It’s not too soon to put Tim Burton and Danny Elfman on the short list of the greatest director-composer collaborations in history, right up there with Hitchcock-Herrmann, Spielberg-Williams, Leone-Morricone, and Demy-Legrand. And Elfman’s score to this 2005 stop-motion animated gem is one of his best, displaying his amazing versatility and boundless emotional range with numbers that range from somber chamber music (“Victor’s Piano Music”) to darkly macabre yet somehow jaunty pieces (“Remains of the Day”). And let’s not forget the swing jazz homages performed by Bonejangles (a.k.a. Elfman) and His Bone Boys as bonus tracks (or should that be bone-us tracks?)! We’ve, er, exhumed this fantastic soundtrack in eerily iridescent blue vinyl with a full-color insert. 2-LP set!
