Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Score Sample: Nightbreed

Well it is October again, and that means I need to post some kind of spooky or chilling music on this blog. I've been providing samples of Goldsmith and Young the last couple of years, but one man who is really a specialist in the gothic and macabre sound I've missed completely. Time to rectify that. Danny Elfman has been working in the film industry since the mid 1980s. And while I will always love his work with the rock group OIngo Boingo, his film scores are really something else. He is most famous these days for his amazing partnership with Tim Burton, but I wanted to spotlight something a little different here.

He worked with Clive Barker on a horror film early in his career, and its got that Elfman sound but feels a bit more savage and fun. Check out this suite of cues for Nightbreed.



4 comments:

  1. I've not heard to Nightbreed, but saw the movie ages ago when it first showed at the cinema. I need to rewatch it. I remember it as being fun. Elfman sure matured into an even greater musician. Truth be known I bet his pay scale when up astronomically as well.

    I was listening to some soundtracks and music by Wendy Carlos not long ago, but have moved on to some ECM jazz stuff. Boy, music, it's a journey.

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    1. I'm curious to see the director's cut of the movie. I may even post a review for it this month. Depends on how my writing time shapes up. Elfin has done some really great stuff. This is his early work, but he has done some fine work on documentaries, dramas and even science fiction. He is considered one of the veterans of film music these days.

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  2. Once again I didn't pay sufficient attention to the score, which I suppose means it didn't clash with the visual material. I do remember this was a better flick than I expected it to be -- not a lot better, but better.

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    1. The novella it is based on offers a lot of possibilities, and felt almost like a pilot episode to something larger. In fact this could make for an interesting television series. Monsters seem to be all the rage. They would have to keep Elfman's style and themes of course. ;)

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