Does anyone listen to music while they read? If so, do you choose what kind of music beforehand would best fit whatever you're about to read? How much does music enhance the book you're reading? What are some good combos that have you come across?
This is something I do all the time; mostly with graphic novels and film scores. It's probably to the point where I don't think I can read without music with the exception of maybe instruction manuels or textbooks.
Some good combos that I've come across over the years, and off the top of my head:
Atari Teenage Riot-Batman:Year One/Dark Knight Returns(Frank Miller):
ATR's go for broke approach to music can be kind of acquired, but it's kamikaze attitude fits Miller's similar "everything but the kitchen sink" style quite nicely. The tempo of "Too Dead For Me" is a great way to place the action beats in Year One's SWAT takedown, and "Your Uniform Does Not Impress Me" is a great theme for Batman and Superman's brawl in DKR.
Steely Dan-Inherent Vice(Thomas Pynchon):
I'm aware that Pynchon came up with his own soundtrack for his novel, but I didn't know until after I finished reading Inherent Vice. The contrast between Fagen's sometime cryptic lyrics and The Dan's smooth sound is something I would think Pynchon would appreciate. "Fire In The Hole" from Can't Buy A Thrill seems to subscribe to Pynchon's "Every weirdo is on my wavelength" outlook on life. The match between the two is so fitting that it doesn't matter that all of Steely Dan's music is after the era that Inherent Vice depicts. Both artists revel in writing about malcontents in a way that's almost lovingly. I wonder if Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are fans of the author. It wouldn't surprise me.
Clint Mansell's The Fountain score-The Road(Cormac McCarthy):
Both works are full of sorrow with a strong undercurrent of determined survival. "Holy Dread!" compliments the passage where The Man and The Boy come across the basement full of humans that are being used as cattle. Listening to "Holy Dread!" gives the passage an insidious tone that ultimately gives way to absolute urgent danger. If the film adaptation captures 1/16th of the atomsphere I have in my head, then it will be a true accomplishment.
Johnny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score-From Hell(Alan Moore/Eddie Campbell):
It's been said many times over that Greenwood's TWBB score would sound at home in a horror movie, and I echo those sentiments. The antiquated sound is nothing but pure dread-which gives greater depth to Whitechapel's squalid locale, and makes each murder more horrific and affecting.
One last thing: if you have this same kinda routine, do film adaptations underwhelm you because of it?
Even though I love that Koyaansiqati is used in Watchmen, I can't help but feel that not using the Aphex Twin/Phillip Glass remix of David Bowie's "Heroes" was a missed chance. At least in the trailer, anyway.
This is something I do all the time; mostly with graphic novels and film scores. It's probably to the point where I don't think I can read without music with the exception of maybe instruction manuels or textbooks.
Some good combos that I've come across over the years, and off the top of my head:
Atari Teenage Riot-Batman:Year One/Dark Knight Returns(Frank Miller):
ATR's go for broke approach to music can be kind of acquired, but it's kamikaze attitude fits Miller's similar "everything but the kitchen sink" style quite nicely. The tempo of "Too Dead For Me" is a great way to place the action beats in Year One's SWAT takedown, and "Your Uniform Does Not Impress Me" is a great theme for Batman and Superman's brawl in DKR.
Steely Dan-Inherent Vice(Thomas Pynchon):
I'm aware that Pynchon came up with his own soundtrack for his novel, but I didn't know until after I finished reading Inherent Vice. The contrast between Fagen's sometime cryptic lyrics and The Dan's smooth sound is something I would think Pynchon would appreciate. "Fire In The Hole" from Can't Buy A Thrill seems to subscribe to Pynchon's "Every weirdo is on my wavelength" outlook on life. The match between the two is so fitting that it doesn't matter that all of Steely Dan's music is after the era that Inherent Vice depicts. Both artists revel in writing about malcontents in a way that's almost lovingly. I wonder if Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are fans of the author. It wouldn't surprise me.
Clint Mansell's The Fountain score-The Road(Cormac McCarthy):
Both works are full of sorrow with a strong undercurrent of determined survival. "Holy Dread!" compliments the passage where The Man and The Boy come across the basement full of humans that are being used as cattle. Listening to "Holy Dread!" gives the passage an insidious tone that ultimately gives way to absolute urgent danger. If the film adaptation captures 1/16th of the atomsphere I have in my head, then it will be a true accomplishment.
Johnny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score-From Hell(Alan Moore/Eddie Campbell):
It's been said many times over that Greenwood's TWBB score would sound at home in a horror movie, and I echo those sentiments. The antiquated sound is nothing but pure dread-which gives greater depth to Whitechapel's squalid locale, and makes each murder more horrific and affecting.
One last thing: if you have this same kinda routine, do film adaptations underwhelm you because of it?
Even though I love that Koyaansiqati is used in Watchmen, I can't help but feel that not using the Aphex Twin/Phillip Glass remix of David Bowie's "Heroes" was a missed chance. At least in the trailer, anyway.
