tmm
Senior Member
I was absentmindedly browsing through Apple Music the other day, and found a playlist “If You Like... Stranger Things”. I do, more or less, so I listened.
Setting the scene - I’ve somehow made it my full 36 years without actually seeing a movie scored by John Carpenter. I’ve heard plenty of people reference his work, but honestly didn’t know what that meant other than “heavy use of synthesizers”.
I didn’t realize how unlikely that was until, after the event below, I Wikipedia’d, and it seemed impossible that I could have missed him. I love horror movies, and I love synthesizer-driven themes. I also (at times) have a thing for more minimalistic scores.
To be fair, I was at least aware of the basic theme from Halloween, but only because I’d heard bands cover it.
So, back to by revelation - I listened through Dixon & Stein’s awesome homage to the 80’s, and then came to Track 2. The song was “Night” from John Carpenter’s Lost Themes... holy shit I loved it! I put that on repeat and kept listening to it for at least 5-10 repetitions.
I Wikipedia’d while listening, and was dumbfounded by not only how many movies he’d scored, but how high profile they were. I’d heard of all of them, many are classics.
I then found a few John Carpenter playlists on Apple Music, and listened through tracks from all of those movies.......
And I’m not sure I really liked any of them
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can certainly see how his style must have strongly influenced A LOT of things I’d heard before... other composers / sound designers, video game soundtracks, etc.
Lastly, confused, I went back and listened to more of the Lost Themes album. And I really liked it! Even more confused. The same held true for Lost Themes II.
Why would all of (what my ears hear as) his best material not have made it into a soundtrack? Maybe I’m missing the point... maybe the Lost Themes pieces were TOO engaging, and would have distracted from a scene? Just a postulation.
Anyway, listening to LT 1 & 2 @ the gym now, and loving every second.
Setting the scene - I’ve somehow made it my full 36 years without actually seeing a movie scored by John Carpenter. I’ve heard plenty of people reference his work, but honestly didn’t know what that meant other than “heavy use of synthesizers”.
I didn’t realize how unlikely that was until, after the event below, I Wikipedia’d, and it seemed impossible that I could have missed him. I love horror movies, and I love synthesizer-driven themes. I also (at times) have a thing for more minimalistic scores.
To be fair, I was at least aware of the basic theme from Halloween, but only because I’d heard bands cover it.
So, back to by revelation - I listened through Dixon & Stein’s awesome homage to the 80’s, and then came to Track 2. The song was “Night” from John Carpenter’s Lost Themes... holy shit I loved it! I put that on repeat and kept listening to it for at least 5-10 repetitions.
I Wikipedia’d while listening, and was dumbfounded by not only how many movies he’d scored, but how high profile they were. I’d heard of all of them, many are classics.
I then found a few John Carpenter playlists on Apple Music, and listened through tracks from all of those movies.......
And I’m not sure I really liked any of them
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can certainly see how his style must have strongly influenced A LOT of things I’d heard before... other composers / sound designers, video game soundtracks, etc.
Lastly, confused, I went back and listened to more of the Lost Themes album. And I really liked it! Even more confused. The same held true for Lost Themes II.
Why would all of (what my ears hear as) his best material not have made it into a soundtrack? Maybe I’m missing the point... maybe the Lost Themes pieces were TOO engaging, and would have distracted from a scene? Just a postulation.
Anyway, listening to LT 1 & 2 @ the gym now, and loving every second.