Disc of the day
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
Features Disc of the day
Various
Zodiac: Songs From The Motion Picture
(Gut, 2007)
Soul, funk and psych treats soundtrack one of the best movies of recent times.
Northern California, December 20, 1968. 17-year old David Arthur Faraday and 16-year old Betty Lou Jensen are enjoying their first date when they decide to drive out to Lovers' Lane just off Lake Herman Road. Within an hour, they would both be dead - shot by an unknown killer who would soon be dubbed "Zodiac". In David Fincher's movie chronicling the investigation into the spree of killings, it's this early scene that really sticks in the mind. The darkness and isolation create a haunting sense of impending catastrophe, but it is the director's choice of song that really sends shivers up the spine. Gently humming through the car's radio we can just make out the dreamy Tambura drones of Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man. As the volume increases and the young couple look back to see another car appear behind them, those clipped vocals seem to deliver an eerie portent of what's to come. It's a masterful touch by Fincher and one he manages to repeat again and again, framing each appearance of the Zodiac with Donovan's Celtic creepiness.
As we move into the 1970s, the Latin shimmy of Santana's Soul Sacrifice and The Four Tops' Bernadette give way to the knife-edged funk of Sly & The Family Stone's I Want To Take You Higher and Isaac Hayes' Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic - long gone is the peace and love era, shattered by something more sinister, a terror embodied by the Zodiac's bloodstained riddles and the incantatory chimes of Marvin Gaye's Inner City Blues. Fincher's California breathes through these songs, the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle and the city police force pulsing to his period-perfect choices. 40-years later, the killings remain unsolved.
Ross Bennett
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 05/08/2009
Further Listening
Various – Dazed & Confused: Motion Picture Soundtrack (Giant/WEA, 1993)
Various – Boogie Nights: Music From The Original Motion Picture (Capitol, 1997)
Sly & The Family Stone – There’s A Riot Goin’ On (Epic, 1971)
Previous Disc of the day
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Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
6:00 AM GMT 18/03/2010
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The Pop Group - Y
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6:00 AM GMT 11/03/2010
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