As unpopular as they are with some, I love Jarre’s JACOB’S LADDER and THE MOSQUITO COAST. I also would include Horner’s THE NAME OF THE ROSE although it may be something of a technicality since it’s basically scored for a mostly traditional orchestra and then performed on synths for whatever reason. Of Goldsmith’s hybrid scores I’d also include GREMLINS even though it’s far from synth only.
As unpopular as they are with some, I love Jarre’s JACOB’S LADDER and THE MOSQUITO COAST.
Those are two of Jarre's most underrated scores. Jacob's Ladder uses a lot of very interesting avant garde and world music techniques -- Jarre doesn't get near enough credit for how inventive that score is. The Mosquito Coast has a nice "Vangelis vibe" about it -- reminds me a bit of Vangelis' music from Frederic Rossif's films (whom, interestingly Jarre also worked for, years before Rossif took-up with Vangelis).
I thought it would be interesting if we shared our personal list of what you consider to be the 5 most essential electronic soundtrack albums of all time. Compilation albums are allowed.
Since albums are the focus here, I'm including television as well as cinema in a list which is not so much essential as it is personal.
5. Phone Booth by Harry Gregson-Williams (a good representative of early-'00s thriller scores)
4. A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 by Angelo Badalamenti (a most varied Synclavier effort from the late-'80s)
3. Il caso Mattei by Piero Piccioni https://cinetalk.net/2016/06/09/3-rosi-by-piccioni-ost/ "With the 20 minutes suite from Il Caso Mattei/ The Mattei Affair (1972), a film starring the great Gian Maria Volonte, we are in for a treat. With his capacity for writing difficult music it is not often (to my knowledge) that Mr Piccioni went into electronic minimalism… And it is explosive stuff. A continuous deep, resonant sound slowly evolving, leading in its final moments to his first love: Jazz. If there was any doubts left about his sheer genius this would be his final answer as he could be credited as a godfather of techno, from 1972."
2. Tristram Cary's first score for DOCTOR WHO's "The Daleks" is musique concrete via BBC's Radiophonic workshop.
1. 'lost' acoustic instrumental scores from the early 1960s by Maurice Jarre are synthetically re-created by Robert Lafond and issued on CD by Disques Cinemusique.
I notice that many people here are posting electronic scores from composers that usually are working in an orchestral idiom as their favorites. For me that would be impossible. I feel that the orchestral composers are often rather clumsy and amateurish when they try their hand at electronic music. There are exceptions of course.
I feel that the orchestral composers are often rather clumsy and amateurish when they try their hand at electronic music.
But this is precisely why I love film music. Film composers frequently work in idioms in which they are unfamiliar, and the resulting mash-ups are often far more compelling than the more conservative approaches to those idioms.
These are the ones that have probably given me most pleasure as pure listening experiences:
BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis) APOLLO: ATMOSPHERES AND SOUNDTRACKS (Eno) WITNESS (Jarre) RUNAWAY (Goldsmith) SOLARIS (Martinez) 1492 (Vangelis)
(Ooops.. seems I can’t count. ) So, mostly usual suspects, except perhaps for RUNAWAY, which doesn’t seem to be too well regarded, not even among Goldsmith fans. But I dig it! And I see that some others have it on their list too – good!
I notice that many people here are posting electronic scores from composers that usually are working in an orchestral idiom as their favorites. For me that would be impossible. I feel that the orchestral composers are often rather clumsy and amateurish when they try their hand at electronic music. There are exceptions of course.
But this is precisely why I love film music. Film composers frequently work in idioms in which they are unfamiliar, and the resulting mash-ups are often far more compelling than the more conservative approaches to those idioms.
Agreed. In the case of RUNAWAY which I have on my list, it’s clearly conceived electronically from the start. And while it’s easy to imagine parts of the score performed by an orchestra, it doesn’t sound at all like a “synhesized orchestra”, which is quite an accomplishment, I think (don’t know if you’ve heard it, Onya, but as it’s from smack in the middle of your “dreaded 80s”, it’s probably not your thing ).
Still, while I generally enjoy Goldsmith’s mix of orchestra and electronics (and electroacoustics), he certainly did some clumsy-sounding stuff in the 80s and 90s – occassionally downright annoying. And I find his other all-electronic score – CRIMINAL LAW (not counting the rejected ALIEN NATION) – quite dull.
As for Jarre, I don’t hear much of his orchestral writing carried over to electronic scores like WITNESS, THE MOSQUITO COAST or THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY. Of course, his son might have taught him a few tricks.
As for Jarre, I don’t hear much of his orchestral writing carried over to electronic scores like WITNESS, THE MOSQUITO COAST or THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY. Of course, his son might have taught him a few tricks.
If I ever get to do my Jean Michel Jarre interview, that's one of the questions I want to ask him. I know he had a rocky relationship to his father, because he abandoned them for Hollywood early on, but maybe there was some connection there later on. I think Jarre sr's best electronic score is JACOB'S LADDER (although it does contain acoustic elements).
In the case of RUNAWAY which I have on my list, it’s clearly conceived electronically from the start. And while it’s easy to imagine parts of the score performed by an orchestra, it doesn’t sound at all like a “synhesized orchestra”, which is quite an accomplishment, I think (don’t know if you’ve heard it, Onya, but as it’s from smack in the middle of your “dreaded 80s”, it’s probably not your thing ).
In the case of RUNAWAY which I have on my list, it’s clearly conceived electronically from the start. And while it’s easy to imagine parts of the score performed by an orchestra, it doesn’t sound at all like a “synhesized orchestra”, which is quite an accomplishment, I think (don’t know if you’ve heard it, Onya, but as it’s from smack in the middle of your “dreaded 80s”, it’s probably not your thing ).
I'll see if I can find it on the InterTubes.
Well, I listened to a 10-minute suite of "Runaway" on the Intertubes. Aside from the horrid cover art and Tom Selleck involvement, here are my main thoughts:
I really hate the sounds of 80s keyboards, in particular the drum sounds, the chimesy pop-ballad electric piano, and those patches that seem to generally simulate what the strings might have played in an orchestral setting. (I will not simply refer to it as a string patch, as it may not have been.)
There were some passages that I would have possibly liked with different sounds.
My taste in electronic music in general jumps from the 1970s to the 1990s, the latter of which is when most of the electronica that I like began to happen.
If I ever get to do my Jean Michel Jarre interview, that's one of the questions I want to ask him. I know he had a rocky relationship to his father, because he abandoned them for Hollywood early on, but maybe there was some connection there later on. I think Jarre sr's best electronic score is JACOB'S LADDER (although it does contain acoustic elements).
Oh, I didn't know they had a falling-out of sorts. It would indeed be interesting to hear Jarre jr. talk about his relationship to his father (professionally, first and foremost).