Sacred Bones US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Essex based composer and music producer Robin Carolan is the man behind the acclaimed Tribute Angle label. He's worked with a fine array of artists including Bjork and Holy Other and now links with Seb Gainsborough who makes electronic and orchestral music as Vessel. This is the first time the pair have worked with director Robert Eggers on a score together and the results speak for themselves. It is harsh and uncomfortable with a dirty aesthetic that is designed to match the film, The Northman, and does so with great sympathy and respect to the authenticity of the Viking era period piece.

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: 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 new collection of tracks by 60s and 70s electronic music visionary Mort Garson, including his soundtrack for the CBS News live coverage of the moon landings and music from a National Geographic documentary on them in 1970, is being released to co-incide with Garson's 99th birthday. Expect a cavalcade of elegant Moog manoeuvres that will whisk you back in time rather than back to the future or into sapce, but treat you to some euphoric, uplifting and beautiful melodies along the way.

Review: Canadian composer, arranger, songwriter, and electronic music pioneer Mort Garson just keeps on giving, even now, 15 years after his death. Archival releases since have come not-so-thick-and-fast, but occasional and well thought through, with Journey to the Moon & Beyond the latest example of this. Not, as the cover and title might suggest, the score to some forgotten 1970s animated classic, but instead a collection of stuff very few will have heard before, let alone had opportunity to buy, it's really something special. On the track list, then, you'll find the soundtrack to 1974 Blaxploitation movie Black Eye, or at least part of it. Similarly splendid, but in a very different way, are the grand tones of 'Zoos of the World', originally made to accompany a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name. Then there's the music he wrote for the 1969 moon landings, as used by CBS News at the time. History bottled, or rather pressed, get it while it's fresh (and in stock).

Review: Molchat Doma are one of the global music phenomenons of our time. The Belarusian trio first started causing a small stir among the kind of circles that actively hunt out Belarusian synth bands. That grew into widespread rumblings throughout the underground, driven by online shares as much as play on independent radio stations. Skip forward again, and the outfit can claim true viral sensation status, having conquered tastemakers and social networks across the world. Monument is their third album, and was largely written during Covid-19 quarantine in their hometown, Minsk. Again, it's an evolutionary thing. Post-punk vies for your attention next to synth pop, cold wave, New Wave and romantic electronica. Calling to mind, at various points, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Joy Division, among others, nevertheless those comparisons don't feel fair - the work here is fresher feeling and, ultimately, removed from the North Atlantic hegemony, so it should be analysed in that context.

Review: Luis Vasquez is the artist behind The Soft Moon and on his latest album we find him in his most confessional and self-reflective mood to date. An array of his inner most feelings are laid bare here for all to wallow in on this cathartic and soothing fifth full-length album. It brings all new emotion to post-punk industrial with two standout collaborations with fish narc and Alli Logout of Special Interest adding further greatness to this instant classic. It is now 12 years since Luis debuted his first album, but this might be his best work yet.