The Top Five Motion Picture Soundtracks

How does one do it, might I ask? And no, I am not referring to the horizontal mambo, you sad old git. But rather, I am thinking of a sort of music that is truly free as a bird. For, you see, the motion picture soundtrack has no rules. This is an anything goes genre of music. Is the composer then trying to capture a specific mood? Does the filmmaker want something precise? And believe me, I won't be listing a single soundtrack from a Wes Anderson film, Mark Mothersbaugh or not! Let me make clear that I am not interested in soundtracks that are basically just compilations, save that nonsense for a Time Life series, buster! I am dead serious about quality music in film, as it can often times be the finest. Now then, let's have a look, shall we?

1. Barry Lyndon: Ah, yes! This is a wonderful film score to a painfully underrated Stanley Kubrick film. Stanley's selection of Classical pieces from both the Baroque and Classical eras match up with the film's scenes with such unbounded beauty, and rarely has a director merged music with a visual more masterfully than Stanley Kubrick, except for some of the better work by David Lynch. And here we have as well on the Barry Lyndon soundtrack, a rather appropriate selection of Celtic Folk music as it pertains to the first part of the film most significantly of all.

2. Ravenous: Well, I already dedicated a previous blog entry which discussed nothing but this motion picture soundtrack, and it is a beauty! Michael Nyman is a music scholar to be reckoned with, there's no question. His knowledge of period-specific music, if you will, is just astounding according to my ears. And oddly enough, his collaborator on the film was that sassy Brit Damon Albarn of Blur fame. Some of the more curious pieces almost somehow harken back to the danceable Death Disco days, which was when the members of Joy Division first tripped over a keyboard. Everything is sprawled out so beautifully in terms of music, and each devilish scene is treated with an most original and unsettling series of sounds.

3. A Clockwork Orange: It is safe to say that the music in this Stanley Kubrick adaptation based upon the Anthony Burgess novel is just as well known as the chilling scenes and dialogue that take place in the film. Wendy Carlos is a genius and early revolutionary when dealing with synthetic and electronic-based music. There is something very haunting, and also somewhat dated, to hear a piece by Beethoven almost somehow sound like a precursor to Disco. The visual imagery as only a genius like Kubrick can master, mingled then with such far out sounds that were indeed very advanced for the time period, and thus, a superb film score was birthed real horrorshow.

4. Heart Of Glass: Ah, this is a German film by Werner Herzog. Thank goodness he had a soft spot for the Kraut Rock of Popol Vuh, as that is why this film soundtrack has made my epic Top Five list. There is something spiritual and strange about the music of Popol Vuh, and the meditative bliss is idyllic for an experimental feature film in which the majority of the cast in fact acted under hypnosis. The film is essentially based upon Bavarian folk legend, but that doesn't stop Werner Herzog from utilizing Popol Vuh's "Wall Of Guitars" approach to some of the more poignant scenes. Also, and for those interested, the film includes some rather stark and frightening instrumental pieces that date from the Middle Ages.

5. Orlando: Again, yet another selection based upon a previous blog entry. I can't think of a film more appropriate to add to this list, and the wonderful contemporary approach to the Classical genre is a great success. This film, which is based upon a Virginia Woolf adaptation contains such a lush array of images; and so then it is equally as appropriate that the sounds contained within are equally as exquisite. Watch as Tilda Swinton lives for centuries, switches genders, and repeatedly stares into the camera. Needless to say, the bloke who handled the majority of the score was quite probably no doubt very much inspired, mates.

So, that is the list. I would like to make clear that each individual selection is available for purchase, so get out your credit card and indulge in these wonderful sounds. Whether my selections relate to quality choices by the filmmaker in question, or if contemporary composers were able to capture something magical, in either instance, this is the sort of music you will want to feed to your ears time and again. And with that, my cute little man-bosoms are out the door.

And now, some of the more so traditional music featured in Herzog's "Heart Of Glass."

For there can be no doubt about the sex of this motion picture soundtrack...

The film is Orlando, the star is Tilda Swinton, the director is Sally Potter, and the soundtrack kicks major buttocks forever. The film's director and an English chap created the hauntingly original score to the film adaptation based upon Virginia Woolf's "Biography." There is authentic period music that is very appropriate for the Elizabethan Age in which this delightful little romp based upon gender transformation and living for 400 years does indeed begin. We even have Jimmy Somerville along for the ride, who is a fellow best known for rocking out in such acclaimed Punk bands like Bronski Beat and The Communards. Here, Somerville wails frantically into the microphone about how he is one with the human face, and all the while sounding like a toy poodle in ecstasy. The song John contributes vocals to is essentially the musical theme to the film, a little number referred to as "Coming," which on the soundtrack, also appears at the very end in two different remixed versions. Perhaps Techno-Dance is the right way to refer to this tune? Anyhow, the majority of the soundtrack consists of well orchestrated moaning female voices and cool atmospheric touches on violin strings and icy synthesizers.

Of course, one is best intrigued by the music when actually watching the film, which features an endless array of close-ups of Tilda Swinton's lovely face, and both as a man and a woman, as is the case for this particular film. The film's primary composer, Mr. David Motion, essentially conjures up the Romantic era of Classical music at times, but in such a way that it could almost be referred to as Romantic Minimalism. With such impressive sounds coming from this movie score, it is too bad that Mr. Motion is not somewhat better known, but such is life, oh my doughy little brothers. I rarely speak of album artwork, but this soundtrack contains images to die for. We see Tilda Swinton in a number of different snappy outfits that take place at different points in the film, all of them rather fun to stare at for hours on end. I would like to applaud David Motion as well for some wonderful and period-specific horn arrangements that pop up in places on the soundtrack, truly delightful.

In a lot of respects, this soundtrack reminds me of the one released for Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, and I think you will find it charming and guaranteed to increase your IQ by at least 160 points. All that is left for you to do is to purchase the DVD for Sally Potter's Orlando, and be sure to investigate the impressive filmography of Scottish princess Tilda Swinton, and with a specific interest in reading the novel on which the film is based by Virginia "Hatchet-faced" Woolf, and perhaps even a biography on Woolf herself, if you have the guts? Fear of a Humanist planet? Ha, I think not!

Dig the trailer for the film to get a better idea of what I mean, as merging beautiful music with a beautiful visual is a art unto itself they call The Film Score...



Also, someone out there in the world of mainstream film: Give that poor bastard David Motion another flick to score, as he's not half bad.