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DANNY ELFMAN Tim Burton's Corpse Bride Warners  ****

Longtime collaborators Danny Elfman and Tim Burton have always brought rare seriousness and pathos to infuse the odd, the kooky and the very strange – think of Elfman's underscoring for Vincent Price's creation of his robot-with-a-heart in Edward Scissorshands or the penguin cortege in Batman Returns. Burton's new stopmotion animated film features some of Elfman's most playful and idiosyncratic orchestral music yet, complete with baroque harpsichord, romantic piano and ragtime jazz band (Bonejangles & His Bone Boys). The soundtrack includes knowingly sardonic songs by Elfman, whose lyrics and performance equally stole the show in The Nightmare Before Christmas. The standout songs of According to Plan, Remains of the Day and The Wedding Song (a Gilbert & Sullivan homage) infuse Burton's gentle undead romcom with zinging humour and a warm heart. www.corpsebridemovie.com

Jocelyn Clarke