New Podcast - Electronic Film Scores!

[cdouglas]

Hey folks,

Just wanted to invite you all to check out the last "Sounds and Sights of Cinema" podcast, which this week puts the spotlight on electronic film scores. On the program, you'll hear music from:

Starman - John Carpenter
Commando - James Horner
Runaway - Jerry Goldsmith
The Shining - Wendy Carlos
Fight Club - The Dust Brothers
Green Card - Hans Zimmer
Twin Peaks - Angelo Badalamenti
Legend - Tangerine Dream
Daylight - Randy Edelman
Heartbeeps - John Williams
Blade Runner - Vangelis

Bleeps, blorps, and blips galore! Plus, you'll hear my review of Terminator: Salvation. So give it a listen and get in touch with your synthetic side.

Next week: The film music of composer Philip Glass, plus a review of Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell!

[Gabriel Girard]

Great selections Clark!
I'm just wondering why you chose Starman to represent Carpenter. Escape from New York, Halloween or Assault On Precinct 13 are much more iconic IMHO.

[BrettCullum]

OMG! I am so excited! This is awesome, and my new favorite episode of the program. YAY! I am jumping up and down!

[cdouglas]

Great selections Clark!
I'm just wondering why you chose Starman to represent Carpenter. Escape from New York, Halloween or Assault On Precinct 13 are much more iconic IMHO.

Well, I do try to mix it up with a blend of popular and less well-known stuff... I don't necessarily want to do the ultimate greatest hits of whatever category I'm doing on every show. But they'll turn up somewhere, certainly... Escape from New York might appear on a "post-apocalyptic" show, for instance, or Halloween might appear during the annual Halloween horror music show.

[cdouglas]

OMG! I am so excited! This is awesome, and my new favorite episode of the program. YAY! I am jumping up and down!

It was done at your request, sir.

[Steve T Power]

I'll be tuning in as soon as i get home.

[Carl Wonders]

I'm going to throw out a couple of other scores that I thought might have been on the show (I don't read the show notes before hand):

Witness - Maurice Jarre: Not a bad score, though I think that the idea of using an all-synthesizer score for a movie about the Amish was a ludicrous one (I know he did it because the Amish shun musical instruments, but I would think that they would think even less of electronic musical instruments). Silva (I think) released a string version of the Building the Barn cue that is actually quite good.

Tron - Wendy Carlos: maybe it's because of my age (30), but this score has a lot of nostalgia for me. Probably because of all the quarters I lost in the Discs of Tron game.

[BrettCullum]

There could have been tons more included... electronic scores defined the '70s and '80s. They never really stopped either. I love all the electronic scores. They claim FORBIDDEN PLANET was the first one... maybe that should be there. Wendy Carlos who did TRON also did CLOCKWORK ORANGE!

[cdouglas]

Certainly plenty of electronic film scores out there. Alas, I have but an hour each week. It's definitely a theme I'll return to at some point... maybe I'll make it really obscure and only feature music written on Moog synthesizers.

[Carl Wonders]

There could have been tons more included... electronic scores defined the '70s and '80s. They never really stopped either. I love all the electronic scores. They claim FORBIDDEN PLANET was the first one... maybe that should be there. Wendy Carlos who did TRON also did CLOCKWORK ORANGE!

Too bad that Forbidden Planet is (IMHO) more a collection of sound effects rather than actual music. Wasn't Wendy Carlos still Walter back in the Clockwork Orange days?

I think a Therimin-themed show would be fun. Even Bernard Herrmann used it once.

[G_Vinny]

Dear Jerry Goldsmith groupie,

If I had not been told differently, I would have thought Carpenter's submission was from Vangelis. Then again, it wasn't as rich as a Vangelis piece would be. I too would have liked to hear a selection from "Escape from New York," but I'm already privy to the fact that you do mix it up (you really took me back with "Green Card" - Gerard Depardieu? WHAT?!.... OK!). For me, that does make your show more interesting. Anyway, my favorite three cues are from Zimmer, Williams, and Horner in that order. It seems that I may be genetically predisposed to liking Zimmer like I'm genetically predisposed to liking chicken....

[cdouglas]

Dear Jerry Goldsmith groupie,

If I had not been told differently, I would have thought Carpenter's submission was from Vangelis. Then again, it wasn't as rich as a Vangelis piece would be. I too would have liked to hear a selection from "Escape from New York," but I'm already privy to the fact that you do mix it up (you really took me back with "Green Card" - Gerard Depardieu? WHAT?!.... OK!). For me, that does make your show more interesting. Anyway, my favorite three cues are from Zimmer, Williams, and Horner in that order. It seems that I may be genetically predisposed to liking Zimmer like I'm genetically predisposed to liking chicken....

John Carpenter has written some effective film scores, but his abilities are fairly simple. Much like Clint Eastwood, he can get the job done, but his real strengths are behind the camera. Meanwhile, Vangelis was more or less a master of the medium for a while (though he never really evolved when the 1980s ended).

I'm fond of Zimmer's Green Card, too... particularly that selection I featured on the show.