Fantasy music CDs

[wolfie65Participant 1240xp 1]

You can’t paint and watch  a movie at the same time, so during my LotR Extended Edition binge, I reach for audio while working on my High Elves and assorted other figures.

Besides the obvious ‘official’ LotR soundtracks, there’s also the soundtrack from the Ralph Bakshi cartoon version, David Arkenstone’s Middle Earth album, At Dawn in Rivendell by the Tolkien Ensemble (featuring Christopher Lee), Glass Hammer’s Middle Earth album, The Starlit Jewel  by Broceliande, Sings from Middle Earth by The Hobbitons, Gail Aldritch’s tribute to LotR , 3 CDs by harpist Kim Skovbye and a CD called Trilogy of Fantasy inspired by you-know-what….

When I’m through those, there are a bunch of harp and dulcimer Cds, mostly Irish or Irish-adjacent in tone and a good number of Midnight Syndicate and Nox Arcana offerings.

Always looking for more – any suggestions ?

[a27cromwell 3188xp 1]

Mostly Autumn (UK band ) has a 2001 album called Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings . Haven’t listened to it for quite a while but seem to remember really liking it .  MA are one of those Folk/Prog kind of bands that has had a large turnover in members over the years , but I must like them as I have about 8 of their albums .

[pagan8thParticipant 11216xp 2]

Have you considered the Lord of the Rings radio drama that was done by the BBC decades ago?

Ian Holm played Frodo and that’s probably why he got the job of Bilbo in the Jackson movies.

[limburger 21765xp 1]

May I recommend Skyrim soundtrack ?

The Witcher (videogame series) has cool music too :

Hard West (videogame) … sure it’s technically not fantasy, but this musician has tracks that do appear on The Witcher videogame series as well as various other games as well :

This War of Mine (videogame/boardgame) :

[sundancer 43061xp 1]

If you happen to own the old The Dark Eye computer RPGs from way back when: the ingame music was actual music tracks on the CD that works in any CD player. It’s a nice soundtrack to loop

[skiptotheend 4525xp 1]

on youtube dungeon synth and cryo crypt get alot of plays

[wolfie65Participant 1240xp 1]

Thanks for the replies !

I’m getting the 1981 version of the BBC LotR dramatization, found on Fleabay at a reasonable price. Which cannot be said for the Skyrim soundtrack, going for well ove $100, even over $ 200 ! Who pays that much for a CD – of a video game ?

Searching for ‘fantasy music’ yields some very…unusual…results which have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what I’m looking for, better off searching for ‘harp’, ‘Celtic’ or ‘Medieval’. Somehow, Medieval and Reniassance music, as well as music played on traditional instruments like harps, dulcimers, recorders, hurdy gurdies, shawms and such has always sounded ‘festive’ to me, even if the tunes have no connection at all with the so-called ‘holiday season’.

[zoidpinhead 12496xp 1]

The original Conan the Barbarian film (1982) soundtrack is in this genre and well worth a listen in its own right.  Not currently in production but there are plenty of full playthroughs on YouTube.  I’ll often have it on whilst painting.

[pagan8thParticipant 11216xp 1]

Makes me feel old to think that I got the LotR radio play on cassette the old fashioned way… tuning in to radio 4 and pressing record when the show came on…

I later transferred the episodes to minidisc… and my portable MD player still works…

[sundancer 43061xp 1]

@zoidpinhead Basil Poledouris, great OST with Conan.

[wolfie65Participant 1240xp 1]

@pagan8th Ah yes, cassettes. I still have some and you can find them at thrift shops and even one of the used media stores we have left.

@zoidpinhead My ‘puter is only on when I’m actually using it, I even cut the power to it completely otherwise. TheirTube does, of course, offer oodles of different music, but I still prefer the more physical types of media.

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