Music
John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ Re-scored by…John Carpenter?
YouTube channel House by the Video Store does a really fascinating series called “Soundtrack Swaps”, whereby they take two movies, usually from different eras, and then swap the music from each film to see how it will have an effect. As they themselves write, “…the intent of these video experiments has always been to see how music affects a scene and can change the tone of a film.”
However, today’s “experiment” is a little different in that there isn’t a second film. Rather, the channel has taken the classic John Carpenter film The Thing and swapped out Ennio Morricone’s score with the director’s own original music in the form of tracks from his 2015 album Lost Themes. It’s yet another fascinating test of what happens to visuals when audio is dramatically changed.
In this case, what makes it all the more intriguing is that the new music comes from the film’s own composer, someone whose music is almost always in his films. The Thing happened to be different with Morricone being the man behind the music but adding Carpenter’s music to his visuals feels…familiar. I’m so used to hearing that man’s tones with his visuals that this feels kinda right, even though I know it’s not. I don’t think it’s better, mind you. Rather, I simply think it’s comfortable, which is interesting.
Anyways, what do you think? Does this work or am I going crazy on a Monday morning?
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…
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