Mar252019
Review: H.R. Gertner’s ‘Thom Yorke vs Goblin Suspiria WGOT-LP Special’
Ambient music and film fanatics might want to check out WGOT-LP’s very own HR Gertner and his most recent exclusive music mix for our Patreon supporters. HR Gertner posted his music special, “Thom Yorke vs Goblin Suspiria Special” to promote our recent Amazing Give fundraiser.
HR Gertner’s music mix is posted here for free download (please consider becoming a monthly supporter of the Community Radio Station):
https://www.patreon.com/posts/amazing-give-h-r-25486294
HR Gertner’s hour plus music mix highlights the artists behind both versions of the film, Suspiria. Goblin for the original 1977 version and Thom Yorke for the 2018 remake.
For those who are unaware, Suspiria was an Italian/American horror film from 1977, directed by the great Dario Argento. It did see a theatrical release in the US at the time, but in last 40 years has grown in stature and influence. So much so, that someone ponied up $20 million to remake the film. The re-make of Suspiria in the US was one of the more notable box office flops of 2018.
Local residents are urged to seek out the recently remastered ORIGINAL “Suspiria” which is now available on DVD at the Alachua County Library. I will not comment on the 2018 remake, as I have not seen it yet as of this writing.
The soundtrack to the original film was scored by Goblin, an Italian band who were labeled as “Progressive Rock” shortly after they formed in the early 1970’s. Goblin also went on to score the soundtrack to the European version of George A. Romero’s highly underrated Dawn of the Dead from 1978. Goblin’s music is indeed featured in the US version as well, but it is hard to find the recording in a physical format, as there were various “official” releases of the music soundtrack.
Goblin has been an off and on again act throughout the last 40 years, but are now regularly featured at some of the extreme music festivals that proliferate throughout Europe. It should be of no surprise that fans of the extreme music genres are also also usually fans of horror films as well. So it was quite appropriate that Goblin recently played Tampa, the birthplace of the “death metal” genre, performing the Suspiria set in its entirety.
Goblin’s score for Suspiria has an almost overpowering effect when one watches the original film. Argento used a dazzling kaleidoscope of colors in the film which was designed to be watched on the big screens of 1977- not the tiny handheld screens of 2019. It should also be noted that Argento didn’t use any (CGI) computer-generated imagery for “special effects”, but instead used the music of Goblin to create the surreal, dreamlike quality of the film.
The 2018 re-make of Suspiria was scored by Thom Yorke, the founding member of alternative rock act, Radiohead. Over the course of their career, Radiohead has always liked to experiment with their music. This is a very risky thing to do in the music business, as there’s always a chance one will alienate long time fans.
Yorke is also a quite prolific solo artist, and his musical score for Suspiria is quite stunning. So much so, that one track from it was actually shortlisted for a 2019 Academy Award for “Best Original Song”. While it ended up not getting the nomination, Yorke’s musical score for the remake is downright otherworldy, with even Rolling Stone conceding, “he’s recorded an 81-minute grab bag of witching-hour instrumentals, strange grunts ‘n’ gurgles, creepy monk chants — and, every so often, a drop-dead gorgeous song.”
The remake to the film was widely panned by critics, and as noted- a box office flop. Since I have not seen the film, I cannot comment how Yorke’s score mixes with the visual aspect of the remake. But everyone should check out HR Gertner’s excellent music mix. For maximum effect, one should set aside the time to listen to his mix in its entirety in one sitting.
