Cronenberg and Howard Shore are a match made in heaven. The two compliment each other so well that it’s hard to imagine Cronenberg without him. Those of you who collect soundtracks will be happy to know that three out-of-print soundtracks for their collaborations are being re-issued next month. Here’s the lowdown, courtesy of Cinemedia Promotions:
Looking back at their 35-year history, the three soundtracks being released are some of the best to showcase their partnership. Cronenberg earned the Los Angeles Film Critics Best Director honors for 1988’s DEAD RINGERS, a chilling story of identical twin gynecologists—suave Elliot and sensitive Beverly, bipolar sides of one personality—who share the same practice, the same apartment, and the same women. Howard Shore has said, that “the music in DEAD RINGERS works all around the edges. It’s all about subtext.” The album release will feature 14 minutes of previously unreleased bonus materials. Howard Shore won the Genie Award for his DEAD RINGERS score.
NAKED LUNCH is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s hallucinatory, once-thought-unfilmable novel. This film was a special treat for composer Shore, who got to work with his childhood jazz hero, Ornette Coleman. “This soundtrack’s best moments, however, occur when Shore drops the beat pose and just shines darkly,” said journalist Joseph Lanza. The Howe Records release features 16 minutes of previously unreleased material.
Containing 7 bonus tracks (over 18 minutes of unreleased bonus material), CRASH rounds out the trio of expanded reissues. CRASH, the first Cronenberg film to premiere at Cannes, Slashfilm recently said the film features “an absolutely brilliant score based around reverb and guitar.” The film features a brilliant performance by James Spader as James Ballard who is injured in serious a car accident killing the other driver. He and the widow (who also been injured in the accident) begin an exploration into the world of car-crash fetishism.
The expanded collector’s editions of the soundtracks for DEAD RINGERS, NAKED LUNCH, and CRASH from Howe Records will be available on CD and digitally on October 14, 2014.
Just when you thought it was safe to put away your wallet…