CD # 11: Original Soundtrack

The reason: I am a film buff. I love film music.

The rules: 1. Only original recordings. 2. Only original compositions. That rules out things like the Richard Strauss piece that opens 2001: A Space Odyssey or the Beck song that closes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 3. Only one entry per composer. That rules out Halloween and Taxi Driver.

The mix: Is king. I did have some pop songs (and a Spinal Tap gem) on the shortlist, but I eventually settled for an almost entirely instrumental selection, where the transitions are as important as the tunes themselves.

The plays:

1.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Track: Cannibal Holocaust (Main Theme)
Performers: Uncredited orchestra, conducted by Riz Ortolani
Composer: Riz Ortolani
Director: Ruggero Deodato

Cannibal Holocaust is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It's an italian horror flick consisting of "found footage" from an expedition to the South American jungle. Violence, sexual violence, bad taste and bad acting (although the director had to present the actors in court to prove they weren't actually killed in front of the camera) obviously makes it a cult classic, but to praise it as important "civilization critic" is just stupid. The soundtrack, however, is genious. Riz Ortolani, also Italian, has made some 50 soundtracks (and has been Oscar nominated twice, not for Cannibal Holocaust), but I would say this is his most famous one. If the director Ruggero Deodato should have any credit, it is for bringing in the beautiful music of Ortolani as a contrast to the cruelty of what's happening on screen.

2.
Paris, Texas (1984)
Track: Paris, Texas
Performers: Ry Cooder, Jim Dickinson, David Lindley
Composer: Ry Cooder
Director: Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders won the Palme D'Or in Cannes with Paris, Texas, a wonderful drama that begins with a confused Harry Dean Stanton walking out of the deserts. Eventually he turns out to have a son and a wife and the climax is the scene where he communicates with his wife through a telephone in a strip club booth. Ry Cooder is a Grammy awarded guitarist and the guy who found (and exploited) those Cuban musicians in the Buena Vista Social Club documentary (also directed by Wim Wenders). Among Cooder's other film music credits are Dead Man Walking and Crossroads (the blues one, not the Britney Spears one).

3.
Bodysong (2003)
Track: Moon Trills
Performer: Jonny Greenwood
Composer: Jonny Greenwood
Director: Simon Pummell

Jonny Greenwood is one fifth of Radiohead, but nowadays also has two film scores to his credit. The latest was the score for Paul Thomas Anderson's American epos There Will Be Blood, which is also a good listen (and actually works better as an album on its own than in the film). His first try however, was for the British independent documentary Bodysong. I haven't seen it, but it's apparently a "journey from birth to death". "Moon Trills" is the opening track, so I guess we are dealing with birth here.

4.
Je t'aime … moi non plus (1976)
Track: Ballade de Johnny-Jane
Performer: Serge Gainsbourg
Composer: Serge Gainsbourg
Director: Serge Gainsbourg

Composing directors is not too rare a phenomenon. On this compilation, we have two such entries. Serge Gainsbourg might rather be a directing composer though, best known for a number of pop songs in the 60s and 70s. One of his signature songs is the sexually frank "Je t'aime ... moi non plus", which he originally recorded with then-girlfriend Brigitte Bardot in 1968. Bardot copped out and stopped the release, why it's the later version that Gainsbourg recorded (and released) with next girlfriend, Jane Birkin, that is best known. An instrumental interpretation of "Je t'aime ..." also serves as the main theme of the film by the same name, but as it is wasn't an original composition for the film, it's ruled out on this CD. The film is an awkward story where Joe Dallesandro plays a gay garbage truck driver who falls in love with an androgyne woman played by Jane Birkin. They can't have sex, until Johnny-Jane (Birkin's character) proclaims "I am a boy" and turns over. Cue a montage of scenes with the two having anal sex, during which the main theme is playing and Johnny-Jane is screaming. Disturbing, but fabulous. Plus, the tune "Ballade de Johnny-Jane" brings much needed tempo after the three slow tracks opening this compilation.

5.
Farväl Falkenberg (2006)
Track: The Joy of D.H. Lawrence
Performer: Erik Enocksson
Composers: Erik Enocksson, Jörgen Svensson
Director: Jesper Ganslandt

The first Swedish entry is the music from Farväl Falkenberg (Falkenberg Farewell), one of the highest acclaimed Swedish films of recent. It revolves around a bunch of guys in their 30s, who either returns to, have always stayed in or are about to leave their small hometown, Falkenberg. The genuine setting has led to the Falkenberg tourist center publishing a map with which you can find your way to places appearing in the film - such as the spot where one of the characters commits suicide. I have no clue what the D.H. Lawrence reference is all about though.

6.
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Track: Main Title
Performer: Mia Farrow
Composer: Krzysztof Komeda
Director: Roman Polanski

One of the true classics in this compilation is Roman Polanski's tale about a woman being inpregnated by the Devil. The theme song is also known as "Lullaby" and appears in different versions in the film and on the soundtrack. Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda died only 39 years old, and Rosemary's Baby was one of his last jobs. He also worked with Polanski on other films, most notable Knife in the Water. Rosemary's Baby is part of a long tradition of great horror movie soundtracks (along with another two entries in this compilation). Obviously, the wish to emphasize scary moments brings on scary music - and a lot of cheap thrills go with cheep musical solutions - but the good ones (Jaws, Halloween, The Wicker Man etc.) stick more than most soundtracks.

7.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Track: Vessels
Performers: The Western Vocal Wind Ensemble,
Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by Michael Riesman
Composer: Philip Glass
Director: Godfrey Reggio

Koyaanisqatsi was the mega productive composer Philip Glass's first stab at film music. He might have wanted to choose a less demanding project - Koyaanisqatsi is a feature length video installation (or, if you will, documentary), consisting of images of (mostly American) society in conflict with nature. The film is a true masterpiece and Glass's music is a huge part of the experience, as the film contains no dialogue whatsoever. The film may be manipulative, but I rather like to see it as an example of the possibilities of cinema (moving pictures! and sound!). Followers of the CD of the Month Club may note the resemblance to another Phlip Glass track, "Opening", which appeared on one of the DJ Wordplay CDs. It was recorded and released around the same time as the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack.

8.
Upp till kamp (2007)
Track: Rebecka
Performer: Mattias Bärjed
Composer: Mattias Bärjed
Director: Michael Marcimain

Swedes again. Upp till kamp (the first words of the Swedish lyrics for "The Internationale") isn't really a film, but a six hour mini-series. The soundtrack is so good though, I decided to include it anyway. The series tells the story of four 20-somethings in Göteborg, from 1968 to 1978, and through them the story of the rise of social activism in Sweden. Mattias Bärjed also plays with The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and in Upp till kamp, it's his music who makes the six hours work as a whole, actually making it a 'soundtrack of the characters lives', be it with furious electric guitars or as here, through an acoustic mantra working as a theme for the character Rebecka. OK, that was a pretentious analysis, just dig the sound, really.

9.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Track: Midnight Cowboy
Performers: Toots Thieleman, John Barry & His Orchestra
Composer: John Barry
Director: John Schlesinger

Midnight Cowboy won the Oscar for best film back in the days when an Oscar for best film actually meant that the film was any good. A gritty, realistisic drama about a cowboy trying to make a living as a prostitute, it isn't the obvious hit with the popcorn audience, but it has an undisputed place in movie history. Of the soundtrack, most people might remember the Harry Nilsson tune "Everybody's Talkin'", but that wasn't an original recording, so the choice here is the main title, composed by one of the big names in movie music. John Barry has over a hundred soundtracks to his credit and has bagged five Oscars. His best known work is probably the James Bond theme, aswell as a number of Bond songs (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever). Other works include Dances with Wolves, Body Heat and Howard the Duck.

10.
La double vie de Véronique (1991)
Track: Van den Budenmayer Concerto en mi mineur
(SBI 152) Version de 1798
Performers: Elzbieta Towarnicka, Great Orchestra of Katowice, Philharmonic Choir of Silecia, conducted by Antoni Wit
Composer: Zbigniew Preisner
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Another Polish entry, another recurrent director-composer relationship. Zbigniew Preisner most notably worked with Krzysztof Kieslowski on his two best known projects, The Decalogue and the Three Colours. In between those La double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Véronique) appeared - in my opinion Kieslowski's best film. The story revolves around Weronika and Véronique - two women, both played by Irène Jacob. One of them lives in Poland and the other in France, but their lives are somehow connected. The tune presented here is in a way the dramatic turning point of the film. Being performed by Weronika, by the end of the scene we leave her to go to France and Véronique. Van den Budenmayer, who gets credit in the title of the piece, is a fictional composer made up by Preisner and Kieslowski (and used in several of the films they made together). The "Van Den Budenmayer Concerto" is the only track in this compilation that actually has lyrics, but I dare you to quote them.

11.
Escape from New York (1981)
Track: Main Title
Performers: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth
Composer: John Carpenter
Director: John Carpenter

The second composer/director in this selection is John Carpenter, with films as (the already twice mentioned) Halloween, The Thing and Assault on Precinct 13 under his belt. Escape from New York takes place in a future (1997) New York, where Manhattan has been sealed and is now a maximum security prison. Somehow, Air Force One crashes on the island and the president of the United States is being captured, why eye-patched anti-hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) has to save the day. Carpenter's synth theme is as famous as anything from the film, and I love that it's a 3.45 minute tune with a 1.45 minute intro.

12.
Blade Runner (1982)
Track: Blade Runner (End Titles)
Performer: Vangelis
Composer: Vangelis
Director: Ridley Scott

Another dystopian science fiction classic. This one takes place in 2019, where "blade runner" Deckard (Harrison Ford) works with "retiring" malfunctioning androids called replicants. Greek composer/musician Vangelis Papathanasiou's new age-ish musical works always balance between tasteless and genious. This sorts under the latter (such as, argueably, his Oscar awarded score for Chariots of Fire), but is at the same time one of the entries in this selection that really should be seen together with the film to be fully appreciated. Vangelis also worked with director Ridley Scott on the less successful 1492 - Conquest of Paradise, noteworthy only for its soundtrack.

13.
Psycho (1960)
Track: Psycho (A Narrative for Orchestra)
Performers: The London Philharmonic Orchestra,
conducted by Bernhard Herrmann
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

The last one out is in many ways also the odd one out. Most of the entries in this selection have been electronic or acoustic interpretations, rather than the big orchestral works that might normally be associated with "film music". This is primarily due to my wanting to keep some kind of consistency through the CD. As the grande finale, though, I found it suitable to add fifteen minutes of classic strings. Bernard Herrmann is one of history's greatest and most influential film music composers - typically enough, his first gig was Citizen Kane and his last Taxi Driver. In between, amongst a lot of other works, he did the music for a bunch of Hitchcock films. Best known - and best - is of course Psycho - the one film whose title anyone remotely interested in film can nail just by hearing one second of the score (the one between 6.31 and 6.32, that is). This is also the one exception from my rules. It isn't an original composition. This "Narrative" is instead a piece put together by the different snippets of music played through the film. Although, this is the first recording of it (from 1968) and it is Herrmann conducting, so I think I can get away with it. Plus, it's a killer. For those of you who haven't seen the film, but still recognize the eerie strings in the beginning, it might be that you heard them in Busta Rhymes's hit single "Gimme Some More". You wanna see the film, though ...