016! Lynchian Music Moments
The soundtracks to your favourite fever dreams
This weekend I found myself in bed, nursing a cold, souped up on some nighttime Theraflu. This stuff gives me some real fever dreams, and I’m always kind of excited to dive in and see what I’m gonna get. It was a big Saturday night: I dreamt I’d been the highest bidder on a cobalt blue ice cream van, but when I got it back to my garage I couldn’t change the music, it was stuck playing this inappropriately creepy music out of its rusted pipes. That same night, I also dreamt I met a Norwegian woman who was a professional cage swimmer (not a thing, I looked it up in the morning).
I’m not sure anything in my subconscious could even touch the working mind of David Lynch, and I spent the next morning watching clips of his advert work over the years which I had never seen before. An advert for the New York Sanitation department? An ad for the pasta brand Barilla starring Gérard Depardieu? Several very weird and bewitching perfume ads? Who was letting him do this, and how can I thank them?
It seems sad and fitting to have lost one of the world’s foremost dreamers this past week. A man who invented a new cinematic language, a way of looking at life, and gave us some of the weirdest TV in history. And some of the best on-screen music moments.
On reflection, perhaps Lynch has had the biggest impact on music of any filmmaker ever? Which other directors’ names could you use as a genre? Or a mood that you instantly understood? That have inspired a range of artists that are making Lynchian music to this day (hello, Ethel Cain!)?
Lynch respected sound, and music, like it was his number one priority. He was picky, he was delicate, he knew the emotional weight of choosing the wrong song for the absolute right moment. It’s how “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison or “Wicked Games” by Chris Isaak are emblazoned into my mind with the scene. He also knew how to pick composers, like Angelo Badalementi or Trent Reznor, and bring out the best (read: weirdest) in them.
Lynch upheld that he was a painter first and foremost, and thought of his film work as “a moving painting, but with sound.” He denied being a musician, despite releasing a bunch of his own music, and working on sound sculptures. For his films, he would spend hours manipulating sounds, working on the subtle details of atmosphere and making sure that we were immersed by the senses. That’s art!
Let’s raise a toast to a man who cared about sound and vision. Here are some of his most compelling and some of his rarer music moments.
New York Sanitation Deparment Anti-Rat Commercial
Let’s lead with this because what the hell is going on here. David Lynch directs a PSA about New York City’s rat problem? It’s discordant, it’s uncomfortable, it’s frankly terrifying.
Audrey’s Dance, Twin Peaks
A favourite scene from from the show. Like a lot of his work - it’s strange, it’s erotic, it’s captivating.
Michael Jackson “Dangerous” promo
This promo vid for Dangerous was filmed in-person with stop motion, and took Jackson eight hours of make-up preparation. Apparently all MJ wanted to do on set “was talk about the Elephant Man” (!!), and he had even tried to buy the bones and the cloak from the museum. Weird! It’s classic Lynchian sound design, and paired with red curtains.
Lou Reed “Magic Moment” in Lost Highway
Some of Lynch’s finest moments are when he really leans into the Americana of it all. The balance of the pristine American dream and the horror of a murder, the sublime and the ugly, the serenity and the fear, and all the sensuousness that comes in the weird in-between space. When he’s not working directly on the compositions or sound designs, he’s also an adept music supervisor. This Lou Reed track goes. (The owner disabled embeds so here’s the original).
5. Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
Chris Isaak made this song for Lynch’s Wild At Heart, and I haven’t watched it in a while but to my memory, it plays over and over. It’s a central motif that adds just a deep melancholy to the movie, it’s so beautiful but also so aching. Lynch directed the music video, which later got remade by some other director. This was an A&R moment for Lynch, the movie blew the song up, and rightly so.
Playstation 2 Advert
Playstation have had some really boundary pushing ads over the years. This is one of them - I can’t picture this happening today. The scream at the end?
Club Silencio, Mulholland Drive
A pivotal, and tragic moment in Lynch’s lesbian classic - maybe don’t watch this if you haven’t seen the film yet. A haunting and moving acapella, and…more red curtains.
Julee Cruise - Falling
Composer Badalementi and Lynch made the music for Twin Peaks in tandem with the visuals, rather than placing it after the show had been shot. Their collaboration is one for the ages, and there are some great videos out there on how they came up with Laura Palmer’s theme, and this vocal version with Julee Cruise’s haunting vocals. I particularly love hearing about Lynch’s directions, like for the theme of Blue Velvet, where he told Badalamenti : “Make it like the wind, Angelo. It should be a song that floats on the sea of time.” Right on.
Jimmy Scott - Sycamore Trees
A mesmerising performance from jazz star Jimmy Scott at the Black Lodge. A surreal, modernist nightmare.
10. The Sax Solo in Lost Highway
In the last edition of the newsletter I mentioned I had been listening to a fair amount of frenetic sax music. I guess that wasn’t the first time. There’s this furious performance, but be sure listen to the entirety of the sound design here. (This clip was also disabled, click here to watch).
Bonus:
The MIDI notation for Twin Peaks
Lynch’s music supervisor, David Hurley, discovered after the fact that the MIDI notation for the iconic synths of Twin Peaks looked exactly like…twin peaks. Hurley said: “I showed David the photo and I was like, ‘What does this look like to you?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, twin peaks. What about it?’”
“And I told him what it was, and he just started shouting, ‘It’s cosmic! It’s cosmic! It’s cosmic!’ and then he was like, ‘That would make a great T-shirt.’
Nobody tell Urban Outfitters!
And lastly, some random things I’ve been enjoying lately:
Firstly (and not something I enjoy), extending love to everyone in LA these past weeks, and sharing this mutual aid spreadsheet that lists artists/musicians in need after the fires.
The Agency on Showtime. An English remake of the French TV show, The Bureau.
Rotational’s Angolan Kuduro radio special.
Listening to vinyl with my friend Orlando, especially Sinead O Connor’s The Lion And The Cobra, and Les Rallizes Dénudés’ MIZUTANI.
These Mexico City sound system flyers from the 1980s, via Nick Catchdubs.
Babygirl. Best use of George Michael in a film.
The new season of the Traitors UK. My money’s on Charlotte.
