Record Recipes #45
The monster in me.
A selection of analog recommendations for your listening pleasure. Pulled from my personal collection. Today’s issue: the score.
Jerry Goldsmith - The Omen. Not too long ago, a colleague asked if I’d ever considered composing for film. Everyone says fake it ‘til you make it, but I’m a terrible liar and my first response was that there are just too many more wildly qualified composers for me to even entertain the idea. Ave Satani was in the first playlist I made for La Femme Pendu inspiration. Some things are untouchable.
Mike Oldfield, Leonard Slatkin, National Philharmonic Orchestra - The Exorcist. You are not simply haunted by the silhouette of Max Von Sydow under the street lamp, or disturbed to your core by the sight of Regan’s young body contorting against her will; these images are indelible because of the quivering strings beneath them, the intervals that feel wrong to your nervous system. Tubular Bells or Fantasia for Strings, you know exactly what time it is.
Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera. Look, being an ALW apologist is not the proudest lane of my musical journey, but allow me to quote Lady Gaga’s comment on her classical training: “It taught me where to put the drama.” Inject that 1980’s synth and electric guitar straight into my veins, because choosing the Phantom is a lot like choosing the bear. Generations of Hot Topic goths can’t be wrong. Right? The Music of the Night
La Femme Pendu - Absolute Horror. She’s sparse, she’s spare, she is intentionally cold and haunted, and she is the first attempt at self expression by someone who’d been told where to stand and what to say since she was on training wheels. It’s me, I’m someone. The above film scores, along with those of Rosemary’s Baby, Suspiria, and The VVitch, spun on repeat while I plunged the depths of horror narratives to find the demonic feminine in heavy reverb. There’s a lot I’d do differently, and at the same time I wouldn’t change a thing. Je Vous Jette Dehors
Keep listening.