Accordians on soudntracks...

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I think accordians are wonderful in soundtracks, there's a spoooky familiarity/unfamiliarity axis that comes with their sound which appeals to me, like a jocular terror or surreal foreboding. I'm thinking specifically of Waking Life and 12 Monkeys, but are there more?

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Sunday, 7 December 2003 21:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Emir Kusturica to thread.

@d@ml (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 December 2003 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello Godfather trilogy.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

astor piazolla to thread (though he specifically played an accordion but i'm not sure).

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Piazzolla played a bandoneon, which is a relative of the accordion. All of his work is excellent, the later output particularly so (he really did get better with age). If you're looking specifically for soundtrack work, try his "Musiques de Films: Tango L'Exil de Gardel/Henri IV" which compiles two of his film scores.

Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Astor Piazolla: S/D

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Hard to believe that someone entertained the possibility that Piazzolla was a dud in some regard...

A number of Nino Rota's soundtracks for Fellini films utilize accordion (eg: "8 1/2", "La Dolce Vita", "Juliet of the Spirits"), but I'm not knowledgeable about their availability as recordings.

It's a really obscure one, but there's a film called "Pauline" (not a documentary) which has a soundtrack by Pauline Oliveros in which she plays her just-intonation accordion. Accordion fans should seek out her recordings on this instrument -- they're sublime.

Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)

a distorted accordion (w/ feedback) plays over the end credits of freeway. it's probably my favorite part of the movie.

mason r butler, Monday, 8 December 2003 12:49 (twenty-one years ago)

waking life = top oST and top movie.

scottjames23 (worrysome-man), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

...And God Spoke, a direct-to-video (though very funny) Spinal Tap-type mockumentary about filmmkers producing a biblical epic. One of the two main characters plays accordian in one scene, and during the end credits.

latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:32 (twenty-one years ago)

adam otm: a lot of the scores to his (Kusturica's) films are done by Goran Bregovic. Underground is a classic. "Kalashnjikov" is fucking great (mainly through the brass on it, but there's plenty of accordian on the soundtrack)

willem (willem), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Yann Tiersen's music to Amelie (AKA Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) is, in a word, gorgeous, and swimming in accordian. It's also sweet and melancholy when need be.

As Nom De Plume points out, Piazolla played the bandoneon which is essentially a square version of the otherwise rectangular accordian - but I have yet to discern a distinct difference in its sound from its cousin (live or recorded).

On the 12 Monkeys tip: Its "main theme" is a phrase from Piazolla's "Suite Punta Del Este" after which I searched high and low only to find a rather poor recording on a 1993 Saludos Amigos release titled Libertango. If you know of a better recording (other than the 12 Monkeys soundtrack, naturally, which gives you only a short bite of the larger 18'38" apple), please do share it with me/us.

nader (nader), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Of course when I originally searched for "Suite Punta Del Este" (circa February 1996) search engines weren't what they are today, I imagine I'll have a lot more luck now.

nader (nader), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, Amelie is the a grebt suggestion..

thomas de'aguirre (biteylove), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

amelie thirded,plus delicatessan...

robin (robin), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Diva.

Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Egyptian composers used lots of accordian in their music in the 60's and I think also the 50's. I'd be surprised if it didn't turn up a lot in the films of the time.

Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Larry Clark's KIDS

gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 8 December 2003 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Of course there's always the "accordian King" poster in Larry's bedroom in Fargo. Which is not the same thing, granted, but is pretty cool.

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Monday, 8 December 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Theme from Midnight Cowboy by John Barry. One of two things I've been arsed to learn on accordion (the other being the Simpsons theme).

nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

The Twelve Monkeys score is one of my favorites ever; it's so twisted and paranoid in a really darkly comical way, it really does well to kinda put you in dude's head.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i really loved the pump organ music in Punchdrunk Love.

Felcher (Felcher), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Southern Comfort has some wild accordian-led cajun music towards the end - it's being played by a band at a party-in-the-bayou so strictly speaking it's part of the action rather than part of the soundtrack, but what the hey let's count it. I think the song they're playing was reworked into a hit single called "What's The Colour Of Money" in the 80's, by Hollywood Beyond was it?

udu wudu (udu wudu), Monday, 8 December 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Where on/in Larry Clark's KIDS does one find an accordion? Is it exclusively in the film?

(I can't seem to locate it on the "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack")

nader (nader), Thursday, 11 December 2003 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...
''Yann Tiersen's music to Amelie (AKA Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) is, in a word, gorgeous, and swimming in accordian. It's also sweet and melancholy when need be.''

got this soundtrack today on a sale: fabulous!

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 27 December 2003 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)


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