Okay, time's a factor today so I'm going to keep this brief.
I'm a sucker for soundtracks. While I could expound on the myriad reasons for this at great length it mostly stems from the "bleed-through" effect they have on my brain when I listen to them in daily life. The intentional discord that results from recontextualizing the familiar into novel situations gives me both a feeling of dynamic shift for the mundane and a sense of surreal comprehension for what is the normal sturm and drang of the in & out of the daily grind. Their was a long stretch after first seeing cult film Donnie Darko that I spent listening to the score whenever I was in the car - it made any errand feel much more interesting and bizarre with those syncopated strings bouncing in the background. Video games are no exception here, either - I've already written at great length of my love for the work of Akira Yamaoka. What I want to use today's short space for is to tell you just how good the soundtrack to Fight Club can be. Created by the Dust Brothers, long time production duo responsible for excellent, eclectic releases by The Beastie Boys and Beck (among others), the score serves as an exemplary example of both their style and skill as producers and musicians.
It's really quite a gem, this soundtrack. If you enjoy this sort of thing it's definitely one to check out. I certainly can see how people would be put off by some of the abrasive sounds but in my experience it's not always ease of access that means good music. I love how the score creates a definite mood and can heighten whatever I'm doing, from riding the bus to typing today's column. Check it out, if you're into it.
I'm a sucker for soundtracks. While I could expound on the myriad reasons for this at great length it mostly stems from the "bleed-through" effect they have on my brain when I listen to them in daily life. The intentional discord that results from recontextualizing the familiar into novel situations gives me both a feeling of dynamic shift for the mundane and a sense of surreal comprehension for what is the normal sturm and drang of the in & out of the daily grind. Their was a long stretch after first seeing cult film Donnie Darko that I spent listening to the score whenever I was in the car - it made any errand feel much more interesting and bizarre with those syncopated strings bouncing in the background. Video games are no exception here, either - I've already written at great length of my love for the work of Akira Yamaoka. What I want to use today's short space for is to tell you just how good the soundtrack to Fight Club can be. Created by the Dust Brothers, long time production duo responsible for excellent, eclectic releases by The Beastie Boys and Beck (among others), the score serves as an exemplary example of both their style and skill as producers and musicians.
While the film certainly merits the terabytes of data already written about it, analyzing themes of consumerism, modern masculinity and identity, I'll spare you my own surface-level examination. It's spectacular, to say the least, owing it's core genius to the source material - the novel by Chuck Pahlaniuk. Modern noir focusing on loss of self through consumerism. Heady stuff and a fantastic crew. Director David Fincher obviously was working full bore on making a great film and understood the impact a decent score could have. Not wanting to risk fracturing the movie with individual artists or risk a dull orchestral-arrangement, Fincher tapped the Dust Brothers in the hopes they would deliver something unique. His risk paid off. The score, full of predatory drum loops and buzzing machine sounds, adds to the tone of destruction and discord that permeates the film. It's the sound of the narrator breaking down his structured world - the more rigid and ordered tracks are repeated throughout the score, each time breaking further down and becoming more disjointed. It feels like a matter of diminishing returns, in the best way possible. It's actually quite a nice little method of displaying the story structure via soundscape - the more unreliable the narrator becomes, the more the listener is aurally disoriented. Beeps and clicks, various electro sounds all hum along with the tunes, adding to the angry buzz of the film.
