As you know, if you know me, which you don’t (well not really) I’ve never really been enthused over music. I’ve always been the guy that sits and laughs at the cliche of people posting song lyrics as their Facebook status, or announcing that something is “the soundtrack to my life” because that’s pretty much rubbish mostly just used so people will think they’re interesting. I say this now because, recently, I’ve been getting into music more and more, on a deeper level at least. Before, I would always have music blaring out of my PC whenever I was working, or playing, or writing or, just sitting. I have 4298 songs on my iTunes. But before I would never really be listening intently, I just used it as noise for the background. Sure one or two songs would catch my ear and I’d eventually be singing along, but I never really listened to the lyrics I was actually singing. Never really soaked them up at all. Which is why movie scores are so much better. Sure they may not be as catchy as some pop music, and they may not be created by some hot emo girl with pink hair and the ability to jump really high in the air whilst singing, but it’s this type of music that really makes you feel. The music, when used in the movie, usually simmers into the background, creating a tone but never really being prominent enough to spark the audience’s attention, unless it’s something as distinct at the ‘Inception’ horns, blaring across the screen or something as iconic as the ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ trumpets, ushering in a new era of cinema. When bought alone, and listened to with a watchful ear, you can however, really pick up on the emotional angsts of the film or the up-beat action. The scores really allow you to hone in on what it is that makes you feel compassion, or lust, or anger (etc) at the characters and what builds the tension up, deep inside your veins until it fizzles out. A primary example lies within the score to ‘Inception’ by Hans Zimmer. Within the movie, it’s fantastic, but alone, with noise canceling headphones and a clear tone it’s even better. From the slow build up of ‘Half Remembered Dream’ to the action-packed fast-paced extravaganza that is ‘Mombasa’ and ending with the truly hauntingly epic ‘Time’, it really grabs you emotionally. In particular, ‘Time’ really drew me into the message of the film, the emotional tone of the dominant character’s story and his impact on the events. It builds beautifully, slowly growing and growing until it blooms into an epic and vengeful barrage of horns and drums, eventually sliding back down to an emotional finish. It was almost impossible to halt my brain from imagining the little metal spinning top circling it’s final resting place as the music dies and collapses in on itself, like a dream, leaving only the lasting impressions of the dazzling strings to disturb your mind into a frenzy of logic and astonishment. Then as it does inevitably end, I found my eyes snapping open at the final twist of sound, leaving the feeling of awaking from an intense and meaningful dream. Pure excellence.
Another notable score being Clint Mansell’s score for Duncan Jones‘ ‘Moon’. It’s quite repetitive (but most scores are) and lacks the imaginative twist of Hans Zimmer’s work, but ‘Welcome To Lunar Industries’ provides a fantastic up-beat, and at times, depressingly memorable tone to the beginning and the end. John Murphy has always been a favourite of mine too, his utterly astonishing ‘Adagio in D Minor’ for Danny Boyle’s ‘Sunshine’ has always blown me away, as has his creepy, yet oddly perfect piece for ’28 Days Later’, another Boyle film. ‘In the House in a Heartbeat’ is by-far my favourite horror influenced score of all time. Then, in 2010, when he repeated said epics with an electrical twinge for the score for ‘Kick-Ass’ it truly was a dream come true. However, the ‘Kick-Ass’ score works best within the movie, and on it’s own, can drag a little. ‘Strobe’ is the hidden musical gem of the most astounding action scene ever created.
Right, music rant over, I’ll go back to films next time, I promise.
