A Performance of John Carpenter's Themes

This is pretty badass. This guy decided to recreate a few of Carpenter's better-known movie themes in his home studio (which, incidentally, makes me want to sit down and cry):



Pretty impressive stuff. You can check out his blog here.

Music Review: Perfume - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

I got a little carried away at the local Newbury Comics yesterday and came home with a stack of horror soundtracks. They were all winners but there is this one standout that I'd like to share with you. Even if you don't particularly like scary music this is worth a listen.

I'm going to be right up front with the fact that I haven't seen the film. This purchase was either an act of bravery or abandon or just plain old dumb consumerism. Probably all three. What consciously pushed me to lay my money down, though, was really two things. First, I knew a little about the book upon which the film is based and it's a great premise. Second, the soundtrack is largely orchestral.

I found out after the fact that the score for Perfume was actually composed by the film's director, Tom Tykwer, along with Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil. Big points there for the director getting in on the music (Hello? John Carpenter?). The music is performed by Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker with choral performances by State Choir Latvia. The three composers also perform the soundtrack's electronic components, which are used sparingly but with great effect.

It's apparent that the aim of this score is to mirror the complexity of fine perfume by skillfully layering complementary and contrasting notes. Swelling, romantic themes are cut with a keening, faraway dissonance. Sinister motifs skulk in the shadows of illuminated passages. Revelation, joy, tension and melancholy seamlessly intertwine. The tang of dementia lingers after dissipating sweetness.

All of this is made better for me by the occasional incidental sound like the creak of a chair or the soft drawing of breath. I love to hear the people in the music. It's part of the attraction of orchestral scores.

The best prices I can find online are here (Amazon) but feel free to do your own search. I don't get paid for click-throughs or anything so it's all the same to me. Get it any way that you can.

Horrifying Sounds, Part III

I'm a little late but that's just because Halloween was out-of-control busy. Here's a list of honorable mentions and a few singles that are worthing including:

28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album
Constantine Original Motion Picture Score - Bryan Tyler & Klaus Badelt
12 Monkeys: Music from the Motion Picture - Paul Buckmaster & Others
Interview with the Vampire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Elliot Goldenthal
Angelo Badalamenti - Lost Highway Soundtrack - "Fred & Renee Make Love" and "Police"
Celtic Frost - "Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale) from Monotheist
Celtic Frost - "Danse Macabre" from Morbid Tales
Charles Camille Saint-Saëns - "Danse Macabre, Op. 40"
David Julyan - The Descent Soundtrack
DJ Food - "The Crow" from Kaleidescope
King Diamond - "Halloween"
Kronos Quartet - "Spectre" from Short Stories
Letum - Broken (or most anything else for that matter)
Misfits - "Horror Business", "Halloween", "Ghoul's Night Out", "Night of the Living Dead" etc.
SunnO))) - Anything, esp. "Sin Nanna", "Hell-O)))-Ween" & "Cursed Realms (of the Winterdemon)"

There you have it. I hope you enjoy this stuff.

Horrifying Sounds, Part II of III

Welcome to the next installment of Horrifying Sounds, a review of my favorite spooky, creepy and otherwise unsettling music. Before I get into the list, I want to talk a little bit about why I decided to write about this.

For as long as I can remember I have loved Horror (that's with a capital 'H', bucko). In fact, the first short story I EVER wrote was a little chiller called "The Insulted Devil" about a boy who vanquishes a demon with water from a wash basin. Not bad for a fourth grader, eh?

This obsession extends to ghost stories, books, movies, art, music, video games and so on. But above all else on this pantheon of the macabre, the mysterious, the unexplained, the disturbing, the mischievous and the frightening sits Halloween: a celebration born from centuries-old traditions which, in one form or another, have persisted, like dark seeds stretching curling tendrils through the soil of history.

What's not to love?

Halloween is a big deal to me. Music is a big deal to me. It stands to reason that the two would come together. And they do. Oh, how they do.

So this is why: the motivation is the love of all things Halloween. The practical application? Use this music on October 31st. Play it at your Halloween party. Be THAT house in your neighborhood. Throw open the windows, point the speakers toward the street and have at it. Crank some spooky music. Add to the atmosphere. Or, put on some Saint-Saëns and curl up with your favorite Horror novel.

On to the list...

The Thing Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Composed and Conducted by Ennio Morricone

I've already confessed to being a John Carpenter fanboy, but at least this time the music is by someone else. Namely, Italian-born composer Ennio Morricone, who is perhaps most well known for his collaboration with director Sergio Leone on films like A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It might seem like quite a stretch to go from Spaghetti Westerns to Horror, but Morricone's vast body of work is a master class in creative versatility including music for film, television and concert. In The Thing, Morricone's orchestral score is a landscape unto itself: every bit as chilling and sparse as the Arctic setting of the film. Strings are the predominant instruments here, running the gamut from classically inspired passages to frenetic, atonal pizzicato more in keeping with avante-garde compositions. The Thing just drips with fear, suspicion and paranoia. Simply put, this score is perfect for both the film and for your front yard on All Hallow's Eve.

In the Mouth of Madness Original Soundtrack Recording
John Carpenter and Jim Lang

Okay, before you roll your eyes, this is the last one from Carpenter. I swear. Well, except to say that Halloween's status as a must own is a foregone conclusion and therefore not mentioned in this list. But you knew that. Right?

Anyway, here's the deal: my humble opinion, this is the last good horror movie John Carpenter made. I don't like saying it, but it's how I feel. All of that aside, In the Mouth of Madness is good haunting music. Just one word of advice: skip tracks 1 & 2. Somewhere along the line, Carpenter got the idea that an "Enter Sandman"-inspired rock tune and a David Gilmour-inspired, noodly, bluesy little guitar vignette would be a good additions to the score. I strongly disagree. Fast forward. Or take them out of your iTunes playlist entirely. In fact, delete them from your library. As for the rest, rock solid. The instrumentation is a little more dense than his previous scores, apparently borrowing a bit from Nine Inch Nails and even grunge, which was still moping strong in '95 when this movie was released. Surprisingly, there are even moments here that sound a bit like Elliot Goldenthal's work on Alien 3 (reviewed in the first installment). Apart from those divergences, the old Carpenter minimalism holds fast.

Lyckantropen Themes
Ulver

Subtitled "Original Soundtrack for the Short Film by Steve Ericsson". First off, get yourself a copy of said film. It's great. Lyckantropen Themes is a an ambient/trip hop score by Norwegian black-metal-turned-experimental musical shapeshifters Ulver. I can't say enough good things about this music or about Ulver, in general. While this may tread a little bit more on the melancholy than the macabre side for some, this is still great dark music. Better still, the subject matter is werewolves, which is near and dear to my heart. Let me also offer this about Ulver: if you can make any sense of their discography whatsoever you're a better person than I am. These guys are in the habit of reinventing themselves and they're damned good at it. I love Metal and I think Ulver's first three records are great, but comparing those to 2005's Blood Inside or pretty much anything they've released since 1998 is basically impossible. Intriguing and quite possibly insane, which makes them perfect for our needs, doesn't it?

Aliens Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Composed and Conducted by James Horner

James Horner and the London Symphony Orchestra take on a sinister countenance. As much as I love synthesizers, samples and all things digital, there's a special place in my heart for orchestral scores. Maybe it's all those acoustic instruments ganging up into an improbably menacing wall of sound. Maybe it's the thought of violins and flutes showing their dark sides. Dynamically, Aliens has a lot of quiet moments, making it perhaps a little more appropriate for more intimate environs. Still, the brooding and desolate mood is well-suited to the spirit of the evening.

In the third and final installment I'll cover the best of the rest: a list of one-offs and honorable mentions. Meanwhile, if you like what you've seen so far or if you have some suggestions that I haven't mentioned yet, please do leave a comment. I'm all ears.

Horrifying Sounds, Part I of III

To all fellow lovers of Halloween and horror I offer the first installment of a three part rundown of my all-time favorites in dark music.

Prince of Darkness Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

Not only is this my favorite horror soundtrack of all time, Prince of Darkness also happens to be one of my favorite horror movies of all time. I'm a huge fan of John Carpenter, particularly his work in the eighties. While not nearly as well known as Carpenter's famous score for the horror classic Halloween, Prince of Darkness represents the distinctive Carpenter style at its very best, using layered synthesizers to paint a desolate, apocalyptic landscape with moments of unrelenting dramatic tension.

The CD is a bit pricey since it's currently only available in a German import version but it's worth every penny and has become a regular fixture in my Halloween celebration.

Alien 3 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
by Elliot Goldenthal

Film score legend Elliot Goldenthal's foreboding and dizzying score stole a scene or two from Giger's famous monster in the flawed but endearing third installment of the Alien series. The music is percussive, sinister and leaves the impression of every instrument being pushed violently toward its limits. Goldenthal skillfully weaves together orchestral, choral and electronic sounds to create a work that is, in some ways, as eccentric as the film itself. It moves suddenly from grim, depressing soundscape to haunting, poetic melody and then plunges savagely into vicious caricatures of the alien creature. Yet, whereas the film's eccentricities were widely regarded as weaknesses, the score works beautifully and stands well on its own.

In the next installment, I'll be talking about a few more of my favorites, including some scores by Ennio Morricone, James Horner, Ulver and a few more from John Carpenter.