Posts Tagged ‘Soundtrack’

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Alex Turner – Submarine

Monday, December 12th, 2011

You look like you’ve been for breakfast at the heartbreak hotel
Inside of a back booth by the pamphlets and the literature on how to lose.
Your waitress was miserable and so was your food.
If you’re gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes.
Alex Turner – Piledriver Waltz


It’s time to reignite our series of film soundtrack reviews with a tenuous link to We Love Space. Alex Turner’s short but sweet EP written to accompany the film Submarine was produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. James is also producer of Alex’s main musical concern, Arctic Monkeys. The ‘Monkeys catalogue is mainly unabashed, accessible rock and this release can be considered less esoteric and cinematic than most other soundtracks we’ve looked at before. It does fit flawlessly though, converting the theme of a first romance viewed through adolescent eyes to straight-up, instantly likeable indie love songs.

My mother is worried I have mental problems. I found a book about teenage paranoid delusions during a routine search of my parents' bedroom.

The film’s plot is narrated with a voice obviously too mature in tone and vocabulary to be that of the film’s teenage protagonist. He looks uncannily like Alex Turner did when he broke into the music scene in 2006. It’s a diverting coincidence but it gives a kind of consistency to the unassuming lyrics toyed with throughout the EP. Turner is a bit of a master at using his voice to cultivate a frank, observational attitude with his songs. It’s not merely a literal re-telling the film’s narrative, it’s a unique musical interpretation of a coming of age tale involving a self-concious 15 year old boy Oliver Tate, his collapsing parental home (involving a New Age mystic called Graham) and his enigmatic but undoubtedly enchanting girlfriend Jordana.

Her mouth tasted of sour milk, Polo mints and Dunhill International.

The film is set in a particularly nostalgic 1980s viewed through tinted spectacles although given the autobiographical feel they’re probably not completely rosy. The soundtrack looks further back for inspiration to understated ballads of the 60s and 70s evoking the likes of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and John Lennon at their best. It all culminates in a setting which is in effect timeless and suiting of the universal and age-old matter of growing up, finding one’s place in the world and finding someone to enjoy it with.

At such a point there'd be a crane shot but, unless something dramatically changes in my life, there would only be the budget for a zoom-out.

Such a story (and concept for an album) could lend itself to over-sentimentality, but Turner keeps it quaint and charming rather than overwrought and gooey. It’s simple but astute songwriting on display and James Ford’s production is largely perfectly transparent, allowing the arrangements space around Turner’s quick-witted lyrics. The film itself is directed by Richard Ayoade and is both instantly endearing and comical, but the lasting impression and emotional echoes of it’s soundtrack seem to stick in the mind to a higher degree. It’s both an examination and celebration of the self-imposed trauma of youth and escapes the trap of contrived quirkiness it’s film counterpart occasionally falls into.

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Luboš Fišer – Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Not since The Wicker Man has a soundtrack occupied my mind like Valerie and her Week of Wonders. It was like a door had been opened in my subconscious and fragments of memories and dreams rejoiced right there in my living room. I became very possessive over my copied version, a VHS to cassette copy which hissed like it had been captured from another world. I would surprise friends with snippets of the theme, it never failed to get a curious “Who’s this?” I was continually asked to make a copies but I had no intentions of making copies for anyone. The ritual chanting, the sections of catholic mass, the czech hymns were mine, the cogs sequence, the acoustic love song, the room of cogs all mine. – Trish Keenan (Broadcast)

During the dark days behind the iron curtain, Czech director Jaromil Jires turned to fairytale surrealism and Freudian symbolism for a study of burgeoning youth. The childlike but chilling tale is accentuated by the eerie chamber music of Lubos Fiser. This finely crafted piece of psychological horror carries the young central character of Valerie through dreamlike states with themes of death, resurrection, retribution and redemption. Fiser’s score carries a pastoralism which gives weight to the folky dreamscape in which Valerie freely interacts with the characters of her dreams. As a whole, the style of film us undoubtedly eccentric and experimental but always exquisitely shot.

She fell into immoral ways and broke the sixth commandment.

From the lilting folk melodies which greet the opening scenes of the film, we know that this coming-of-age story has aspirations beyond the B-movie eroticism of contemporaneous exploitation horror cinema from the likes of Lucio Fulci. A masked demonic priest conducts communion and Mass while eerie choral music mixed with psalm-like prayer denotes the church as being far from pure. A seductive waltz plays between Valerie’s grandmother and the monster as he corrupts her will and seals a devil’s pact with her so that she can regain her youth.

You are the touch of an alabaster hand.

The “cog sequence” as mentioned by Keenan above is a musical highlight of the film. Mechanical elements sound like drum machines or the early electronic experiments of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The plot takes a turn for dark, Grimm territory when Valerie walks near the mechanism of the town clock. The soundtrack is as subtle as the way the film is shot, reminding the viewer of Fellini at his best as the frontier between dreams and reality becomes little more than an illusion.

He wants you to love him... How could I when I'm afraid of him? For that very reason.

The album is probably not for faint hearted pop lovers, but those with a penchant for gothic ambience, grandmothers music box, steam driven fairground organs and the incantations of catholic schoolgirls will be delighted by film and score alike. The various motifs, from chiming magical earrings to malevolent carnival tunes illuminate the mind of it’s heroine, depicting a girl’s awakening from innocent child to a young woman’s wider, more abstruse world of experience.

Beware the weasel.

The film has gone on to influence and inspire ‘freak’ folk act The Valerie Project who perform their own original compositions in unison with the film. The band Broadcast (with the late Trish Keenan) took inspiration from the film for the album Haha Sound, the song Valerie being the most obvious example (seen below). This chilling Czech tale of terror and it’s accompanying soundtrack from the other side of the iron curtain are not to be missed. You can purchase the soundtrack direct from a favourite label of the We Love office, Finders Keepers, here.

By the end of the tale Valerie has achieved a kind of detached enlightenment; though appiritions call to her, Valerie refuses to interact with them anymore. And so at the end, in that Autumnal landscape, as her dreams dance around her, she climbs into her bed one last time. “Sleep well my sweet brunette / When you wake keep your secret,” goes the lullaby, “Fear is only a dream / so dream little one, dream.”

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Mark Isham – Point Break

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break is a must see classic especially if you have a penchant for surfing, guns and early ’90s tight t-shirts, dude. Within the first 5 minutes a masked criminal holding up a bank looks at his watch to proclaim “little hand says, it’s time to rock and roll”, this is old-school action cinema at it’s best.

You're sayin' the FBI's gonna pay me to learn to surf?

Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Utah in his first action hero outing. His mission, to bust The Ex-Presidents, a gang of thrill seeking bank robbers by going undercover and infiltrating their clique. The leader of said gang is Patrick Swayze’s Bhodi who brings an idealistic innocence to the film whilst avoiding the pitfall of falling into self parody of the beach-philosopher character. Special mention must go to Gary Busey who plays the gravelly cynical partner to Johnny Utah, a stereotype as old as Hollywood itself. The role of Angelo Pappas is played with off-the-wall aplomb by Busey, who adds many fine insulting lines to temper Reeves’ and Swayze’s testosterone fuelled antics, “Listen you snot-nose little shit, I was takin’ shrapnel in Khe Sanh when you were crappin’ in your hands and rubbin’ it on your face.” For example.

What's the matter with you guys? This was never about the money, this was about us against the system. That system that kills the human spirit.

The film begins with the rise of brooding synths and strings from accomplished composer Mark Isham. This is combined with a visually effective series of edits of crashing waves to give a hint to the spiritual tone of the film from the get-go. However, like the film itself any indication of spirituality quickly gives way to a maximum velocity, crashing spectacle. The film’s tagline “100% adrenaline” although cliched is probably only a few percent from the truth. Isham has crafted a score that not only complements it’s parent film, but elevates it beyond the egregious silliness which pertains to most ’90s Hollywood action cinema.

When they run they dump the vehicle and they vanish... like a virgin on prom night. I mean they vanish, swishh...

If the film needs a saving grace, it must be the skydiving scene. It is not hyperbole to say this is both a cinematic tour de force and an orchestral masterpiece. Check it out in high quality, here. This is the scene in which the confusion of trust and betrayal between the bank robber and his FBI pursuer comes to a head while plummeting to earth after jumping from a “perfectly good airplane”. Although Isham’s musical signature is present throughout the film, this is where it truly comes to the fore (see track 16 – Skydive). The film has inherent and self-evident weaknesses (mainly the failure to have the audience believe in an enlightenment through extreme sports). However, there are some sublimely crafted action sequences which become almost abstract at times, the exceptional score goes some way to help lead the viewer down this vein.

Vaya con Dios, Brah.

Although made in 1991, the film score did not find a release until 2008 when La-La Land (a company specialising in score releases) took it upon themselves to allow this fine piece to be heard. This edition was limited to 2,000 units and features 65 minutes of score with liner notes by Dan Goldwasser incorporating comments from both Bigelow and Isham. It is now out of print.

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Mark Knopfler – Local Hero

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

We won't have anywhere to call home, but we'll be stinkin' rich.

Mark Knopfler’s debut solo effort shows how a score really can set the tone for a film. It’s a simple, sweet vision for director Bill Forsyth’s quirky Scottish film and is beautifully evocative of the small northern town in which the movie is set. It’s a rare case in that the soundtrack went on to sell more than the film itself, but Local Hero remains an all time favourite, as it shows a pure example of life and attitudes in the North instead of a stereotypical or ‘theme-park Scotland’ image as is often portrayed. The 1983 film portended the oil boom in around the ‘Houston of the North’ Aberdeen, along with the entailing social, economic and environmental consequences.

There is no door. Just knock on the window.

If you are a fan of the film, each track can take you back to the fictional town of Furness and the album remains one by which other soundtracks can be measured. Mark Knopfler is the main songwriter but there are contributions from contemporaneous musicians Alan Clark (The Hollies) and Gerry Rafferty (of ‘Baker Street’ fame). Clark contributed the haunting song ‘Stargazer’ which plays out to a backdrop of Aurora Borealis towards the end of the film. There are also some signature Knopfler virtuoso guitar licks, the main theme ‘Going Home’ even made it into Dire Straits set lists in the 80s.

How do you do business with a man who has no door?

Throughout there are fantastic soundscapes to suit the ambience of a rainy day. The music is a valuable part of the movie, but standing alone truly reflects the ill-fated hope, the melancholy and pathos involved in not just a community but a whole country. There is a reality and identity within this soundtrack which transcends the film itself.

The ethics are just the same.

The film score’s power lies in seeing Scotland at first through the smug, wheeling dealing eyes of a Houston oil man sent to buy a piece of the North East to fund America’s gluttony, who succumbs to eventual infatuation with the character of the land and it’s people. We are left with the notion that although the Scottish landscape must be fully appreciated on a kind and bright day, its character can only be fathomed in light of wind and rain, the endless summer days and interminable winter nights.

Listen up, here.

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Ry Cooder – Paris, Texas

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Guitarist Ry Cooder’s soundtrack for Wim Wenders’ 1984 film Paris Texas is an exercise in the beauty of simplicity. Cooder gave a twist on what was fashionable in 80s guitar music, a sort of pastoral and nostalgic take on melodies which would work well for any western. Very few instruments are used throughout, often only a guitar twang and scratching ambience working as mood enhancement (or diminishment) rather than traditional songs to complement this vision of the American mid-west from German master of the camera Wim Wenders. It’s for this reason that Paris Texas is one of the few films where it’s soundtrack can claim to be as equally good as the film itself. Give it a listen, here.


The film tells the story of a man who is found wandering in the desert by his brother who helps him pull his memories back from the life he led before walking out on his wife, 4 years previously. As his memory returns he makes contact with various characters from his past. The film was a deserved winner at Cannes, it’s power of image and story which starts in the imposingly beautiful border zone of southwest Texas. The lilting, eponymous opening song gives the audience an emotional handle to the scraggly, baseball capped man we see wandering alone in the desert.


The crux of the film is a group of characters who although love each other, have competing desires and interests. The various identities are shaped by pulitzer winning writer Sam Shepard and complemented so perfectly by Cooder’s soulful, improvised guitar licks. This goes some way to shaping Wenders’ introspective portrait of a family striving against their own disconnects and the reformation of a classic western hero, an essential loner who is crucial to saving a community of which he can never be a part.


There are few times in music where so few notes have said so much. The album’s opening title track and its closer, “Dark Was the Night,” (originally by Blind Willie Johnson) are prime examples of its plaintive, haunting sound. This is ghostly, atmospheric film music of the highest order. Give it a listen, here.

Check out other soundtrack reviews, here.

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Pogo – Wishery

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
At least one of them is Happy...

At least one of them is Happy...

Welcome to the phantasmagorical world of Pogo. Having endured his gagging clause from his time at Disney, Pogo’s work is now out there for all to enjoy. Make sure to check out his Youtube channel, it’s fantastic. Some words from the man himself:

“After a year producing professionally for Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, my contract has finally come to an end. The gag order is released, and my classic Disney mixes are allowed back online.

I’d like to apologize to everyone for the secrecy that has so far been surrounding this issue. When one of the biggest, most powerful corporations in the world zipped my mouth shut with the hand of the law, there’s little I could do to communicate without deliberately breaching my contract. Alice, Expialidocious and White Magic had to be hidden because Disney considered them illegal. They otherwise would have engaged me as an ongoing infringer, an act that would understandably exceed the legal boundaries of any corporation.”

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Eddie Vedder – Into The Wild

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Lonely vinyl junkies


Our theme of soundtrack reviews goes boldly forth into Sean Penn related territory today. Vedder has a unique musical stamp which features in all his recordings from early Pearl Jam through to the present day. Certainly, very few American bands were as explosive, influential and clearly talented as that group. Singer-lyricist Vedder has matured in his endeavors since their 1991 debut Ten. If you are familiar with his usual subjects of poetic trauma and chaos, this tale of tortured masculinity will come as no surprise.


The film itself focuses on the dour and bold figure of Chris “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless. Vedder encapsulates the heroic ideal with his forceful but plainspoken lyrics. The true-life subject of the film, McCandless is an overprivileged kid who rejects materialism, his family and his earthly possessions to wander the vacant expanses of North America only to die, starving and freezing and alone in Alaska. Pearl Jam frontman Vedder who wrote and performed the soundtrack has obviously empathised in some way with the Supertramp character in his search for isolation and harmony with nature.


I would recommend against focussing too much on the slightly pretentious lyrics which try to change the actuality of a pointless death of a young man. McCandless died in an abandoned school bus only 30 miles from the nearest road, the coroners report stating he probably ate poisonous berries because he intentionally didn’t bring enough food with him.


The best song on the album is undoubtedly Tuolmne possibly because it has no lyrics, just Eddie plucking his guitar, the kind of riffs you could imagine a kid like the Supertramp strumming away as he camped in the desert or sat in a frozen bus waiting for death. We’ve posted the highly limited edition vinyl only release in high quality MP3 especially for you, enjoy. More soundtrack reviews and recommendations here.

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Jeff Mills – Fireside Chat, Part 3 of 3

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Here is part 3 of our radio transcription of an interview Jeff Mills gave to RBMA. You can check out parts 1 and 2 here. You can listen to the radio show in full here or download it here. The accompanying tracklist is as follows:

Jeff Mills – Landscape (Utopian Dream) – Tresor
Jeff Mills – Blue Print – Tresor
Underground Resistance – Eye of the Storm – Underground Resistance
Underground Resistance – Predator – Underground Resistance
Underground Resistance – Base Camp Alpha 808 – UR
Underground Resistance – Final Frontier – Underground Resistance
X-101 – G-Force – Tresor
X-102 – Ground Zero (The Planet) – Tresor
X-102 – The Rings Of Saturn – Underground Resistance
Jeff Mills – Perfecture (Somewhere Around Now) – Tresor
Jeff Mills – The Bells – Axis
Jeff Mills – Transformation B (Rotwang’s Revenge) – Tresor
Jeff Mills – Robot Replica – Tresor

Click the vinyl sticker pictures to hear the tracks.

Life in the Jeff-set

We started with Saturn, we chose it mainly because of the physical aspects of the planet, in that it resembled a record. We were interested in using very small things to relay certain messages so the label design was used as the main part of the explanation of the release and the music would explain or support it – in the grooves. So the Rings of Saturn was a perfect release. The rings, like a tree when you cut it open and look a the rings of time it tells the history of the tree itself. We looked at the planet as the rings telling the history of it. Months and months of research about the planet, and then we began production in the summer of 1992. From X-101 we learned that each of us have a very unique way of producing music. We designated who would do what for that particular release. Rob didn’t have that much experience at the time. He had set up a small studio in the corner he had very small pieces of equipment but very interesting sounds. So we designated that he produce very simple, very minimal type of tracks. Mike would produce more orchestrated strings because he could player better than both of us. And my job would be to have the more experimental parts. We would put all these things together and that would be the album. X-102 would be something we always wanted to finish we never thought that we ever finished that release. So that brings us to the year 2009 so we decided to go back and revisit it, update the album and create a performance.

Ring ding

I got an offer to move to New York as a resident DJ at a couple of clubs. Part of the deal of my moving to New York was that I would have to have an office so that I could run the label from there. When I moved and realized that Mike did not want to bring UR to New York, I had all these resources – and office, telephone, all these free things that this club had given me. With all this I should start a label myself! After a few months of thinking about it and thinking about the type of music I would like to do I came up with the idea of Axis. Until then the music was very song structured so you would have the introduction and bridge, even though they were instrumentals you got the idea that if someone was to sing on top of these songs that would be OK, they were structured in that way. So I thought that being a DJ it would be great to produce music that was more simplified so that you could manipulate it more. By limiting how layered the tracks would be – it would be better. Back then as DJs we used to really seek out dub versions and instrumental versions so that we could extend and create our own songs. I thought that producing in this way would set a tone with DJs. It was always my intention to make a label where the music was more simple, easy for the DJ to play and program. I asked Rob who was recording on his own label in Detroit, if he would do the first recording on the label jointly with me. It was called Tranquilizer, it was so different it did not take off so well. The second release which was Inner Sanctum by Rob only, did a little bit better as it was more danceable. By the third release which was Step To Enchantment, the Mecca EP, things began to take off, at that time.

Mecca steps

The label Purpose Maker was created soon after I had moved to Chicago from New York. I had no friends, I was basically alone, so I had plenty of time to produce a lot of music. I thought I can produce so much that it would be interesting to produce a case of records just for me. So records that were even mastered, pressed. But no one had any copies, I had all the copies. I had begun to make music just for me to play. Things like The Bells, Alarms, they were just for me. I had begun to play them as I was making this box, as I was playing them DJs were asking what these songs were. I got the indication that The Bells was something people really responded to and DJs wanted to have. So I said ok. Maybe I should make it available to release these tracks. That’s how I started the label Purpose Maker. Once I got he notion the DJs understood exactly what the music was for, and began to hear other producers and DJs try to emulate it. I thought the task is done, now I can move on to the next.

The bells, the bells!

Metropolis is an epic film by Fritz Lang that was produced in 1929, it’s become on of the most popular science fiction films of our time. There were many years that brought me to the point of working on that project. There were many discussions about how electronic music could play a role in cinema, where it might serve cinema the best and vice versa – what type of films it might work the best for. After so many discussions with so many people I thought that someone should do something, so I’ll try to produce an entire soundtrack for an entire film! Just to see what happens, even if it doesn’t turn out too well at least the news that I tried to do something, if that news got round to other producers, maybe it would give them some indication that somebody’s trying to do something to broaden and expand electronic music into different areas. So without permission from the film company I just went and bought a VHS tape of Metropolis, took notes, divided it into 12 different parts and produced music for each section. Many different versions for each section and chose one that would work. I went to an editing studio, taking the VHS tape and put the music that I produced to this tape. Then I began to search and find out who might have a contact to the film company in Munich that maybe IU could show this film to them of what I did and maybe that they would allow me to show it to other people. I did that, being lucky enough find a contact through Tresor Records in Berlin who knew someone who knew someone, who knew someone that worked at Transit Films in Munich. Luckily someone in that office was young enough, maybe an intern or something to know who I was as a DJ. They decided to say ok, they would give me rights to show the film for academic reasons, just for the example of putting electronic music to this film, we could have one of rights to show the film. That’s how the project came. That’s how I did it.

Tresor – Official Site

Red Bull Music Academy Radio

Axis Records – Official Site

Underground Resistance – Official Website

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Yann Tiersen – Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Our theme of soundtrack reviews continues with a film perhaps as equally well known for it’s soundtrack as it is for it’s alluring cinematography and quirky direction. Amélie is a French film from 2001, which brought largely unknown actress Audrey Tatou to the world’s attention. It depicts a whimsical Parisian lifestyle which is underlined by it’s score. So give it a listen, and read our review below…

Blossoming love


Legend has it that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet happened upon the music of Yann Tiersen while driving with an assistant who put on a CD while considering composer Michael Nyman for the role of scoring his film. To see how well Nyman’s music can work for the cinéaste, do watch James Marsh’s fascinating documentary Man On Wire. So the origin of the film’s soundtrack mirrors it’s theme of serendipity itself! Described as a comic fable, the picture swaggers with a Gallic charm complemented wonderfully by Yann Tiersen’s warmly inviting score. The film is as idiosyncratic as it’s musical accompaniment, matching the melodic subtlety with themes of blossoming love. The Parisian street accordion is a starting point and familiar motif throughout.

La jeune Amélie


Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love. Although the casting (especially the charming lead role of Audrey Tatou) and Jeunet’s direction are superb, the music is an essential ingredient in the mix. Some tracks are from existing Tiersen albums while others are composed especially for the film. Amelie is well-liked in her community and develops an ambition to help others, the enigma however is whether she willing to face her own problems. It may sound serious, but it is deftly directed with a lot of humor. “Amelie’s Waltz” is the main character’s theme, featured in three different versions in varying degrees of intensity and is central to the film. Arranged for accordion by Tiersen, the instrument features prominently throughout, giving a distinctly French feel to the film. Waltzes feature prominently throughout the soundtrack and can range in style from moody minimalism to a laid-back, bittersweet intensity. This gives a merry-go-round feel, accentuating the characters experience of the whirlwind of life.

Regard!


There are a number of “oldies” throughout the soundtrack. Guilty is a romantic song from 1931, sung in English and complete with original “old-record” sound and minor scratches. The first of two oldies on the soundtrack it emphasises the timeless quality of the movie which feels to be set several decades ago despite containing modern cars and gadgets like mobile phones. The director has created a fantastical world of dreams in which Amelie’s adventures can unfold. Her failed writer, hypochondriac father suppressed her childhood by his mistaken concerns of a heart-defect. After returning a long-lost childhood treasure to a former occupant of her apartment, she sets out on a mission to become “godmother of the rejected”, anonymously helping her various acquaintances using fantasy and little tricks. When Amelie finds and album of photos of an intriguing collector that collects rejected photos from photo-booths, she seeks him out and falls in love.

Effronté


There are some melancholic modern classical pieces which fit well with the story of the shy waitress, who although changes the lives of others around her, must struggle with her own isolation. Multi-instrumentalist Tiersen’s work has encompassed everything from classical to pop and rock genres and it shows through throughout the soundtrack which is generally fun in mood, but tinged with sadness and with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. It ends up being a perfect mix of modern European classical and experimental music, but maintains a pastoral and definitely French feeling throughout. The waltzes would fit well in any period film, which compliments well because Audrey Tatou looks like an old movie star put into a post-modern film, in fact it should be noted that Tatou’s influence and impact on the success of this film.

Répertoire


The music of the soundtrack enhances the movie by clarifying a line on the spectrum between melancholy and carefree. Even the sadder moments are tinged with a kind of Gallic acceptance, c’est la vie! Without a doubt, the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet did a spectacular job of movie making but without the music of Yann Tiersen, it would never have been as powerful. The soundtrack is highly recommend as something quite original in the world of movie scores. It’s a must-see film and once you do you will want the music. Download it here. If you want to see (or hear) his other work, check out the film Goodbye Lenin which he has also scored. Below is a video from Tuning Spork records – Jay Haze reconstructing one of Tiersen’s compositions. Lovely stuff, enjoy.

Yann Tiersen – Official Website

Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain – IMDB

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Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch – Mulholland Dr.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Eerie, elegant, eclectic


To continue our theme of soundtrack reviews, we go for a film which is both baffling and excellent. For anyone who has seen the opening sequence of this modern tour de force, consisting of a black limousine snaking it’s way through the Hollywood Hills, should remember the uneasy, eerie and emotionally overwrought orchestral tinged electronica of the title theme which emerges from the nervous, up-tempo swing rhythm of a big band dance. This is typical of Badalamenti’s contribution to the score, juxtaposing innocent pop nuggets into a dark soundscape becoming murkier at every turn. The soundtrack as a whole turns on the usual Lynchian elements, the brooding atmosphere of Angelo Badalamenti‘s ominous synth-ensemble cues are thrown against Lynch’s own, off-centre, kitsch compositions.

...and now I'm in this dream place. Well, you can imagine how I feel.


The plot follows Betty Elms (played by Naomi Watts) a perky Hollywood hopeful as she tries to unravel the mystery behind a nameless woman (Laura Harring), her amnesia and involvement in a car crash. Over the next two and a half hours of hallucinatory thrills and charged erotica, a new reality emerges, portraying the seedy unpleasantries of both the film’s protagonists and the Hollywood machine itself. The film takes an incomprehensible turn around two thirds of the way through, it becomes confusing when characters disappear and plot devices dribble out – but all things considered it does make some semblance of sense in the end. The narrative is playfully surreal rather than frustratingly over-intricate. The regular themes of Lynch’s best work are all here – strange Machiavellian characters behind the scenes, extreme violence, obsessive characters and mainly the surreal being an active part of daily life. Without trying to give too much away, the film culminates in a delusional masturbatory fantasy and suicide which explains the dream-like goings on of the previous two and half hours.

It'll be just like in the movies. Pretending to be somebody else.


Like all their collaborations, Mulholland Drive’s is equally eerie, elegant and eclectic. By spanning the aforementioned up-beat Jitterbug into the haunting orchestral drone of the film’s main theme in it’s first two scenes alone the audience is left in no doubt of being transported into a very different world. Baldalamenti’s own work varies from the jazzy Dinner Party Pool Music to the ominous ambience of Diner, Silencio and the Dwarfland / Love Theme. Lynch’s own surfy, guitar-based compositions, Mountains Falling and Go Get Some aren’t quite as transporting as Badalamenti’s pieces, but they certainly offer a sonic twist on the sunny California that Lynch portrays and subverts in the film. Similarly, Linda Scott’s sugary sweet I’ve Told Every Star” takes on a slightly disturbing edge within the context of the film and album, while Llorando by Rebecca Del Rio, a Spanish a cappella version of Roy Orbison’s classic Crying only sounds more vulnerable and heart-wreching. A focused and accomplished piece of work, Mulholland Drive is a mysterious and affecting soundtrack from one of the most consistently creative teams working in film.

So since you agree, you must be someone who does not care about the good life.


Although not garnering quite the same effect as sitting in a darkened theatre, experiencing the exaggerated gestures, heightened emotions and odd plot turns. All in all, the soundtrack is every bit as entertaining, quirky and surreal as the film itself. Badalamenti and Lynch weave a soundscape that characteristically pulls the listener from one mood to the next. From brooding foreboding to flavourless yet intriguing pastiches there is a constant undercurrent of hallucination. The atmosphere, emotion, dream and subsequent reality shock of the cinema are all here to be enjoyed through your home stereo.

The rest of the cast can stay, that's up to you. But that lead girl is not up to you. Now you will see me one more time, if you do good. You will see me, two more times, if you do bad.


Like the film, the soundtrack builds towards Rebekah Del Rio’s, Llorando (Roy Orbison’s, Crying translated into Spanish). Sung a cappella and with haunting magnificence it could feel as though the track would not be as powerful without the context of the film. The unexpected focus on sound (as opposed to image) when this song appears in the film in the Silencio Club scene, sets it apart from other sound elements in the film. There, musicians and singers pretend to perform, but the music is all canned. Says the emcee: “This is all a tape recording. It is an illusion.” Up in the balcony, the pair begin crying. Betty shakes and weeps in some hyperemotional response to the music. This is truly music for the soul, offering something deeper, perhaps representing Lynch’s own ideas about life.

So give it a listen and see if it can elevate you towards the fantastical mental energy of Betty herself (or is that Diane). Angelo Badalamenti plays the espresso-drinking movie executive at the beginning of the film, incidentally.

David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive – Discogs

Mulholland Drive – IMDB

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