Danish – TOpoet

I love movie soundtracks. They are written to sustain or create a mood. Deliberately manipulative music that can scare, lull, arouse & even make one patriotic. Often I wish it would drown out the dialogue lol. Sometimes it is the only good thing about movie. Even silent movies had music – usually played live on piano or elaborate pipe organs while the movie was being projected. Some had music written for them. Many had sheet music to accompany the film. As technology progressed early forms of lp was tried but sync was a challenge.

I have the soundtrack for Metropolis (1927) – For the film’s 2010 “complete” restoration premiere, Huppertz’s score was performed live and subsequently re-recorded by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frank Strobel. The composer, Huppertz, often played piano on Lang’s set to inform the actors’ performances. Huppertz’s score only accompanied the film once, at its original premiere.

The music is sweeping & one doesn’t need to have ever seen the movie to enjoy it. I have the 2010 restoration & have watched int a few times & the music certainly supports the plot & action but when I listen to it separately I don’t recall scenes. Unlike, say, the music from the Psycho shower scene. Great music that is more than just an historic document.

On this mp3 cd I added two soundtrack collections: Legendary Horror Films: original soundtrack music from King Kong, Frankenstein etc. and Film Noir: original soundtrack music from Peter Gunn, The Big Sleep etc. Original movie instrumental soundtracks lps weren’t really a ‘thing’ until the sixties. Sure blockbusters would make some available i.e. Gone With The Wind. So these two collections of original music are excellent, in some cases music was taken directly from the film reels as the original recordings were not archived.

The soundtrack to I Married A Monster From Outer Space (1958) wasn’t released until the film itself became a cult favourite decades later. This is prime sci-fi space age music with ondes Martenot flourishes by a variety of composers including Max Steiner! The movie is great fun too, but you don’t have to see it to enjoy this soundtrack.

Now for something different but retro. Bent Fabric was Danish pianist and composer best remembered for his hit Alley Cat (originally called “Omkring et flygel” (literally, “Around a Grand Piano”). It topped the charts in 1962. The song has shown up in various movies about the 60’s. I have a sweet collection of his fun pieces in a friendly jazzy style.

I don’t think Mary Lou Williams did any soundtrack work – she was too busy working with the likes of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis to write for movies. Jazz pianist extraordinaire she was an early black, female powerhouse who, I think, is due for a major bio-pic. As a break from the noir soundtracks I have her Black Christ of the Andes (1964), Super Female (compilation of tracks from her albums). You want a black, female genius before Beyonce look no further.

Finally the Lemurian Congress – a Canadian electronica band. Their recording The Tour is the ideal soundtrack for any unmade movie about the future of Earth’s colonizations of Mars.

**Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees. Thanks paypal.me/TOpoet**

dj Juniah’s D.A.N.C.E. Pride 2008 was a freedown -as you might guess it’s a dj mix set of dance music, as such I can’t name a track he uses though I did recognize a few of them. Dance music! Yes I do like me some high-energy dance music. Great for writing too & also for making out. Not all music has to be emotionally demanding, politically forthright or sonically challenging.

It is part of an mp3 collection that includes Gino Soccio: Greatest hits. Soccio success was in late 70’s early 80’s disco. I enjoyed the easy danceability of his studio work & have more of his work tucked divot other mp3 collections. Here too is the Afro Celt Sound System’s Capture (1995-2010) – compilation from various lps. I heard a track on So You Think You Can Dance? & loved it. As the band name suggests they mash up African & Celtic rhythms in a way that actually works. Also here is Stereo MC’s Double Bubble. I found their song ‘Connected’ irresistible (& have as a stand alone that cd) Bubble is more of the same & has a similar sound to AfroCelt – danceable world music & fun with a bit of a socio-political edge.

On the shelf next to Juniah is Junior Senior – a Danish pop duo. I have as stand-alones their ‘d-d-don’t stop the beat’ & ‘Hey Hey My My Yo Yo’. This is super fun summer music. Sweet, gay subtext, a bit of rap, a touch of hip-hop & all infused with crisp energy & lots of hand-clap propulsion. I love these guys. All the above are worth hunting down if you need, as I do, some fresh, fun, funky music.

Daily Special

the cafe wasn’t too crowded – there was a table with two seats – maybe should take that – leave the larger tables for people with friends – don’t want to waste valuable space on myself after all – besides someone might want to sit with me – strangers – or be afraid to sit with me because they thought I was expecting friends – once that happened – longing looks but afraid to sit with me even though the cafe was full – I felt so responsible – so afraid that people wouldn’t sit in those empty chairs – was it something about me that pushed them away – I wouldn’t have minded but wasn’t able to invite them – to say join me – I could tell they wouldn’t have anyway – I wasn’t the type they wanted someone else to think was their friend or even an acquaintance – so since then I’ve taken a small table – let people take the extra chair if they wanted it – easier to sit on my own than worry about – well what ever it is one worries about when a stranger sits at a table with you – I see that happen a lot though – but never to me – do I frighten people – am I so uninviting that they’d rather not sit with me – not that I blame them – I am drab – better not to draw too much attention to myself – never liked those show-off people with their flashy comic book character t-shirts – with too much jewellery, piercings, tattoos all those things that said hey look at me look at me – who do they think they are anyway – too many of those noise makers around making it hard for ordinary guys like me to get noticed at all – better to be sort of nondescript than be one of those self consumed assholes with loads of similar people to laugh out loud with when they sit at their tables with each other, pulling spare chairs from tables like mine, not even bothering to say why don’t you join us, after all I’ve been here before, many times some even nod to me, the waitress knows my name, I think, – but those crafted husks haven’t got the time for the likes of me – not that I blame them – better not to have to perform all the time the way they do with those hey I’m so cool poses as they drape their arms around each other at their table, as they block the view of the stage, as they get up and their friends hoot and cheer to whatever drivel they spew, you won’t catch me up there –