This is the third Tomita posting on this website, so I think it’s safe to say that I’m a big fan of his work. His primitive analog exudes a very primal aura. It’s as if he’s torturing circuits to get the sound he wants. Not run of the mill circuits, mind you, that harvest AC and DC in the fields for a living. No, he’s kidnapped gifted mezzo-soprano diodes from belly of a Sansui G-33000 Monster Receiver to whip and waterboard into fulfilling his deviant intent.
Alistair Tibbins: Tomita's Circuit Slave Trader
But as much as I love Tomita’s music it could be said that his album artwork rivals the songs in artistic merit. Take a good long look at the album cover above. True beauty and honesty: man flesh peeling away to expose robot thoughts and emotion. I think this may be the first time that the anatomy of a Japanese was accurately diagrammed. Until 1979 the scientific community was under the assumption that Japanese people were composed of warm flesh from surface to core. Tomita must have felt it was his duty to bring the truth to light and shed the shame of centuries past. What a burden it must have been for Isao Tomita to expose his magnesium manbits, and in effect the wiry privates of all Japanese citizens, to the entire world and end cyborg discrimination.
Almost as much as a burden as trying to understand why someone would set Tomita’s “Star Wars Theme” to photographs of Tubby comic book covers.
So, take your mind off of the bulbous animations of Tubby with a collection of album covers help compose Greatest Hits (with a few others as well).
Fun Fact: The band Radiohead named themselves after the track “Radio Head” from this album. That’s wild!
This is technically not a soundtrack. The songs in the movie were performed by actors, such as John Goodman, not Talking Heads.
It’s a pretty good movie. David Byrne has the motion picture presence of a pinewood 4×2…but it’s a strangely funny plank of pinewood.
And this “soundtrack” is good too. I hope you like it.
Take a look at this 10 minute clip from the movie, it will give you a good idea of what it’s all about. The whole is a weird hodge podge of scenes that circle back on themselves in a warming, pleasant manner. This part contains some of the best examples of Byrne’s sly humor, which I like to call “Undertable-Tickler Style.”
Primo, they composed the soundtrack to one of the best movies of all time: George Romero’s original Dawn Of The Dead. Goblin’s use of a full rock band mixed with primitive synth and sparing yet ghastly vocals are really the blood and guts of the Zombi, as it was called in Goblin’s home country of Italy. The track featured on this “Best Of” collection is a particularly jaunty number. I think it plays when the survivors first arrive at Monroeville Mall. I can envision Roger and Peter making zombie quiche with their rifle butts to the beat of this track while running past shops and boutiques, but I could be wrong. My disc is totally scratched or I’d fact check. If anyone can shed some light on this, please, let me know.
Secondo, Goblin’s made their claim to fame by composing the scores for horror films, almost exclusively. How nice it must have been for the guys of Goblin to wake up one day and say to themselves, “You know what? We’re sick of just playing normal prog rock all the time. We want to really spice things up. We want blood. Buckets of blood, God Dammit!” So they wrote songs about witches, serial killers, zombies, and the like. And were very successful, despite being an Italian prog rock band that writes scores for horror movies. I envy them immensely.
Terzo, their music hits all the right notes. They can be creepy when needed, as displayed in the song “Witch” from the film Suspiria:
But they can also flip the switch and crank out a catchy little tune, complete with awesome 8-bit accompaniment (which kicks in at about 45 seconds into the vid), like “Connexion” from the film Contamination:
Quarto, Goblin’s music has been remixed into some of the finest contemporary tracks. First, take a close listen to the already excellent theme from the movie Tenebre, as performed by Goblin.
Now, take a listen to the badass track “Phantom” by the electro duo Justice, which happens to also be one of my favorite groups.
Very similar but somehow Justice makes it their very own mind-blowing track. However, it maintains much of the original creep that makes Tenebre so delicious.
UPDATE: It seems that Gucci Mane has now sampled Justice sampling Goblin on his new track “Gucci Time”. Perhaps Tenebre will be sampled forever and ever in an infinite loop of horror madness.
Infine, Goblin are some of the snappiest dressers of all time. Just check out the turtleneck sweaters on these badboys.
“Hou want a scary track? I make it for you. Come back, one week.”
Tracklisting
Side 1
1. Profondo Rosso (From The Film Profondo Rosso)
2. Witch (From The Film Suspiria)
3. E Suono Rock (From The Film Wampir)
4. Suspiria (From The Film Suspiria)
5. Zombi (From The Film Zombi, or Dawn Of The Dead)
6. Connexion (From The Film Contamination) Side 2
1. Roller (From The Film Roller)
2. Nocturne (From The Film Notturno)
3. Phenomena (From The Film Phenomena)
4. Withy (From The Film Contamination)
5. Tenebre (From The Film Tenebre)
6. School At Night (Lullaby Child Version) (From The Film Profondo Rosso)
7. Death Dies (Film Version) (From The Film Profondo Rosso)
You all will know this as the memorable tune from the teen-angst-turned-young-adult-triumph tale The Breakfast Club. You know, it plays throughout pretty much the entire film–most notably at the end when the suspiciously old-looking Judd Nelson pumps his leather-clad fist triumphantly into the crisp autumn air as he passes under the home team’s goal post. The scene froze as Judd’s bad ‘tude fouled the once virgin soil of Glenbrook North’s turf. That cinematic effect forever locked Judd in the bliss of near youth. That single fist pump told America that yes, movie stereotypes of high school cliques really can get along.
They totally believed I'm a teenager. Yes!
So yeah, Simple Minds performed that song and this is the longer version of that song. And you know what they say, longer Simple Minds songs really do satiate a woman’s supple fantasies in a more efficient, glistening manner.
The B-Side of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is an ambient new wave jaunt into the heart of Molly Ringwald. Should she really wear such high boots with that low-neck pink blouse? It hasn’t been tried before but she’s the most popular girl in the school so she can pretty much do what she wants. However, if she makes a huge fashion faux pas her position at the top may be jeopardized. On the other hand if you don’t take risks you’ll become stale and that new girl from Seattle will finally become appealing even though she wears Chuck Taylor All-Stars like SUCH a dweeb. Well, you better make your choice, you’re going to be late for detention…and you’re NOT going to spend another Saturday in that sluthole.
Emilio...why don't you like my boots? EMILIOOOOOOO!
“A Brand Band in African Chimes” is almost akin to some of the more ambient stuff by M83. Except this is real deal 80′s teenage angst.
Ok, so this is the most important piece music of the 20th century. Yes, you read that correctly. In 1982 L. Ron Hubbard introduced Space Jazz, the first ever soundtrack to a book (not just any book…Battlefield Earth!!!) and forever altered the creative path of human history. Many historians credit this album with slaying the incredible high-hat breathing Disco Dragon. Others blame it for laying the Yoshi egg that hatched Lady Gaga. However, there’s much more to this story than hilarious musings…
Exhibit A!
(from the album gatefold)
SPACE JAZZ is a completely new musical sound destined to be hailed as the music of the future. The many and varied forms of music are an integral part of the cultural heritage of Earth.
Now, the sound of the future has been established by L. RON HUBBARD, author of the blockbuster science fiction novel Battlefield Earth.
The concept of a soundtrack is something one normally associates with motion pictures. Now for the first time ever–a soundtrack for a book–Battlefield Earth–”Space Jazz.” Think of the “Star Wars” Sagas, and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” mix in the triumph of “Rocky I,” “Rocky II” and Rocky III” and you have captured the exuberance, style and glory of “Battlefield Earth”–The Evening Sun, Baltimore MD.
Consider the magnitude of the challenge Hubbard set himself. Conventional musical instruments and even huge symphony orchestras have their limitations. He turned to the technology of the future–computers.
Recent breakthroughs in computer musical instruments offered the needed versatility to match his new musical concepts.
Today, a computer is able to reproduce any natural sound. It can record a single note of a musical instrument and from that reproduce the rest of the instrument.
But better yet, it can take any sound and turn this into a rhythm. A coyote can sing the blues. A horse can tap dance. Liquid can splash out a Strauss waltz. Laser beams can hum a lullaby. You name it and you can get it
Yes, L. Ron Hubbard took the most technologically advanced musical instrument of the time, the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument, and used it to recreate the sonic feast of a horse tapdancing! Thank your stars L. Ron Hubbard was one of the first people to get his hands on the $25,000 Fairlight CMI and thus create this epic masterpiece. What follows is just a small sampling of L. Ron Hubbards musical pioneering.
Exhibit B!
Be sure to carefully absorb the rich tonal haunches in this track. The playful neighs of the heroic horse Windsplitter, created through the Fairlight CMI’s digital processor, stir feelings of hope within the listener that, yes, man, beast and machine can coexist peacefully in a world free of Psychlos.
Exhibit C!
L. Ron Hubbard used his Hubbard Electrometer to test if tomatoes felt emotional pain. Seriously, check out this UK Telegraph article.
Ok, so I took a long time to trying to figure out exactly what this album was all about. I looked for hidden answers about Scientology in the ridiculous anti-stereo narration. I then looked for some sort of psychic pattern in the horribly repetitive and shrill synthesized filler “music”. Finally, I sought solace in the suspiciously mundane track titles:
1. Golden Era of Sci Fi
2. Funeral For A Planet
3. March of The Psychlos
4. Teri, The Security Director
5. Jonnie
6. Windsplitter
7. The Mining Song
8. The Drone
9. Mankind Unites
10. Alien Visitors Attack
11. The Banker
12. Declaration of Peace
13. Earth, My Beautiful Home
But I didn’t experience even a single mysterious revelation from on high.
So I listened again. And again. And again. And upon my umpteenth listen, just as Space Jazz began evoke memories of my endless hours spent playing Oregon Trail 2, the answer blasted itself all over my face: L. Ron Hubbard was the greatest practical joker of all time.
His absurdly bogus biography, his hackneyed bibliography, his intensely whacko yet ridiculously profitable Scientology cult had all been part of the greatest monkeyshine ever unleashed on mankind. The man was a hybrid of Andy Kaufman’s unflinching, rabble-rousing comedy with Joseph Smith’s pied-piper espièglerie–now that’s saying something.
The aural assault Space Jazz makes complete sense when you view L. Ron’s life in that light. You could even say this composition was the punchline to a lifetime of pocket-emptying tomfoolery.
So, Xenu bless you, L. Ron Hubbard…you hilarious fucking bastard.
