Tag Archives: electronica

Song of the Day: I Against I (by Massive Attack feat. Mos Def)

Posted on by Arleigh

Here I sit in my room watching on Encore HD a running of Guillermo Del Toro’s sequel to Blade. As awesome as this film was it was the soundtrack to Blade II that continues to impress. It’s from this soundtrack that I picked the latest “Song of the Day”. That choice happens to be the collaboration between electronica/trip-hop duo Massive Attack with hip-hop artist Mos Def.

“I Against I” is the latest song of the day and I consider the best song in the Blade II soundtrack which was all about electronica artists and band collaborating with hip-hop artists. This song occurs early in the film where Blade and his crew joined by a vampire kill-team called the Bloodpack does their slo-mo march towardsa a vampire underground club. It’s a scene that needs to be seen to be appreciated. The massive and clear bass beat by Massive Attack lends itself well to Mos Def’s smooth lyrical flow even as electronic melodies and beats accompanies the rest.

This song could be listened to in it’s instrumental version and it would sound very good. Mos Def could rap it’s lyrics accapella style and he would also sound good, but it’s when the two combines that the song becomes great. It’s one of a few reasons why I consider Blade II the best in the trilogy and why I continue to watch it whenever it comes on cable.

I Against I

I-ya,
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,
My images reflect in the enemies eye,
And his images reflect in mine the same time,

I-ya, I-ya,
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,

Right here is where the end gon’ start at,
Conflict, contact ‘n’ combat,
Fighters stand where the land is marked at,
Settle the dispute about who the livest,
3 word answer,
Whoever survive this,
Only one of us can ride forever,
So you and I cant ride together,
Can’t live or cant die together,
All we can do is collide together,
So I skillfully apply the pressure,
Won’t stop until I’m forever… One!

A door step where death never come,
Spread across time til my time never done,
And I’m never done,
Walk tall, why ever run?
When they move if I ever come?
Bad man never fret the war, tell’em come
General we have the stock, the mad fire burn

I-ya,
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,
My images reflect in the enemies eye,
And his images reflect in mine the same time,

I-ya, I-ya,
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,
Survive (x16)

Reign supreme in your U-N-I,
V-E-R-S-E with the sharpness,
Narrow row building no space for partners,
No space for drivers, no space for walkers,
No space regardless,
Your on my path then get off it,
Hardheaded and unresponsive,
Get they lives put on target with harshness,
Come with the canons sparkin’ they darken,
Who am i? One man squadron,
Ma stir the fire this time that’d snatch your tomorrow,
The thousand yard spear that’ll pierce through your armor,
You can get it on right now if you want to,
But when ya front 9 get marched through,
I warned you,
You know who forever belong to,

I-ya, I-ya
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,
My images reflect in the enemies eye,
And his images reflect in mine the same time,

I-ya, I-ya,
I against I,
Flesh of my flesh,
And mind of my mind,
Two of a kind but one won’t survive,
My images reflect in the enemies eye,
And his images reflect in mine, survive
Survive (x16)

Songs of the Day: The Devil Is In The Details/Beats from Hanna (by The Chemical Brothers)

Posted on by Arleigh

To cap off the day I decided to take a lead from my favorite spring and summer past-time (baseball) and give everyone a double-header. The latest song of the day is actually two of them. While they’re really a single melody they’re done in two diverging ways that fit in with Joe Wright’s modern fairy tale action film, Hanna.

Once again these songs are from The Chemical Brothers who everyone by now have heard composed the score for Hanna. They did such a magnificent job scoring this film that I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re asked to do more of it in the future. I will admit that I actually like they’re work on Hanna than what Daft Punk did for Tron: Legacy. The songs I picked are called “The Devil Is In The Details” and “The Devil Is In The Beats” respectively.

The first song is a charming little melody that sounds like it’s being played on a calliope. It really underscores the fairy tale aspect of the film and Hanna’s own Grimm’s fairy tale like journey from the frozen wilderness of Finland to the rundown carnival (looking like something out of Bizarro World Grimm’s fairy tale) to end the film. This melody also becomes a sort of leitmotif for whenever Hanna became endangered from the assassins hired by her nemesis, Marissa Veigler, to chase her down. The leader of this group will begin to whistle this tune when they’ve caught onto Hanna’s trail.

The second song is a more aggressive version of this fairy tale melody done in the only way The Chemical Brothers know how. “The Devil Is In The Beats” is twists, distorts, remixes and adds a funky bassline to the original “The Devil Is In The Details” but without losing the original calliope tone. This version I liken to a fairy tale story seen through the eyes of someone tripping out on acid or LSD.

Both songs fit in well in the scenes they complement and just shows how well both filmmaker Joe Wright and The Chemical Brothers were on the same wavelength when it came to telling the story of Hanna.

Song of the Day: Container Park from Hanna (The Chemical Brothers)

Posted on by Arleigh

Tonight I saw what would probably end up as one of the top films of 2011. I am talking about Joe Wright’s modern fairy tale, Hanna, and starring one of the industry’s finest young actress in Saoirse Ronan in the title role. The latest “song of the day” comes directly from this film which was fully scored by British electronica duo, The Chemical Brothers.

“Container Park” arrives close to the end of the second act of the film and perfectly accompanies one of the film’s best action sequences. The Chemical Brother’s give this song a very heavy and deep bassline which set’s the rhythm for the whole sequence. They begin the song very subtly with just a hint of dissonance creeping into the dark fairy tale-like melody. I just loved how they were able to combine not just the fairy tale aspect of the film, but also add in that sense of danger with subtle use of distortion and dissonance to unbalance the original melody.

This song went perfectly well with the action sequence it complemented and it was halfway through the song that I realized (like all of the music in this film) that the bassline was setting up the rhythm of the action itself. I saw this clip at WonderCon 2011 and the song was the same and as I look back to that clip to seeing the clip as part of the whole film I was impressed how The Chemical Brothers’ score for this film was very instrumental in setting up each scene and not just becoming background music.

“Container Park” is just one of several great songs from the Hanna soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers. First there’s the wonderful, cover-filled soundtrack for Sucker Punch and now this full-on electronica score for Hanna. It’s been a very good year, so far, for soundtracks and I do believe we’ve got more excellent examples coming down the pipeline.

Above is the original song used in the film while below is a remix done by the duo and found on the film’s website. The latter has been extended, but I really don’t see too much of a difference between the two other than their running times.

Song of the Day: Humanity Part II (by Ennio Morricone)

Posted on by Arleigh

Day Three of the week-long horror-themed “Song of the Day” feature brings us one of the greatest pieces of film music ever composed. I’m talking about the score for John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing from Another World. The remake retains only the first two words of the original’s title, and that alone speaks volumes.

At first listen, one might mistake this music as being composed by John Carpenter himself—an accomplished film composer in his own right, known for scoring most of his own films. Its similarity to his iconic Halloween theme and even his earlier work on Assault on Precinct 13 makes the connection understandable. But one would be wrong to assume Carpenter had a hand in writing it. For the first time, Carpenter allowed someone else to compose the score, and for the task he selected none other than the Italian maestro Ennio Morricone.

By the time he collaborated with Carpenter on this sci-fi horror masterpiece, Morricone was already firmly established as one of the great masters of film composition. Audiences knew him best for his legendary work on Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti westerns” as well as numerous classics of Italian cinema. While Morricone’s full score for The Thing deserves a complete discussion of its own, I’ll focus on the one track that most powerfully captures the themes of horror, isolation, dread, and paranoia that make Carpenter’s film such a landmark: “Humanity (Part II).”

The piece opens with a heartbeat-like sequence that pulses steadily through most of its length. Strings layer on top of this rhythm, creating a mournful, dirge-like quality, while the bass thump lurks ominously just beneath the surface, as though danger is present but unseen. For much of its runtime, the music exudes a stark sense of emptiness, forcing the listener into the same suffocating isolation as the characters onscreen, stranded in the vast Arctic wasteland. The repetition and looping structure almost feel like a trap, with no release or resolution, mirroring the crew’s paranoia as suspicion and fear close in tighter than the snowstorms outside. Each cycle draws the listener deeper into a psychological cage, heightening the dread with its unrelenting stillness.

It isn’t until the final two minutes that the track breaks from its oppressive restraint. Here, Morricone channels Carpenter’s trademark minimalism with unsettling synthesizer tones, jagged and piercing against the steady backdrop. The music shifts from mournful to dissonant, almost alien, capturing the horrifying essence of the creature in its most grotesque form. This sharp intrusion is not just an auditory shock but a symbolic transformation—the moment when the lurking horror finally emerges from shadow into focus, confirming that the paranoia has been justified all along. It is this careful build, held back until the very end, that demonstrates Morricone’s mastery at fusing Carpenter’s sensibilities with his own, delivering a piece that is both restrained and devastatingly effective.

There’s a reason so many film aficionados cite Carpenter’s The Thing as one of their all-time favorites. Its reputation owes much to Carpenter’s skill as a filmmaker and editor, but Morricone’s score plays an equally crucial role in shaping the film’s atmosphere. “Humanity (Part II)” stands as one of the finest pieces of horror film music ever written.