Sunday, December 06, 2020

Melancholy Soundtracks: A Requiem for 2020

 




A perfect mix for the end of 2020 comes to us from Paul Asbury Seaman. All soundtrack cuts, all with varying degrees of melancholy, all forming an ideal coda for 2020.

Here's what Paul says about the mix:

“I’ve been sitting on this playlist for more than three years. Never got around to firming it up for a Low Lights mix. It dawned on me just the other day that the eight movies from which these pieces are drawn are all meditations on death and loss. So now seems like a good time to share it. Also, all of these movies were released around the turn of the Millennium, except “Battle of Algiers” (1963) which has one of the most sorrowful themes ever put to music—by the great Ennio Morricone, who died this year.”

Thanks Paul for another excellent mix!

Up next - it's best of the year list time!

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]



T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Clint Mansell - The Last Man (The Fountain 2006)
  • 05:42    Ennio Morricone - Sorrow in the Casbah (Battle of Algiers 1963)
  • 06:33    Ennio Morricone - Ali's Theme (Battle of Algiers 1963)
  • 09:38    Mark Isham - Flames (Crash 2005)
  • 17:06    Philip Glass - The Hours (The Hours 2002)
  • 24:37    Zbigniew Preisner - Van Den Budenmayer Funeral Music (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
  • 26:32    Zbigniew Preisner - Reprise First Appearance (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
  • 27:02    Javier Navarrette  - A Tale (Pan's Labyrinth 2006)
  • 28:50    Richard Thompson - Parents (Grizzly Man 2005)
  • 32:10    Zbigniew Preisner - Julie in Her New Apartment (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
  • 33:48    Zbigniew Preisner - Reprise Flute (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
  • 35:50    Mark Isham - Negligence (Crash 2005)
  • 38:23    Philip Glass - The Poet Acts (The Hours 2002)
  • 42:00    Richard Thompson - Main Title Revisited (Grizzly Man 2005)
  • 45:42    Javier Navarrette  - Lullaby (Pan's Labyrinth 2006)
  • 47:20    Alexandre Desplat - Death Convoy (The Painted Veil 2006)
  • 50:00    Alexandre Desplat - Kitty's Theme (The Painted Veil 2006)
  • 53:00    Clint Mansell - Xibalba (The Fountain 2006)
  • 58:09    end


2 comments:

The Interstellar Radio Station said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Interstellar Radio Station said...

Makes it almost worth having to had endured 2020 to get Seaman to finally kick this out!

Interesting how that Mansell was selected to open both Seaman's mix and one by the Polish Saimonse in her "You are my Music" mix in 2014 (on Headphone Commute & SoundCloud). And how where one heard loss, while the other, love. Shows how music is an art open to interpretation.

Glass's Hours is awesome. Although they are not always focused to the advertized theme, it is reiterated here that Seaman has a great ear for music in choosing his selections.

(postscript: although the Morricone cited is one of the most sorrowful, the most sorrowful theme ever put to music remains the 2nd movement in Beethoven's 3rd symphony).