Thomas Dolby has posted on his blog a funky nugget (“Groksploitation,” MP3), a collaboration with JJ Abrams, who’s contributed to the music of his own productions, including the TV shows Lost and Alias and the new Mission Impossible film, M:I-3. It’s in the middle of M:I-3 that this little Dolby-Abrams team-up appears. Explains Dolby, “While in post production on MI3, he and I started bouncing musical ideas around. He picked up one of my grooves and added a funky bass part and synth riff; and he told me there was a small slot in the movie for it, apparently in a scene where Tom Cruise’s character is working on his car, and there’s a party going on next door.” Of Abrams’ music fixation, he says, “JJ … started collecting synths and drum machines as well as getting pretty adept with his laptop, Logic, Reason and Ableton Live.” In Dolby’s telling, “On sets and in edit rooms there’s a lot of downtime. JJ wrote the themes to Alias and Lost on headphones while sitting around waiting for something to happen.” More at thomasdolby.com.
In related news, the New York Times recently visited the recording sessions for M:I-3‘s score (“Michael Giacchino’s Mission: Make the Old Music New“), and in the process interviewed the composer of the franchise’s theme, Lalo Shifrin.