It’s been 3 weeks since I wrote the last official Swan Fungus Friday Top Ten list. Why? Well, I was gone for a whole ten days. Plus, who the hell wants to spend their entire vacation thinking of list ideas for a top ten list when the chance to get drunk with old friends is staring you right in your stupid face? Call me unprofessional, but I certainly wasn’t going to delay my plans for some silly website. Especially one that has to settle for moronic ranked lists as a means of attracting new visitors. Only a horrible, shallow fool would do something that…bourgeois. Oh, wait — I’m insulting myself again, aren’t I?
Sunday Mix Tapes have been including a bunch of cool soundtrack music lately, so I started thinking about some of the best soundtracks of all time. Shit like A Hard Day’s Night and Purple Rain would not count (because, well, the former was a sort of mockumentary about the Beatles, just another attempt to broaden the group’s stranglehold on the media, and because Purple Rain SUCKS), nor would compilation soundtracks (ie. Trainspotting, Zabrieske Point or Easy Rider). I mean original film music when I say soundtrack. Got it? Good. Here’s my list. Do Not Be Afraid: Dracula: Dead And Loving It Did Not Make The Cut. I’m probably missing a bunch, but feel free to leave a comment and tell me what the fuck I’m doing wrong. Sali wanted me to use There Will Be Blood and Last Of The Mohicans, but apparently one was written before the film (There Will Be Blood), and the other I’ve never seen or heard. Oops!
No John Williams (sucks)! No Lalo Schifrin (oops)! No Giorgio Moroder (oops)! No Danny Elfman (fag)!
The Top Ten Soundtracks (Original Film Music)
10. Pan’s Labyrinth – Javier Navarette’s was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to whoever the hell scored the film Babel. I haven’t heard that one, but I guarantee you this is better. It’s all built around one simple lullaby, but it’s dark and beautiful and one of the best I’ve ever heard. I’ve used a number of cuts from the album on mix tapes here. Perfect for nights when you want to be really, really depressed. Best heard after two Percoset. [Listen to “Mercedes Lullaby”]
09. Andromeda Strain – For 1971, this one was pretty far out there. Tons of electronic, glitchy goodness punctuated by weird static bursts of noise and mechanical noises. The packaging was unique for the time, too as both record and cover were hexagonal in shape. If yours has held up through the years, it’s actually quite collectible!
08. Blade Runner – I could have picked any Vangelis score, from Chariots Of Fire to Opera Sauvage, but I chose this one because it’s really good and its one of his better known soundtracks. If you haven’t seen this film or heard the music, do yourself a favor and make this your top priority on Netflix. Hell, you can probably find it free online somewhere…
07. The Shining – I don’t mean the commonly found version, but the original Wendy Carlos/Rachel Elkind version that was quickly taken off the market due to licensing issues, and has since become a lost treasure. It’ll freak you the fuck out, trust me. [Listen to “Rocky Mountains”]
06. Eraserhead – One of the most brilliant and creepy as fuck films has a soundtrack that is equally beautiful and horrifying. It’s filled with natural noises and epic drones and a litany of bizarre sounds. The most well-known aspect of the soundtrack is, “In Heaven,” which has been covered by everyone from Bauhaus to the Pixies. The original is always better, though.
05. El Topo – Who knew Alexando Jodorowsky could compose as well as direct? If I told you John Lennon saw this film in New York and immediately decided to release the score on the Beatles’ Apple Records label, would you be intrigued? You should be…Music by Shades of Joy. [Listen to “Topo Trieste”]
04. Lucifer Rising – Recorded by former Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil in prison. You can read all about it here. There’s also a link to download the soundtrack on that page. Awesome psychedelic/krautrock/space rock goodness. [Listen to “Movement The Second”]
03. Suspiria – Goblin, the greatest film composers of all time? Perhaps…It was a tough call between this and Profondo Rosso (and Zombi), but Suspiria is just the coolest fucking prog-rock score ever. Learn more about it here, and feel free to download it as well.
02. Forbidden Planet – Louis and Bebe Barron created the first electronic film score ever in the middle of the 1950s — ten years before the Moog synthesizer was invented — and composed some of the most timeless, out-there film scores of all time. Even today it sounds modern. It’s amazing. Not only that, the film is really good too! A young Leslie Nielsen before he grew up and did a bunch of silly police flicks and the dreadful, Dracula: Dead And Loving It. [Listen to “Main Titles (Overture)”]
01. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Duh. Did you think I was going to write a top ten of film music and not include any Ennio Morricone? Hell, I could have fleshed out the entire list with his soundtracks. El Greco, A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, Once Upon A Time In The West, Giu La Testa, Citta Violenta, Death Rides A Horse, Che C’entriamo Noi Con La Rivoluzione, Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete, The Mission. That’s ten amazing soundtracks right there. I chose this one because it has one of the most well-known themes of all time, and the live rendition of “Ecstasy Of Gold” at Radio City Music Hall might be the only piece of music ever that has brought me to tears. If you can find the DVD of his Munich concert, you would be wise to buy it. Simply perfect. [Listen to “L’estasi Dell’oro”]
