- Long before he won a soundtrack award at Cannes Film Festival, Daniel Lopatin, AKA Oneohtrix Point Never, thought of his music as being cinematic. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, he said, "... everybody has their Made To Measure moment where they're like, 'This is my imaginary soundtrack for a film yet to be released. Impressed?'" On his latest full-length, Good Time (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), an OST for the Ben and Josh Safdie-directed crime drama, Lopatin revisits the kosmische of his early records as a seasoned studio professional. "I wanted to make something that sounded like Good Time back when I was doing the early stuff," he said, "but I didn't quite know how yet."
In the rarified world of film composing, musicians—even artists like Lopatin—cede some control to directors. ("I don't need to sit around and quench whatever personal artistic thirst I have at all times," he told Pitchfork.) Traces of his last LP, Garden Of Delete, emerge on the title track's Kaoss Edge-style guitar crunch and "Leaving The Park"'s prog metal solo. But Good Time mostly reverts to Returnal-style arpeggiation—Tangerine Dream's 1981 soundtrack for Michael Mann's Thief is an obvious sonic touchstone.
Just as the Safdies put a psychedelic spin on the bank heist genre, Lopatin installs unique twists on Good Time. On "Bail Bonds," he takes the audio from the corresponding scene—Jennifer Jason Leigh begging her mother to let her put a $10,000 bail fee on her credit card—and turns her desperate scream into an uncomfortable drone. Several tracks work as thrilling standalone pieces. "Romance Apocalypse" begins as a kraut-prog epic, like many of the OST's other tracks, but ends with dub techno-inflected stabs and dreamy, pensive chords.
The film is a white-knuckle thriller with an emotional finale. The soundtrack, sequenced to mirror the film's narrative, follows suit, especially with its closing tracks. "Connie"'s isolated synth leads and Tim Hecker-style bass pressure resolve into pretty chords. "The Pure And The Damned," featuring the gravelly vocals of Iggy Pop, is by far the most sentimental track Lopatin has ever recorded. Its mournful piano chords, taken in tandem with 2011's "Replica," make a compelling case for a Oneohtrix Point Never solo piano record. A piano album, a film soundtrack—this would all have seemed absurd when Lopatin was lugging his Juno-60 to art galleries. But, as Good Time shows, his skills have caught up with his ambition.
トラックリスト01. Good Time
02. Bail Bonds
03. 6th Floor
04. Hospital Escape / Access-A-Ride
05. Ray Wakes Up
06. Entry To White Castle
07. Flashback
08. Adventurers
09. Romance Apocalypse
10. The Acid Hits
11. Leaving The Park
12. Connie
13. The Pure And The Damned feat. Iggy Pop