Michael Giacchino - "Married Life" (Up Soundtrack)

I became a big fan of Michael Giacchino after hearing his Henry-Mancini inspired score for The Incredibles, which turns out was recorded using 1960's recording methods. No digital mulitrack recording, just the whole orchestra in a room with a few microphones. Pretty cool.

Anyway besides The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Lost, and others, Giacchino also scored Pixar's latest film, Up. I am having a hard time deciding if Up will beat out The Incredibles as my favorite Pixar film, but suffice to say it was one of the most wonderful films I've ever seen. I've heard it said that at Pixar "story is king," and it never was more true than in Up. The story was so emotional, so relatable, so well-crafted. I walked in griping about how expensive movies have become and walked out feeling it was worth every penny.

The score was a big part of it. The melody was so simple and beautiful I found myself picking it out on my keyboard when I got home - something I've never done before. The following is a track from a particularly beautiful but tragic section of the film and it contains tons of variations on the main theme, which is just great. Give it a listen. And if you haven't already, go see this film!