Walter Carlos - "Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange" Vinyl, Album, 1972 (Columbia)

 

It's interesting to note that this album is called Walter Carlos' Clockwork Orange. They leave out the "A" that is in the original title for the film. Not only that, but Carlos is taking control over her work and presents it as music on its own merits. Nevertheless, this album is the ultimate work of electronic music, not as an experiment, but using the adventuresome aspect of that type of music into pop or classical medium. Carlos and her producer Rachel Elkind are brilliant composers.

The big thrill here is the opening piece "Timesteps," 14 minutes long and a tremendous aural adventure. Written for A Clockwork Orange but not used as far as I know is the ultimate electronic sound collage of dread/humor that perfectly fits the film or the novel's look at the near future of the time. The rest of the album is pretty much what we know of the score or soundtrack to the movie. But re-positioned by the artists that make the work representable to her own aesthetic. The last piece on the album is "Country Line," which has traces of "Singing in the Rain," but almost as an afterthought. 

Egisto Macchi Italian Film Composer on Tosh Talks

Jean Luc Godard Soundtrack Music on Tosh Talks

Being a long-time fan of Jean-Luc Godard's cinema, it's interesting how important the music or sound is to all his films.   I don't imagine Godard ever thought about the separation of sound and image, but more with the relationship between the two mediums.  Over the years I have collected both on vinyl and CD numerous soundtrack compilations or the original soundtrack to Godard's works, but this hand-made bootleg, with the images pasted on the record sleeve, is perhaps the best of the lot.  

This compilation on vinyl goes from 1959 (A Bout de Souffle) to 1980 (Sauve qui Peut La Vie), and what one would consider the iconic Godard years.  Due to avoiding the legal issue, this album is the best representation of Godard and sound/music of those years.   The one thing that struck me is the sadness in the music. Composed by various writers such as Martial Solal, Michel Legrand, Georges Delerue, Paul Misraki, Antoine Duhamel, Gabriel Yared, and singing by Chantal Goya (Masculin Feminin) which is superb French Yé-Yé and the ultra-rare (and the excellent) Claude Channes' "Mao Mao." The instrumental passages are very somber when you listen to it without the Godard images.  Not sure if Godard instructed the mood that is in the music for his film, but the above composers all wrote magnificent pieces for the Godard soundtrack. 

The album is not that easy to locate, but one can through by chance your local store, or more likely on the Internet.   If you are a fan of Godard, it's a must that you obtain this specific recording.  Beyond that the music here is gorgeous.  - Tosh Berman