Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Another burst of contemporary-sounding gems from John Carpenter film scores, and this is good news to both the collectors and the sample junkies. On this latest missile we have the famous brooding synths and trite '80s romance of "Assault On Precinct 13", still a much coveted album by the diggers and one that is often heard on the more expansive DJ sets; the B-side is made up of "The Fog", a 1980 piece of history that once again manages to contain a true 80's spirit without the predictability of many sings from that era. Wonderful and, of course, highly recommended.

Review: Sacred Bones is not messing around when it comes to reissuing mythical songs from legendary soundtracks across the board, and their latest releases truly do get the old mouth-watering. This new picture disc contains 1979's "Halloween" on the A-side, and 1981's "Escape From New York", both timeless films that have left viewers awestruck thanks to, in part, their fantastic scores. You'll all recognise that Halloween chimes, those eerie chimes of coldwave synths, but perhaps Escape From New York is less immediately recognisable, but that's a shame because it is potentially the less aged of the two and still a track to break a set in half with something beautiful and unexpected.

Review: Much loved Scottish synth pop gang Chvrches are known for getting weird and wonderful remixers to bring their own interpretations to their albums. For this project, they went big and deiced to ask the legendary composer John Carpenter to continue, and much to the bands delight, he did. He flips 'Good Girls' alongside his creative partners Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies into a soaring anthem with sinister and swaggering but crunchy production. Chvrches then return the favour by flipping Carpenter's 'Turning The Bones' into a chilly bit of spacious electronica.

Review: NYC's Sacred Bones delivers some quality recordings yet again. This time legendary American horror film director John Carpenter gets the remix treatment by an all-star cast giving his eerie and epic synth excursions some brilliant revisions. There really is some true gems on here. Prurient gives "Purgatory" an injection of his typically morbid and distorted extreme noise terror. Skinny Puppy's legendary frontman OhGr gives "Wraith" an immersive dark industrial makeover while Silent Servant gives "Vortex" his typically stylish and razor sharp EBM vibe, albeit a slower one than usual. On the second disc another industrial music legend and (Zola Jesus collaborator) J.G. Thirwell works his magic on "Abyss" and PAN label boss Bill Kouligas gives "Fallen" one of two remixes; his staying on the soundtrack vibe of the original but giving it a futuristic, high fidelity revision like you'd expect from him.

Review: The legend John Carpenter is back with a new album, Lost Themes II. What more can we say other than the fact that the man is a multidisciplinary powerhouse. The director behind such classics as The Thing and Escape From L.A. presented the first volume of unreleased soundtracks from the crypt last year, followed up by a brilliant remix compilation featuring the likes of Silent Servant, Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre and Zola Jesus amongst others. On this volume, Carpenter's unmistakeable sound for these imaginary soundtracks has many a nugget, our favourites were the ever perfect arpeggiations of "Persia Rising", soundtracking the most beautiful of Arabian nights, the indisputable vintage charm of analogue machines on the wonderfully epic "Windy Death" and the tribute to another true legend of the big screen on "Bela Lugosi" you could just imagine F.W Murnau making his grand entrance as you hear this unearthed classic.

Review: Is John Carpenter the best soundtrack composer of all time? The jury will always be out on that one, but chances are if you're reading this you'd prefer to tuck into the score to Assault On Precinct 13 than the pomp and pageantry of, say, John Williams or Hans Zimmer. Not that we don't have a huge amount of time for both those maestros, too. Lost Themes IV: Noir isn't really a soundtrack, of course, and goes some way to positioning Carpenter as a true musical genius well beyond any connection with the silver screen. Like listening to midnight blue descend over the endless sprawl of an unnamed city in soft focus, the album is packed with after dark overtures steeped in the kind of atmosphere you can cut with a knife.

Review: John Carpenter soundtracks are always going to get any record collector hot under the collar. Escape from New York, featuring Hollywood heavyweights Lee Van Cleef and Kurt Russel, from way back in 1981 is one of the great man's many successes. Right from the opening bars there is an unmistakable sense of tension and drama that draws you in. All of the original tracks are included on this blue, limited edition vinyl version as well as more than 20 minutes of unreleased music plus sounds from scenes deleted from the final print.

Review: John Carpenter remains one of the most celebrated soundtrack composers of all time, and in his vast body of work, his musical accompaniment to the seminal slasher film Halloween is a standout. To mark four decades since its initial release, it gets a high-quality reissue that pays homage to the brilliance of the original. That was a famously low-budget work with high-impact results that brought the power of a rock concert, the tension of a cinematic masterpiece and the eeriness of his chosen synths together into one thrilling and immersive world of sound. From the first iconic keys of the opening theme, this one has you hooked so cop this new edition and listen in if you dare.

Review: Before we get into it, let's just stop to consider what it must be like to be John Carpenter' son. A titan of horror, science fiction, and fantasy filmmaking who overcame early critical smiting to garner first a global cult following and more latterly reappraisal and recognition from the cinematic institution, while the reality of having this cultural powerhouse as a parent probably isn't along these lines, we like to think childhood was one long creative play session where imagination was only held back by the need to sleep.

Spurious point made, this latest addition to JC's musical oeuvre sees him team up with offspring Cody - a musician and composer in his own right - and long-time collaborator Daniel Davies for the score to the most recent reboot in the Halloween franchise. You can't touch a classic, of course, but what the actual movie lacked in originality the music more than compensates for, taking what was already an unsettling and chilling aural experience and modernising without fundamentally changing.

Review: RECOMMENDED
At the end of the day John Carpenter could present us with infinite takes on the original Halloween tune - that creepy piano masterpiece - and we'd gobble up everything he has to offer. It's a simple case of four notes, or thereabouts, played in a repetitive loop, and it seems to conjure the most disturbing mental images you can imagine. A stroke of genius, you might say.

Halloween Kills is essentially the reprise of all that made the original movie score so powerful. There's not much here that didn't feature in the inaugural franchise outing, but in 2021 the raw and decidedly pared back atmospheres have been built on, expanded, born again, but crucially not ruined. Is John Carpenter the greatest film musician of all time? Hans Zimmer may disagree, but we say "of course".

Review: Don't believe the hype - we certainly don't. Halloween Ends, 2022's trilogy-concluding horror flick that brought the story of evil Michael Myers to a bone chilling climax, is almost definitely not going to be the last time we hear the terrifying piano riff John Carpenter came up with for his original 1978 slasher classic, Halloween. Nor will it likely be the final outing for the mask-wearing, knife-wielding menace of Haddonfield, Illinois; fictional town the franchise centres on.

Let's face it, the most recent outing in the saga only represented the conclusion of the last three films, but since the first time there have been 13 movies, many comic books, one video game and tons of merchandise. All that aside, you can believe the hype surrounding the latest score, which sees synth and atmosphere master Carpenter, alongside son and regular collaborator Davies, invoke the eerie unease that first catapulted Halloween into the pantheons of all-time greatest scare fests. Don't sleep after listening, then; who knows what's out there.

Review: Is John Carpenter the most formidable force in 20th Century US moviemaking? He must certainly be in the running. Say what you will about the genres he focuses on (horror, suspense, sci fi, slasher, those details aren't significant. Instead, what's important to remember is that for decades the director has dedicated his career to creating not just vivid on-screen worlds, but atmospheres and feelings. Taking ownership of his own scores is a big part of that, and in many ways Carpenter's tunes are as memorable as his plots. Here joined by son Cody, and Lost Themes I & II sparring partner Daniel Davies, many of the most iconic tones, keys, melodies, and hooks from more than 20 years of cinematic delights are presented as new - and we couldn't be happier.

Review: A decade ago, legendary horror movie composer/director John Carpenter joined forces with son Cody and godson Daniel Davies to make Lost Themes, a collection of new musical compositions to "soundtrack the movies in your mind". It kick-started a prolific period of musical activity which included both real soundtracks and music made for imaginary ones. Lost Themes IV sits in the latter camp, with the trio delivering music inspired by the aesthetic of "noir" movies. While Carpenter senior's suspenseful, paired-down drum machine rhythms and clandestine synthesiser sounds are still present, they work in harmony with creepy effects, immersive sound effects and additional instrumentation. For proof, see the growling guitars on 'My name IS Death' and the exotic classical guitars and sitars of 'He Walks. By Night'.