I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about soundtracks, especially how they set the tone for movies esp. in SF. I recently purchased The Force Awakens soundtrack and I am continually amazed by John Williams. (Personally I am fond of Rey’s Theme and Jedi Steps)
I love orchestral arrangements but there are other styles of music. I’ve always been fond of Daft Punk’s two contributions to SF soundtrack land. One is the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy. I am going to admit, I am lukewarm on the film itself. (Ok, I feel asleep) but the soundtrack is amazing.
The other is Interstella 5555 which is actually a movie length anime for a Daft Punk album. It’s supervised by anime legend Leiji Matsumoto at his studio. The duo Daft Punk grew up with his anime and are fans, so it’s a tribute of sort. It also features collaboration with Romanthony a dj/producer/singer who passed away in 2013. The plot of Interstella 5555 concerns a group of musicians who are kidnapped and brainwashed into performing crappy, pop music until they are freed. It’s all done as a series of songs and no dialogue, but the animation is amazing and I enjoy watching.
I’m not a big anime fan nor an expert on Interstella 5555. Any anime I watch tends to be from 20 years ago or earlier for its classic value. There are people out there really devoted to Interstella 5555. Like, really, really devoted to the point of long tumblr posts that I can’t even follow. And don’t really want to. I can only take tumblr in small doses.
If you aren’t familiar with Leiji Matsumoto you should watch some to round out your creative SF viewing palette.My personal favorite has always been Galaxy Express 999 set in a far future in which human souls are transferred to mechanical, immortal bodies of various types -if you can afford it. The rest of the world lives in misery in normal human bodies and it begins with a young man who sees his mother murdered as the desperately try to reach a space train (Galaxy Express 999 ) that can take them to get a free immortal machine body. It’s a multilayered tale and yes, kind of sad in many ways. I have seen episodes in the Japanese language version and the English subtitled version. (I think there is an English dubbed version of the movie, but I’m told it’s not very good. )
Anyone else have a soundtrack they love?
Echo Ishii 