Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2023 October 23 • Monday

For the 801st Soundtrack of the Week, we had to bring the tape deck out of storage. From the Terror Vision label, here is the cassette release of the soundtrack to Copperhead, composed by James Mobberley and Gerald Kemner.

It starts with some electronic shriek/stab sounds for "Snake/Mouse". I've taken a look at the movie and can report that this accompanies real footage of a snake eating a mouse.

Then we get some ominous synth pads with a throbbing bass note, after which comes a beautiful piano piece for the "Main Title", followed by "Treasure Burying Music", which is electronic swoops and swirls with some piano flourishes and long tones.

High-pitched drones float in for "Creek", creating some cool textures and occasional dissonances.

Then there's a very pretty piano piece that's called "Schmaltz 1" here, though I think it's nicer than schmaltzy.

I can't argue with calling the next cue "Ostinato", though. It's a very effective and powerful ostinato played on the piano's lower notes with some effective electronic noises and musical figures popping in and out, creating a very strong atmosphere of menace and tension.

After that is another really nice piano piece but it's called "Schmaltz 2".

Flip the tape and you'll hear "Howard's 'Chase' Theme", a cool electronic piece with propulsive keyboard bass line and long droney electronic tones on top. It goes on for a while, modulating keys and changing timbres while building in intensity.

"Night Snake" starts out with very reverby piano that's soon joined by long synth tones for a creepy atmospheric cue.

This is followed by "Goodbye", a subdued but menacing collection of stacked synth notes, and then the tape concludes with "Music Box Theme", which does in fact sound like a music box being simulated by a synthesizer with some occasional evil-sounding embellishments manifesting nearby.