Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2023 February 27 • Monday

The 767th Soundtrack of the Week is Oneohtrix Point Never's music for the movie Good Time.

The title track starts with some cloudy electronic textures, brings in some pulses and builds intensity, culminating in a strong synth part that has elements of keyboard and guitar to it.

The next track, "Bail Bonds", starts with some dialogue from the movie before dropping the hammer on an intense track, a rhythmic slab of electronic layers and lines.

"6th Floor" explores the possibilties of echoing percussion and also has a bit of dialogue from the movie. The music would be better of without it.

There are more intense rhythms and layers in the beginning of "Hospital Escape/Access-A-Ride". We had trouble trying to figure out what time signature it might be in. About halfway through it gets much more ethereal and atmospheric and then has some wailing and warbling synth lines in 4/4 time.

More dialogue from the movie starts out "Ray Wakes Up" but the cue itself is large and spacious and rich, all electronic clouds.

The rhythmic pulse for "Entry to White Castle" is surprisingly chirpy. There are some long low tones and other electronic elements of a groove that create a pillowy palette for melodic electronic statements.

The synth sounds that open "Flashback" are kind of classic 1980s dread and danger sounds. A cool groove kicks in and the melody has an almost exotica sound to it. About halfway through it shifts to a different rhythmic setting and more of a low-res loopy sound.

"Adventurers" is hard to define. It's more amorphous, more sonic, more textural. More electronic clouds, I guess.

There's an urgent pulse and melodic line that immediately grabs you in "Romance Apocalypse". This one would also fit nicely into a 1980s action movie or video game.

It's always promising when there's a cue called "The Acid Hits". It's more techno/house than groovy/trippy, with swirling electronic layers and at time pulsating rhythm tracks.

Things go up in intensity for "Leaving the Park", which continues in the same vein of many of the cues, which share a common ground of harmonic shape and rhythm, but lets loose a bit with the solo electronic instrument voice, whatever it is.

There's a very different feel and power to "Connie", a relentless and dense pounder of a track that still has considerable feeling and suggestions of romance and mystery.

The record concludes with "The Pure and the Damned", something totally different, a moody and tenebrous piano-driven number enhanced by electronic support and lyrics sung by none other than Iggy Pop.