Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Nicole (class of 2024) and features
Coming-of-Age Movie Soundtrack
With Commencement coming up and only a couple of months until Summer, one can’t help but ponder on how far they’ve come and think about how uncertain the future is. Here is a playlist with songs to help you romanticize academic life and think of it as if you were the main character of a coming-of-age film!
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
In Sound Play, William Cheng dives into the nature of players’ engagements with the audio of video games, from horror to fantasy and more. Cheng explores how the virtual world of video games allows sound designers to play with sound and music in ways that would otherwise not be possible in the real world, and how our interactions with these sounds (in the virtual world) can teach us about ourselves and what we value in the “real” world.
I find this book to be an extremely interesting exploration of a fast growing field of research in musicology. Ludomusicology, or the study of sound in video games, has become a rich field of study as video games become more and more integrated into our lives and the world around us. Cheng wonderfully adds to this body of work by exploring how our own interactions within a virtual world and the choices we make shape us into the people we are in our everyday lives.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a collection of film soundtrack music curated by Music Library student manager Colin (Class of 2021).
Films have been my go-to source of entertainment for years. In high school, my friends and I became heavily invested in the awards season of movies, in which we tried to watch every film that was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy. Movies are not measured for enjoyability by their success winning awards, nor do awards automatically make a movie “good.” Rather, this activity was something that my friends and I enjoyed doing, and exposed us to a lot of new films and directors. Particularly interesting for us in watching films was hearing the soundtrack, as all of my friends and I were involved in my school’s music program. We loved talking about the scores of films, and the impact that specific songs have through their leitmotifs or influence on the narrative. For example, we were obsessed with the soundtrack from La La Land, because, well let’s be honest; who can’t tap their foot or hum along with the songs when listening to its music?
Richard Wagner had a great influence upon the film industry and its scores due to his methodical approach to writing operas, in which the music he composed enhanced the narrative through the use of leitmotifs, or short musical phrases that indicate the appearance of a character or narrative theme. This concept was recognized by the film industry, and was expanded on by different film composers, specifically Max Steiner who is known as “The Father of Film Music.” Steiner was heavily influenced by Wagnerian musical concepts, and would incorporate leitmotifs, non-diegetic sounds and other elements that enhanced the musical experience in movies and their relation to narratives. Since Steiner, films have grown to incorporate songs into their soundtracks that are either specifically written for the movie from a preexisting band, or the rights are bought from a band to include their song in the movie. The songs themselves share the same focus that Steiner envisioned for his films, in that songs are used for a narrative purpose in order to advance the plot, express the emotions of a specific character, and/or give credibility to the environment in which the film or a scene takes place.
A sampling of films scored by Max Steiner
With this playlist, I wanted to highlight songs used in films that transcend just their immediate presence in the film. The rules of this playlist are rather loose, in that the songs included may have been written for the specific movie in which they are famous for being in, or written before the movie and added to the soundtrack and become a staple song for the film. I have included highly popular choices that the general film-viewing population would agree with, such as “My Heart Will Go On” in Titanic and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” in The Breakfast Club. However, I have also offered some of my personal choices of songs that I believe greatly enhance the movie and urge audiences to listen to the song outside of the filmic experience, but do not necessarily have the history or popular recognition by audiences. I hope that choices like “Slip Away” from Booksmart and “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman will expand your music and film libraries. I have organized the songs in order of their film’s release date, and my personal choices begin with “Send Me on My Way” from Matilda. And this playlist does not feature any instrumentally focused soundtracks that typically appear in large blockbuster films, but rather individual songs focused on lyrics. I hope you enjoy this eclectic playlist and relive some great film experiences through music!
What makes a film great? Some may say an Oscar-worthy performance by a lead actor, or the presentation of aesthetically pleasing cinematography. For me, although both of these are important, what really makes a movie stand out is music. Whether it’s the soundtrack, the score, or both, the ability to perfectly match a song to a scene is impressive. It can bring the emotions I’m feeling while watching up to another level.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes Anderson, is a comedy-drama about an oceanographer played by Bill Murray. This film is an excellent example of one that uses a unique background of music to enhance its tone, which is whimsical and quirky.
Mark Mothersbaugh, a former member of the pop group DEVO and a frequent Anderson collaborator, is the composer of the film’s score. Five of Mothersbaugh’s instrumental tracks appear on the official soundtrack, including “Let Me Tell You About my Boat”, which accompanies one of the most famous scenes in the film: Steve Zissou breaking the fourth wall by directly introducing himself to the audience.
Mark Mothersbaugh
The coolest part about this soundtrack is that it features five covers of some of David Bowie’s best songs… in Portuguese. The movie itself showcases Seu Jorge performing a variety of Bowie covers including “Rebel Rebel”, “Starman” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”. Jorge plays one of Steve Zissou’s crew members in the movie, and sings the songs with a red beanie on his head and an acoustic guitar in his hands. These covers do not only provide a fresh take on several well-known classic rock songs, but also give the film unforgettable character.
It’s late October and many folks around campus may well be looking for fun things to help them get into the Halloween “spirit”.
Maybe you’re tired of the usual suspects like “Ghostbusters“, “Thriller” or “The Monster Mash” and want to branch out? (All of the aforementioned songs, incidentally, are available to check out on CD here.)
Well, the Music Library can definitely help you get your spooky on, if you are so inclined!
For example, we have quite a few film soundtracks that could spice up your Halloween listening:
Bernard Hermann‘s soundtrack to the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic film Psycho might fit the bill (just stay away from the shower!)
In addition to film soundtracks we have some movie musicals that might make good seasonal viewing such as the adaptation of Stephen Sondheim‘s bloody good melodrama Sweeney Todd
You can also thrill to the ghostly sounds of the theremin — an electronic musical instrument that is controlled without physical contact. It was/is often featured in sci-fi and horror movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still. (Fun fact: Bernard Hermann did the music for this film as well!)
In a classical vein (pun totally intended) you can find recordings of things like Berlioz‘s Symphonie Fantastique, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre or Mussorgsky’s Night On Bald Mountain in a variety of formats (LP, CD, streaming) for your seasonal delectation and delight.
We even have sound effects CDs to help you create your own spooky atmosphere at Halloween parties.
So why not pay us a visit and check out some Halloween fun? We’re dying to see you! *rimshot*
