Music

[Review] Saltillo ‘Monocyte’

Published

12 years ago

February 3, 2012

Last year I was presented with an interesting review offer: The Real Tuesday Weld’s The Last Werewolf (review), which was the soundtrack to a book of the same name. The concept of a soundtrack to a piece of literature was something very unique and interesting to me and, while I was not able to read the book, I was still able to understand how the story of the album complimented the story of the novel. Now, I’ve been given a very similar chance. Saltillo’s Monocyte is an album that is meant to complement the IDW comic book series of the same name. The comic is grim, violent, and features some astonishing artwork. But does the album have that same attitude? Does it bring music that compliments the same dark atmosphere that pervades within the comic?

In short, yes it does. What you have here is an album that could be best described as E.S. Posthumus meets Nine Inch Nails. Much like the comic, the album has a strange dichotomy between the synthetic (e.g. programmed beats and electronic textures) and the organic (e.g. strings and pianos). It’s difficult to tell if each song has a battle or a marriage between these two ideas, but the end result is that it works far more often than it doesn’t.

If Wishes Were Catholics is a prime example of this struggle. Beautiful female vocals are lain gently atop a string quartet while static-y programmed drums are mixed underneath. As the song progresses, the vocals become auto-tuned. Normally, this would irritate me, but here it worked as an effect to make the natural evolve into something synthetic. This was only confirmed a bit past the middle of the song when the vocals were run backwards.

Another track I enjoyed was Hollow, which features a dark trip-hop beat and heavily reverbed strings. With elements of Portishead, this track definitely appealed to my darker side.

In a strange way, this album could be treated like a Cronenberg film. It has moments of beauty but there is always something sinister and foreboding lurking underneath, peering from the shadows.

The Final Word: Having read the both issues one and two (review) of Monocyte, I really do feel that Saltillo’s accompaniment album is a wonderful fit. If you have read the comics, or have any interest in them, make sure to pick this album up.

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

1 week ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…