JOHN CARPENTER'S ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK SOUNDTRACK

It's 1997 and it's the future, except the future is the past, and in the future-past the President's Airforce One has crashed into Manhattan, which is now(then) a large prison via anarchist unit (Freetown Christiania/Desperate Living's Mortville w/o the lipstick and sequins). Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken, the hardest ex-prisoner ever, and the govt. gets this dangerous dude to go save the president from a cult of prison peeps that look like either the dude from the Screamers logo or crazy WWII vets suffering scary schizophrenic hallucinations. The only thing properly predicted for the "future" is Kurt Russell's grunge-chic (high five, costume designer!). More accurately it's sort of post-grunge-chic (meaning Creed, but Kurt Russell talks low and rusky and very serious and kicks a lot more ass as the action hero he is than Scott Stapp would ever dream to).


In theory I'd love to talk shop about Isaac Hayes acting part or his character's hoopty car w/ the chandeliers on 'em, or how The President looks like someone's fat, sweaty dad except terrified instead of grumpy and smug (but maybe a little grumpy and smug). There's some pretty adrenaline inducing chases and a lot of great explosions, guns and gutterpunkesses and gold chains. But really, I just wanna say that John Carpenter, directing aside, is a master composer. People talk lots about Philip Glass and Ennio Morricone and, yes, Halloween's theme is mentioned here and there, but Carpenter really has a goldmine of a discography that is not often enough noted. His music is overshadowed by his directorial position and perhaps the kitsch of his films (and the fact that he often scores his own films and no one else's) has kept a few future listeners in the dark. He has a style all its own and it's very cool.


Carpenter is a huge fan of repetitious notes and beats that slowly layer to become crescendos, usually with the gradual addition of drum and/or synth parts. Typically using haunting melodies and chord progressions, Carpenter has stylized himself as a recognizable song writer through his heavy use of arpeggiating badassness, unchanging and persistent use of a string of the same note in different octaves, and often fully synth/electronic basis (usually w/ a splash of piano). His musical style can be enjoyed w/ or w/o the context of his films, especially for those interested in synth, electro prog (Tangerine Dream for example) and instrumental music. My introduction to John Carpenter was more through his music than his films, but I recognize for many the films will have been more familiar foremost. Outside of the context of the films, you can draw all sorts of personal interpretation of the moods in the music.

Escape From New York (1981) has a great soundtrack that can be looked at in a variety of ways outside of the film. One example is the short but brooding "Across the Roof", easily emotive enough to be mistaken for a Romeo and Juliet intertwined in muted Victorian cascadence but twinged with Gary Numan instrumental loveliness and a cloud of alien/human dilemma/doom to match. Another notably gorgeous is the still "Engulfed Cathedral", a looming number written by Debussy. How one throws in a Debussy song with an original soundtrack and makes it work seamlessly is one thing, but how to do a Debussy song like so for an action film is even more of an accomplishment. Carpenter's songs can resemble modern lovers meeting in the dark alleys or dew-covered backyards in a warm synth Renaissance era composition and yet totally work when Kurt Russell, armed with a machine gun, is stalking around abandoned buildings or heroically about to take off in a jet to save someone's life against his own will.

Outside of the quiet gems unexpected for the movie's genre, Escape From New York's soundtrack holds disco-terrific jams that are anything but classical in structure. "The Duke Arrives" and "The Bank Robbery" are upbeat waves of anxiety and adventure that Carpenter successfully portrays in the film, even capturing screams and screeches with high pitched saw tooth waves. Carpenter worked on this soundtrack in conjunction with Alan Howarth, a good friend of Carpenters who also collaborated with him throughout other films in the '80s:  They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, Christine, and Prince of Darkness.

JOHN CARPENTER "main title"


JOHN CARPENTER "engulfed cathedral"


& the original DEBUSSY "engulfed cathedral"


JOHN CARPENTER "across the roof"


JOHN CARPENTER "the duke arrives"