I've got a Snake In My Mind

keeping it short and sweet since you're out of town and likely won't have a chance to catch up for a few days. hope you're having a great time in Vegas. can't wait to hear all about your adventures!!

two last on the soundtrack/movie tip, both from Downtown 81. first, Melle Mel



and now, DNA



....and it's not in my spine

LRV, b

Dogs F'd the Pope, No Fault of Mine

have a swinging time!

LRV, b

Observance, Z-rn

this has been in our Netflix cue for a while but i still haven't watched it. as mentioned earlier, Zorn had a lot to do with my introduction to film music. he's scored scores of films, and his Filmworks series of releases are among his most consistent. in the 80s his film output leaned more toward his cut-up, fast moving style; colliding genres into bits, defying conventional composition. but toward the mid 90s there seemed to be a change to more thoughtful, pensive pieces as the films he'd choose to score were focusing on aspects of modern Judaism: faith and tolerance, faith and sexuality, even a couple of profiles on Jewish film icons; Marie Menken and Maya Deren.



all of these pieces are performed with uncommon grace. they are, like the people in the films, intently searching for answers, questioning and quietly seeking their place in the world. Zorn (which means "anger" in German, btw) definitely has a spectacular stable of artists which he uses -some of the best at their instruments, in my opinion- and they handle his compositions beautifully. (most of his collaborators, incidentally, are also Jewish. lends an elevated understanding, no?)



strange that for all of the crazy, alchemical and downright confounding music Zorn is best known (and most often maligned) for, it's the understated eloquence of his film scores that resonate the strongest for me. i may not identify with the struggles and the faith depicted in these films but i am grateful to be exposed to them through this music.

too quick a convo last night. hope we have a li'l more tonight!

LRV, b


PS: i want to go on record as saying that Trembling Before G-d is one of the heaviest albums of all time. not for being loud and thrashy but for devastatingly dark and affecting, (and with only two instruments: organ and clarinet). makes riff-and-shred sound like sandbox crying.

Two espressos, separate cups

thinking of recent soundtracks, there's only one that immediately springs to mind; the Limits of Control by Jim Jarmusch. granted, this is based on personal taste but i think it's one of the best compiled soundtracks in ages. comprised mainly of tracks by drone-rock masters Boris, amp-worshippers Sunn O))), and Jarmusch's own band, Bad Rabbit, it lends a very stoic film even more weight yet isn't all doom and gloom, as we've come to expect from "stoner rock". Boris, especially, seem to be in rather 'sunny' moods. Jarmusch always has chosen his music well. John Lurie scored two early films, Neil Young improvised solo guitar while watching Dead Man, the RZA did Ghost Dog, and his compilation for Broken Flowers is what introduced me, and undoubtedly many others, to Mulatu Astatke.

but specifically to Limits of Control, the choices work well on several levels:

1) there isn't a ton of dialogue in the movie, and what little dialogue there is is often cryptic instructions, cyclical conversations, and subtly humorous riddles. the music reflects a lot of these qualities in that it is, for the most part, drone- and repetition-based. themes are revisited often, yet not in such a way that the music becomes monotonous or predictable.

2) also much like the dialogue, there is a sense of something below the surface that the filmmaker would rather not reveal to the audience directly. to do so would crumble the film's mystique. the music, likewise, is full of gradually revealing textures; crescendoes which seem endless. catharsis is never quite reached, which keeps the suspense taught.

3) for such a languidly-paced movie, the perpetually-building nature of the music fits perfectly. visually, moreso than any other Jarmusch movie, there is a lot of open space and attention to architecture. the music reflects this in its vast, monolithic structuring.

4) the music provides a unique paradox concerning the lead character and his journey. on the one hand, the music, like the protagonist, is mighty and stoic. it moves at its own pace, not in any hurry to reach some answer or some validation. instead, it/he practices a sort of sonic tai chi; moving slowly, yet with purpose. on the other hand, the music is loud and absorbing. the protagonist is silently intense, saying very little. i get the sense that the music we hear is his brain in motion, his psyche's projection.

the film takes place in Spain (although it's never quite said), and there are several wonderful Spanish recordings and songs that kind of act as puzzle pieces in the movie. they carry just as much weight as the rock groups, too. it's certainly not lite fare. this is Carmen Linares, singing a song called "El Que Se Tenga Por Grande" (rough translation: "he who has greatness", which is a part of one of the recurring riddles.... "If you think yourself great man, then go to the cemetery. there you will see what the world really is, a handful of dirt.")



for a couple weeks, shortly after you left, i'd put this movie on nightly as i laid down to bed. not that it's a sleep-inducer (although, again, it moves rather slowly) but because of the music, the visuals, and the unassuming dialogue. i probably watched it two or three times, in chunks over a few nights. (i also watched Stranger Than Paradise at least once fully).

i miss you, and can't wait to watch movies with you again soon.

LRV, b

Song of My Heart's Composing

sorry about the ads

confession: most of my favorite film music was introduced to me by other artists. for example, early in my research of John Zorn i came across his tribute to Ennio Morricone. through that, and familiarity with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, (my mother's favorite movie), i began to absolutely absorb Morricone. (Zorn also turned me on to John Barry --James Bond, A Shot in the Dark--, Serge Gainsbourg, Burt Bacharach, and T. Rex through three respective tribute compilations). i probably would not have taken Henry Mancini so seriously were it not for Fantomas's album The Director's Cut, which featured two Mancini covers. of course, the Fantomas versions are very much in their vein, but the strength of the material (always) begs further investigation.



before these, all i knew of Mancini were "Baby Elephant Walk" and "The Pink Panther", both extremely high on the cheddar scale. but i absolutely love the playful twists of the main melodic theme throughout the score to Charade, and the opening sequence of Experiment In Terror, the film, are three incredibly dark, deep and resonant picked-string tones, which then lead into this song. i'm fairly certain the instrument carrying the walking line in the 'theme' is a baritone guitar and not a bass. they recur throughout the film every now and again, as if the tones themselves are an element/harbinger of danger. i swear i could watch the opening 60 seconds of this movie for hours on a loop.

and i can't tell you how cool it is that you love these songs as much as i do. it's not everyday you can rap with a young woman about Mancini soundtracks, let alone a young woman who will readily sing a few lines when she finds them appropriate. it's just one of the many reasons i love you like a cat loves naps.

i have some exciting news today. will wait to tell you later. happiness!

LRV, b

Best Movie Songs (Screw the Oscars)

did you see the little montage they did during the Oscar broadcast about Best Song? of course, it focused mainly on recent winners; the hokey dreck that's passed off as 'inspirational'. even the President's Choice was abruptly edited! i say Balls to all of that, though. it's one of the biggest throw-away categories, in my opinion, because rarely are good choices made. with the exceptions of Eminem and Three 6 Mafia, they're always safe, always saccharine. and even the aforementioned rap artists, their inclusion seems both "willfully defiant" and expected. does that make sense? it's like Let's Give These Underdogs the Award Because We Want It To Seem Like We're Tuned-In To Pop Culture... yet still, Randy Newman has received 20 nominations.

film music is very important to me, as you know. looking now at a list of Best Song Winners and nominees, i can truly say i can only stand behind a few:

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
"Take My Breath Away", written by Giorgio Moroder and performed by Berlin, Top Gun, (the production seals the deal)
and "Shaft" by Issac Hayes

safe? not really... those first two might sound cheesified but given the context of the movies they were in ("Raindrops" in a cowboy picture, and "Breath Away" in a testosterone fueled jock movie, to which "Danger Zone" was a better fit) i think these songs are just as daring as any. and "Shaft" is simply badass.

but Best Soundtrack should also be considered. it sickens me that Trent Reznor won for basically having a boy's choir sing Radiohead's "Creep", and tinkering longingly on a piano. could i nominate something better? yes. Clint Mansell, who did Black Swan, did a wonderful job of weaving Tchaikovsky throughout his own narrative score and was robbed of a nomination. hell of a lot better interplay between source and product than Reznor's self-indulgent bullshit.

here's a short list of notable Best Original Score winners:

The Omen, Jerry Goldsmith, 1976
Purple Rain, Prince (Best Original Song Score), 1984
'Round Midnight, Herbie Hancock, 1986
The Godfather, Part II, Nino Rota, 1974
and Butch Cassidy, Burt Bacharach, 1969

it should be noted that they may have given Ennio Morricone a lifetime achievement award a few years ago, presented by an inebriated Clint Eastwood, but the Almighty Academy never graced him with an actual Oscar. nominated only three times, although having scored hundreds of films, he was beaten by good company (Moroder, Hancock, and somebody i don't know).

so here i will pay tribute to Il Maestro, with a hat trick of three of my favorite songs.



couldn't find the song by itself, so enjoy the trailer!




and one for for good luck, a film and score which are severely underrated


should we do film music all week? i think so!

LRV, b

LRV

whoa-ooh-oh,

b