April 27, 2011

The Black Hole Presents: Top 5 Music Acts Who Need To Score A Film

Composers are all well and good. If traditional composers weren't struttin' their stuff all around the studios, we wouldn't have amazing scores like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Blood and Bone. (That last one was a joke. Funny, right?).

But, if Daft Punk and Trent Reznor showed us anything, it's that a popular music act from the modern era can not only make an effective film score, but they can do it damn well, eschewing the traditional symphonies and bringing something new to the table. Hell, Mastodon wrote the music for Jonah Hex, and that was the only good thing about that piece of crap. Castor beat me to the game with this one, but who's to say I can't come up with my own list? Here is the Black Hole's list of the Top 5 Music Acts That Need To Score A Film. Bet you can't guess who number one is.

To make this list, the act needs to be able to craft interesting and appealing music without the help of lyrics. I know it worked for Eddie Vedder, but, put simply, most film scores won't have lyrics outside of the closing credits. Plus, it presents more of a challenge for the artists, and we all know how much we love a good challenge. Leap with me.

Dream on!


Runners Up: Dave Matthews Band, Radiohead/Thome York, Robert Plant, Lady Gaga, John Frusciante

5. Jack White: Capable of doing pretty much anything on the electric guitar, White's powerful, blues tinged riffs would be great for something along the lines of a western or action flick. He already wrote a Bond theme, and it actually turned out alright. No reason to suspect he can't capture the magic again.
Genre: Western, Thriller
Director: Who Knows?



4: Arcade Fire: Probably the most important music act of the last decade, Arcade Fire could very easily bring some of there big band swag to the big screen. There music has already been used to great effect in trailers, so a score shouldn't be that hard. Lots of acoustic guitars, plinking pianos, and a healthy does of violins will make for something rather excellent.
Genre: Indie, Drama
Ideal Director(s): Spike Jonze



3: Bruce Springsteen: Easily one of the most recognizable acts of modern times, The Boss already has an Oscar under his belt for Original Song. Up next, Original Score. His bluesy, melancholic tunes would be perfect for any down to earth drama, while his foot stomping, saxophone wailing anthems would be a great fit for pretty much anything. I could see him scoring an action pic even. It'd be nice to see him delve into this darker side for a score.
Genre: Drama, Action
Director(s): Darren Aronofsky



2. Godspeed You Black Emperor: I'm listening to a recording of a show of their's that I was at just over a month ago as a write this. It's spectacular. So ethereal and layered, and not a lyric in sight. There music can be lovely and quiet one second with a solitary guitar mournfully plucking away, and then blowing your head off with sound the next as the drums, bass, and violins come screaming in to create a wonderful amalgamation of all that is good. One of there songs has already been used perfectly in a movie before. No reason it can't happen again.
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Director(s): Danny Boyle, David Fincher



1. Muse: Duh! First off, they were tapped to write the music for Clash of the Titans, but that fell through. This mishap only further implants into the mind that Muse seriously needs to get on that shit! They could write for any genre. Their thundering, guitar based songs from the Origin of Symmetry days would fit any action movie, and there more restrained, symphonic stuff from The Resistance would be right at home in the most ambitious of epics.
Genre: Action-Adventure, Epic
Director(s): Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan, Kathryn Bigelow



Thoughts?

2 comments:

  1. I think you should have disqualified yourself from picking Muse - of course it was going to be your number one! That being said, I do agree they would be right at home scoring a 300-esque epic. I'd love to hear an Arcade Fire score as well.

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  2. Jack White already did "Cold Mountain" (at least, a good chunk of the soundtrack).

    I'm not surprised with your #1 pick *wink*

    All good choices, Sebastian. I have to admit, I'm not really into Arcade Fire or GYBE or Bruce Springsteen (I know, you hate me!) But your breakdowns make a lot of sense :)

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