Category: Music

I write to music.

When I’m working on a particular project, I create playlists which are thematically appropriate to the project in question, and those are my accompaniment as I write. For example, my Far West writing playlist currently features nearly 800 tracks — enough to play for a day and a half without repeats.

Perhaps that’s a bit excessive. But it’s how I work.

I know of a number of other writers who work to music as well, and so I figured that I’d occasionally blog about recent acquisitions suitable for this task, that I’d like to recommend.

First up, I was pleased as hell to see that they’ve finally decided to release a soundtrack album for the cancelled AMC television series Rubicon. The show started strongly — a perfect tonal flashback to the paranoid conspiracy-espionage tales of the 1970s, but the wheels completely came off the tracks. I’ve never seen a show experience such a complete case of dramatic collapse, and it was a real shame, since the start was so promising. One of the best things about the show was the score, by Peter Nashel.

Here’s the original title sequence (unfortunately, embed-disabled, so click here).

Another AMC series has provided a soundtrack that has been added to my Far West playlist — the score to Hell on Wheels by Kevin Kiner and Gustavo Santaolalla. The show is no Deadwood, but it’s a solid western, and has improved over its second season. The music is always a high point — I’m also hoping that they choose to release a soundtrack featuring the non-score music used in the show, which is often excellent (my Far West playlist has a few tracks which I tracked down based entirely on my introduction to them through the show).
Here’s an extended cut of the main theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPlIXgKI8ew

Another entry for the Far West playlist is the score for a much-awaited kung-fu fantasy being directed by RZA (Wu-Tang Clan member, crafter of soundtracks for Ghost Dog and Afro Samurai, and fellow asian-film afficianado). The Man With the Iron Fists will also have a hip-hop-heavy soundtrack (of the “music from and inspired by” variety), but they’ve just released the actual film score, composed by RZA and Howard Drossin, featuring traditional instrumentation, occasionally mixed with sampling of everything from kung fu movie music to classic Wu-Tang tracks. A sampler of the entire score can be heard here:

So what about you? What do you listen to as you write? Post your recommendations below.
 
 

Time for another “Mixtape of Teh IntarWebs”, kids — just a collection of stuff that’s been banging around between my eardrums recently. I figured that since next week is GenCon, and I’ll be very, very busy, I’d put these out here now, rather than wait another two weeks.

First up are the lovely ladies pictured at left. Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes are an Australian group doing spot on retro-soul revival. Imagine if Amy Winehouse had cleaned up, avoided her downward spiral, and then hired the Puppini Sisters as backing vocalists. I discovered this group through the latest Heineken ad, which features them as part of a transformation a bar undergoes when the commercials protagonists order a beer. This is the song featured: Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes – “Love Letter.”

Moving from retro-soul revival to some absolutely sick dubstep, which some of you probably know from its prominent use in last weekend’s Breaking Bad. Knife Party is the electronic side project of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen of the rock band Pendulum. This track begins with a smooth reggae groove before dropping into the bone-shaking wobbles: Knife Party – “Bonfire (Original Mix).”

Watched a German vampire movie via Netflix last weekend — Wir Sind Die Nacht (We Are The Night) — which was awesome, despite Netflix only giving you the option to watch it dubbed (unfortunately, the dubbing is anime-level bad, with the same flavorless voices that you hear in everything). The music was also brilliant, especially the track that accompanied a chilling opening featuring a lear jet full of corpses flying through the night. The music was provided by the Belgian women’s choir Scala, with production assistance of the Kolacny Brothers — who together are probably best known for their cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” that was used in the trailer for The Social Network. They do a lot of choral covers of alternative tracks, with a few originals mixed in. This is one of the originals, and I love it: Scala & the Kolacny Brothers – “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.”

A track that I first heard last season on So You Think You Can Dance, choreographed by Sonia Tayeh, and then more recently in an episode of the AMC series Longmire. AWOLNATION – “Sail.”

Jumping back to the 80s, with a track that I’ll always associate with its use in Miami Vice (over a shot of a Ferrari racing down a highway through the everglades), by a post-Styx but pre-Damn Yankees Tommy Shaw: Tommy Shaw – “Girls With Guns.”

There ya go kids, enjoy. More after GenCon.

I really need to make time to do these — When I get really busy, it’s too easy to be head-down into the work, and when I look up, see only the negative online (drama, pile-ons, snark, etc.). I need to remember to dig for the stuff that I enjoy, that I can be enthusiastic about.

But hey: Enough navel-gazing. Music!

If you’ve been under a rock for the past few months, you may have missed that Amanda Palmer (pictured above, formerly of the Dresden Dolls and one half of THE alterna-nerd power couple with writer Neil Gaiman) crowdfunded her latest album via Kickstarter, to the tune of 1.1 million dollars, shattering records for music fundraising on the site. As the Kickstarter went on, she started leaking out tracks from the new album to backers — some of which, naturally, have now begun to appear online. This was the first track she released — and if the rest of the album is this brilliant, I cannot wait. Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra – “Do It With A Rock Star.”

Men Without Hats released their first studio album in twenty years, entitled Love in The Age of War. They’ve always been one of my favorites — I spent a lot of time in the 80s trying to convince people that there was more to them than the inescapable “Safety Dance” — and I’m pleased to report that the new album is a perfect hearkening back to classic New Wave. Here’s the debut single: Men Without Hats – “Head Above Water.”

Watching True Blood this past weekend, I was surprised to hear steampunk stalwarts Abney Park on the soundtrack, playing as the backing music in the “Fairy Club” sequence. But sure enough, there it was. Apparently, the Fae are fans of steampunk/goth/bellydance tracks. Abney Park – “Sleep Isabella.”

Whereas I’m sure that most of you have heard Belgian/Australian musician Gotye (pronounced “Gaultier”) via his big single, “Somebody That I Used To Know”, I actually stumbled upon his work via this song, which was playing in a store I was in. A quick scan with the iPhone app Shazam, and I had new music to purchase. Dangerous world. Gotye – “Easy Way Out.”

Game Designer Allen Varney shared this via Google+ the other day, and I had forgotten how much I love this song. Easily one of the best brass riffs EVER. The track was released in 1970 by the one-hit-wonder band Ides of March. The singer and songwriter, Jim Peterik (a teenager when he did this song) went on to start the band Survivor, and co-write their biggest hit, “The Eye of the Tiger.” Ides of March – “Vehicle.”

Finally got around to watching the cancelled FX series Terriers via Netflix streaming, and really enjoyed it as a slice of sun-drenched SoCal Noir. Naturally, it got critical acclaim, a devoted fanbase… and the lowest viewing figures for any series in the history of that network. Ah well. Brilliant theme song, though: Rob Duncan – “Gunfight Epiphany.”

The Olympics start this month, and the band Muse has been chosen to provide the Official Song™. They’ve reached DEEP into their Queen-inspired bag of bombast for this one. Muse – “Survival.”

…which is great, don’t get me wrong. I love Muse. But it makes me want to hear some Queen, so I figured I’d close out with a lesser-known track of theirs, from the 1984 album The Works.: Queen – “Machines (back to humans).”

There you go kids, enjoy, and I’ll be back with more next week.