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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Original synth
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Original synth

Can't stop humming the 'Stranger Things' theme? Here are some other great synthesizer-driven screen moments

A still from ‘Stranger Things’Premium
A still from ‘Stranger Things’

Along with dozens of homages to horror films and Steven Spielberg, the Netflix series Stranger Things also pays tribute to a certain kind of synth-based soundtrack that reached its peak in the 1980s. For those who can’t get the show’s opening theme out of their heads, here are some other great synth-heavy moments.

‘Opening Theme’ from ‘The Thing’

Director John Carpenter wrote music for most of his films, forging his own unique, sinister, synth-driven sound. His themes for Halloween and The Fog are better-known, but one of the most effective pieces of music he wrote was for the opening scene of The Thing, a 1982 horror film set in the Antarctic. As a helicopter whirrs over the frozen land and a man leaning out of it shoots at a dog, Carpenter layers the action with muted, ghostly keyboards. Remove the heartbeat-like bass and it almost sounds like Bernard Herrmann.

‘Sugar Storm’ from ‘Gone Girl’

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ soundtracks for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl returned synths to the mainstream Hollywood movie soundtrack. Their soundtrack for Gone Girl (2014) is an underrated marvel: lush and somewhat perverse, the aural equivalent of a love gone sour. On the surface, Sugar Rush is as sweet as the title suggests, but listen closely and you’ll hear, buried just underneath, squalling, screeching noises: a warning for the unfaithful.

‘Starman Leaves’ from ‘Starman’

Jack Nitzsche was a genius arranger-composer who worked with Phil Spector, The Rolling Stones and Buffalo Springfield and was responsible for the towering orchestration on River Deep, Mountain High. He also wrote incredible scores for films like Performance, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Starman. The last named is a rare John Carpenter film that the director didn’t compose music for, and you can see why. The poignant closing scene of the film is made all the more affecting by Nitzsche’s beautiful wash of keyboards.

Poster of ‘Thief’
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Poster of ‘Thief’

‘Main Titles/The Heist’ from ‘Thief’

The German electronic group Tangerine Dream is best known for having done the score for the Tom Cruise-starrer Risky Business. Fans of their compositions in that film should also listen to their work on Michael Mann’s 1981 neo-noir film Thief. The opening scene, a methodically executed bank robbery, is animated by keyboards that build steadily but are always in control, much like James Caan’s master thief.

‘A Real Hero’ from ‘Drive’

It’s no surprise that synths dominate Cliff Martinez’s soundtrack for Drive (2011), given that the film itself is a throwback to late ‘70s and early ‘80s neo-noir pulp like The Driver and Thief. The score is terrific but my favourite musical moment is a bit of pure pop pastiche: a number by French electronica musician College and Canadian synth duo Electric Youth called A Real Hero. With its thrumming bass line set against gauzy keyboards, this track is perfect for the scene in which it’s first used, a sun-splashed afternoon idyll.

Click here to listen to Electric Youth’s A Real Hero.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Uday Bhatia
Uday Bhatia is an assistant editor and film critic at Mint Lounge based in New Delhi. He also oversees the 'How To Lounge'/Culture section.
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Published: 15 Aug 2016, 05:48 PM IST
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