Soundtrack of the Week – Pulp Fiction

“…Having Misirlou as your opening credits, it’s just so intense, you know… it just says ‘you’re watching an epic!'”

 

Being a big Tarantino fan, I obviously had to feature this soundtrack at some point. The perfect combination of surfer-rock, soul and rock’n’roll – Pulp Fiction’s soundtrack is probably Tarantino’s most well-known. Who listens to ‘Misirlou’ and doesn’t immediately think of the title sequence? In an interview included on special editions of the soundtrack, Tarantino revealed that he compiles a soundtrack by rooting through his record collection after thinking of an initial idea for a story line. He also mentioned that he always envisioned a scene with an attractive enigmatic female lead to the sound of Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, and the audiences’ introduction to Mia Wallace is the perfect application of this idea. Springfield’s song sets the female protagonist up as a seductive, mysterious and downright cool lady without even showing her face.

Every song in this soundtrack has its place, from Vincent Vega’s drug-induced cruise to the Centurians’ ‘Bullwinkle Part 2’ to Butch getting revenge to ‘Comanche’ by the Revels, perfectly blending genres to create an overall impression of ‘cool’ for its audience. The first time I saw this film – I felt so cool, and I’m sure many other people did too. The soundtrack is the ideal way of prolonging that lasting nostalgic sensation.

My personal favourite is a track that is not featured on the standard editions, but can be found on special editions. It’s played after ‘Lonesome Town’ by Rick Nelson in the Jack Rabbit Slims scene and adds another layer to the relationship – that never was – between Vincent and Mia, making a little bit more romantic and lusting, as well as introducing me to the soulful R&B of the Robins.

 

TFDJ

 

Soundtrack of the Week – Northern Soul

I saw Northern Soul last month at the Prince Charles Cinema after watching the documentary about its origins and constantly delayed creation. I found it absolutely fascinating – not just the process of the film being made but the excitement that soul records brought to so many in the 70s.

Here is a personal favourite from the soundtrack:

Writer and Director, Elaine Constantine complied the soundtrack herself, being one of the Northern Soul fans at its prime, and has used a number of tracks that are not thought of as the ‘go-to’ songs when one thinks of the Northern Soul scene, picking more obscure, yet still immensely popular, ones. It doesn’t resemble a ‘Greatest Hits’ collection, its more of an immersion into the 70s scene for its audience.

For someone born in the technological generation, where music has become so accessible, it was fascinating to see an insight into a time where music was so sought after and important. The whole notion of ‘cover-ups’ is not as popular anymore – there are still certain DJs that retain this enigma during their sets, but in general, music does not have the same exclusivity.

The ‘cover-up’ song from the film can be heard below:

Did you see the film? What did you think of it? Is there a song that she did not put in the soundtrack that you think deserved to be in there? Please comment below.

TFDJ

Soundtrack of the Week – Psycho

Although I predominately look at soundtracks comprised of various artists’ songs for films, the score for ‘Psycho’ is too perfect not to talk about.

Bernard Herrmann’s score is completely iconic, setting the tone for all future ‘slasher’ movies with the use of his alarming strings, during the infamous shower scene, and its overall cinematic sinister sound. The score is comprised only of strings which might seem like a limiting factor, however, it completely compliments the film, as it still offers a range of tone, pitch and effects.

The prelude for the film immediately warns the audience that Hitchcock’s great will thrill and terrify, and it is also absolutely brilliant if you’re walking down the street when you’re late for something – it’ll make you feel like you’re a part of a chase scene.

The scene everyone remembers… the scene voted scariest theme of all time (by a survey conducted by PRS for Music)… is obviously the ‘shower scene’. The most interesting fact about this piece of music is that Hitchcock originally told Herrmann that he had complete artistic control with the entire score, as long as he did not write any music to be featured during the shower scene. Herrmann, obviously, defied this and wrote one of the greatest minutes in soundtrack history. Hitchcock then agreed that the music improved the scene, and apparently doubled Herrmann’s salary. He even stated that “33% of the effect of ‘Psycho’ was due to the music”.

On all the strings played prior to the shower scene, a ‘mute’ was used (a small velvet pad which softens the sound of the instrument, even if it’s played hard), so that when Herrmann had his musicians remove the mutes for Marion’s infamous death, it ended up with that screeching, punchy and completely terrifying sound.

Psycho is definitely both Hitchcock and Herrmann at their best, and its score will live on as an epic and influential piece of film music.

TFDJ

Soundtrack of the Week – Good Will Hunting

This week’s soundtrack is ‘Good Will Hunting’. The film, written by and starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, predominately featured music by Elliott Smith, as well as a score produced by Danny Elfman.

Elliott Smith’s music is perfectly simplistic and romantic, most notably when the protagonist, Will, and Skylar are together at the cafe with ‘Say Yes’ playing non-diegetically.

However, Smith’s music can also reflect as a sadder notion, like that of a juxtaposing scene where ‘Angeles’ plays as Will Hunting doesn’t reciprocate Skylar’s ‘I love you’.

Elliott Smith also wrote a song specifically for the film, ‘Miss Misery’, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Dissapointingly, Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ won the title – despite Smith giving a beautiful and completely endearing performance at the award show in 1998.

Watch Smith’s performance here:

I chose this soundtrack because I had listened to Elliott Smith before seeing the film, and was curious as to how Smith’s music would be used – only to be completely impressed! However, even if I had not been aware of his music, I’m sure it would have still had the same effect. I remember playing Elliott Smith to my mum, who immediately recognised him as a feature of Good Will Hunting’s soundtrack, proving his instantly recognisable style.

TFDJ

Soundtrack of the Week – Kill Bill Vol. 1

Every week I will talk about a new soundtrack – what makes it interesting, how it effects and exists in its film, and why I personally like it.

 

This week’s soundtrack is Kill Bill Vol. 1. This is my favourite film, and was the inspiration for the blog’s name ‘The Film DJ’, as Tarantino has been referred to as a ‘mixer’ of films, combining his favourite elements of his favourite movies – Kill Bill being a very prevalent example of this.

The Soundtrack is made up, mainly, of songs from Kung-Fu films/TV shows, spaghetti westerns and Tarantino’s other favourite scores. This may be the reason Tarantino is such a great director, in my eyes – he’s a film buff, eager to show his passion through paying homage to his ‘greats’. This is the first film of Tarantino’s, however, to also use original score. A few songs were composed by the RZA, famous for being a part of Wu Tang Clan – this collaboration came about after the two bonded over a shared love of Kung Fu movies.

Kill Bill’s soundtrack perfectly sets up moments of tension and action, partially through association with their respective original films, but also because of the range of genres and sounds, which completely reinvents an almost ‘done-to-death’ scene (for example, the use of Santa Esmeralda’s Latin disco track ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ during O-Ren and the Bride’s fight scene).

The song I have decided to feature is ‘The Lonely Shepherd’ by Zamfir, which was originally the theme for the TV series ‘Golden Soak’. It appears a couple of times throughout the film, but most effectively just before the film ends – I’m not going to lie, I went to see the film at a recent showing at the Prince Charles Cinema, and there may have been a tear when it all kicks in at 1:40…

TFDJ