game music.

In the genre categories, MYCHAEL DANNA carries home the Best Dramatic Score award for his colorful melting pot of a score to Ang Lee’s adaptation of the Yann Martel novel LIFE OF PI (imagine…a Tracksounds Cue Award sitting next to the Oscar on Mr. Danna’s mantlepiece!). Expertly balancing Indian ethnic elements with a Western orchestra and religious chorus, DANNA creates a unique atmosphere that perfectly captures the complex and multifaceted story. The Best Animated Score award goes to DANNY ELFMAN’s nostalgic throwback score to Tim Burton’s FRANKENWEENIE, reminiscent in its touches of tragedy and the Gothic of his classic early scores for the director such as BATMAN and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.

The Breakout Composer of the Year award goes to AUSTIN WINTORY, whose uniquely-applied and very prominently-placed score to the revolutionary video game JOURNEY made history by being the first game score to ever be nominated for a Grammy. Another talented young composer, the Finnish PANU AALTIO, receives the Surprise of the Year award for his work on the nature documentary METSÄN TARINA (THE TALE OF A FOREST), a score that matches the joys and wonders of the great outdoors note for note.

The composing team of RUSSELL BROWER, NEAL ACREE, JEREMY SOULE, SAM CARDON and EDO GUIDOTTI wins the award for Best Video Game Score for their efforts on the latest expansion set for the world’s biggest MMORPG, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: MISTS OF PANDARIA. Their massive fantasy score is further enlivened by a plethora of Far Eastern ethnic elements. On the small screen, Composer of the Year NAOKI SATO takes home a second award – Best TV Score – for his improbably enormous and enjoyable work on the Japanese comedy series PRICELESS.

This year, two special awards were given out by individual members of the Tracksounds Team. Firstly, Marius Masalar awarded “The Marius” award for Best Indie Video Game Score to FASTFALL: DUSTFORCE by TERENCE LEE, also known as LIFEFORMED. Richard Buxton’s “Monkey King” award is given to the best Far Eastern composer of the year, and considering his wins in other categories, it should come as no surprise that this year’s Monkey King goes to NAOKI SATO.

Finally, none of these awards would be possible if not for the record labels that work diligently to present this music to the general public. The award for Record Label of the Year goes to LA-LA-LAND RECORDS, whose expansions of such classic scores as JOHN WILLIAMS’ HOOK and JERRY GOLDSMITH’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, not to mention their diligent work on an enormous 15-CD collector’s set of music from the original STAR TREK series from the 60s, have earned plenty of space on many a soundtrack-genius’ shelf.

Read the full list of nominees and winners

2012 Cue Awards Show Coming…

The limos are lining up. The red-carpet is being groomed. Dresses wiggled into, tuxes fitted, and final rehearsals are being held. Are you ready? Are you set? The 2012 Cue Awards will be released to the world on Friday, 2/22.

Get your ears and your musical souls prepared for the best Cue Awards since it’s inception ten years ago.

SoundCast episode 56 will be the exclusive carrier of this year’s Cue Awards, so check your favorite podcast feed, tracksounds.com, or this site tomorrow.

21 Feb 2013 cue awards soundcast tracksounds

Special Award: The Marius Award

The Marius is the second of our brand new special awards debuting this year.

It recognizes outstanding achievement in game music from the indie scene, and this year’s nominees are a diverse and talented group of artists, some of whom you may not have even heard of!

The nominated scores are:

Torchlight II, by Matt Uelman
FTL, by Ben Prunty
Botanicula, by DVA
Fez, by Disasterpeace
Fastfall, by Lifeformed
Hotline Miami, by Various Artists

Here is a quick look at the nominees, including samples of their work:

Don’t forget, you can cast your own votes for the Marius Award by visiting our Genius Choice voting page: www.cueawards.com/vote.

17 Feb 2013 cue awards genius choice

Special Award: The Monkey King

The Monkey King, one of two new special awards debuting in this years Cue Awards, celebrates the best in Film, Television, and Video Game music from East Asia.

As an ever increasing amount of spectacular projects from Japan, South Korea, and China reach Western shores, the quality of East Asian scoring only continues to rise. 2012 saw many composers at their prolific best, and reducing the list of nominees to just three was no easy task. 2012 was a year bursting with quality, and the likes of the inimitable Joe Hisaishi, Kousuke Yamashita, and Michiru Oshima all marginally missed the final cut.

Such is the reputation of Japanese composers, filmmakers from both China and South Korea have consistently sought their expertise throughout the years. Taro Iwashiro’s brooding score for Bong Joon-ho’s crime masterpiece Memories of Murder, Joe Hisaishi’s uplifting Welcome to Dongmakgol, and Shigeru Umebayashi’s breathtaking Curse of the Golden Flower are all examples of South Korean and Chinese films utilising the unparalleled talents of Japanese film composers, and 2012 has shown that Japan continues to provide unforgettable orchestral scores year in, year out .

It should therefore come as no surprise that this year’s Monkey King Award nominees list is made up entirely of Japanese composers.

The three nominees for The Monkey King, showcasing the best East Asian composers of 2012 are:

The Monkey King - Nominees

Taro Iwashiro

2012 Scores include:

- Blade & Soul
- NHK Special: The British Musuem
- Road to Glory
- Tsuna Hichatta
- Our Homeland

Taro Iwashiro continued the trend of Japanese composers venturing across the water to South Korean shores with his score for the video game Blade & Soul, scoring the game’s story-driven elements alongside Jamie Christopherson. Blade & Soul is unmistakable as an Iwashiro creation, as is The British Musuem, both emanating the moody musical personality of the veteran composer. Tsuna Hichatta and Road to Glory are examples of Iwashiro’s more melodic side, providing suitable companions to his gloomier scores of 2012.

2012 has once again seen Taro Iwashiro prove himself to be one of Japan’s premier, and most consistent composers working today.

Naoki Sato

2012 Scores include:

- Priceless
- Always: Sunset on Third Street ‘64
- Brave Hearts: Umizaru
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Tsunagu

Naoki Sato’s career is only a little over a decade old, and yet he has amassed a catalogue of scores that composers the world over would envy. 2010 saw Sato explode into the consciousness of many a Western film score fan with the release of the electrifying Space Battleship Yamato, an effort that remains one of Sato’s very best.

Naoki Sato is so consistent in producing wonderful scores every year, that exceptional for the rest of us seems to be the normality for him. One can only wonder what an extraordinary year by Sato’s standards would yield.

Naoki Sato’s 2012 has been an incredibly productive year, and has provided instant hits in Priceless, Always, and Brave Hearts: Umizaru. There are few composers who can produce such exuberantly entertaining scores so consistently.

Toshiyuki Watanabe

2012 Scores include:

- Space Brothers
- Naniwa Shonen Tantei Dan
- Quartet!
- Ohisama
- Father of the Bride

Perhaps best known for his stunning work on Sega’s Shenmue series, Toshiyuki Watanabe has contiually proven himself as one of Japan’s go-to drama composers. Having had the honor of scoring two of NHK’s annual Taiga dramas, Watanabe has cemented his position as one of Asia’s very best.

Watanabe provided what is arguably the Anime genre’s standout score of 2012 with Space Brothers. A combination of tremendously uplifting thematic anthems, breathtaking adventure, and touching emotion, Space Brothers is yet another example of the right way to approach animation scoring.

Toshiyuki Watanabe is gracefully at ease in expressing a momentous range in emotion in his music, and continues to wow all those who listen.

Who will emerge victorious, as the Monkey King’s chosen one? All shall be revealed in Tracksounds’ Cue Awards show!

16 Feb 2013 cue awards genius choice TARO IWASHIRO NAOKI SATO TOSHIYUKI WATANABE

The Genius Choice Vote!

Genius Choice Vote

And you thought we forgot about you Soundtrack-geniuses. Didn’t you? Well, here’s your chance to vote in each Cue Award category and let us know what composer and which soundtrack you think should win! (The official Cue Award winners have already been determined, so don’t think you are going to sway us with your voting-voodoo!) This is just for all you geniuses out there who want to chime in.

Voting couldn’t be simpler…or any more fun…as we are using a brand new tool for voting. (It is actually still in beta, so forgive the odd glitch here are there.) Overall, we think you’ll enjoy the voting experience more than ever.

We’re certain all the votes are being collected properly, so no worries there!

Speaking of “votes,” you only get to vote ONCE, BUT you can come back and amend your vote at any time. Voting will close at 11:59 PM ET on 2/22. So vote and amend all you like ‘til then. Once the clock strikes Midnight all votes will be final.

Two different links for you:

1) Go here if you are on laptop or desktop

2) Go here if you are on a mobile device.

So get in there and have some genius-fun!

15 Feb 2013 12 Notes cue awards genius choice

Neal Acree reacts on Facebook to his Cue Nomination

Neal Acree -

I'm thrilled to announce that World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is nominated for 2 Soundcast Cue awards presented by Tracksounds! Even more awesome than the nomination for "Best Score for a Video Game" is the nomination for "Best Score Overall" which has us in there with some of the top movies of 2012 like The Hobbit!

Congrats to Grant Kirkhope and Austin Wintory for multiple nominations as well including "Breakout Composer", It was a great year for video game scores. And once again a huge congrats to my fellow Pandaria composers Russell Brower, Sam Cardon, Edo Guidotti and Jeremy Soule! So proud to be on this ride with you guys!

https: //www.facebook.com/neal.acree

14 Feb 2013 cue awards nominees neal acree reaction

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You Have Spoken: The Genius Choice Winners Revealed

It’s A Shore Thing

Synergy

Elementary

Gaming the System