Secret Pop

Feb 10, 2005

Oh, yeah

Tonight, King Ten's harold was pretty fucking first rate. A James Bond theme found its way into the mix, and when Andrew (who seems to know every music cue from the entire series, I am impressed to note) played that swirling descending scale from You Only Live Twice, I was swooning a little bit. I went up to him between shows and told him that I secretly pretended he was playing it for me, but of course he hadn't even known I was there, so there's that. I just remember showing him around LACMA last spring and sitting on a bench talking about film music and citing the many triumphs of John Barry and nearly exclaiming "You Only Live Twice!" at the same time. I used to have a mix tape of my favorite film music, and that bit was well represented. The fact that I used to have a mix tape of my favorite film music is a stopping point for plenty of people. I don't blame them. Actually, I had two. One upbeat, one down. I still quiz myself about theme music in movie trailers. If you ever watch a movie with me and the previews contain that cue from The American President or maybe something from The Cider House Rules, you'll probably be annoyed, because I will tell you how much I love those scores, and -- if you're most people -- you will be about as alienated as you would be if I invited you to play Dungeons & Dragons in my basement. I never actually played Dungeons & Dragons, nor did I ever have a basement, but there isn't nearly as large a cultural stigma applied to film music enthusiasts, so I am forced to make use of a go to geek signifier. But the fact that I have more Varèse Sarabande titles in my CD collection than I have albums by U2, REM, and all members of The Police combined is about the same to most people as my keeping my hundred-sided die on a chain around my neck just in case an impromptu game breaks out.

I'm just writing in defiance of sleep at this point. But it's better than waking up rested and wishing I'd written something.

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