Here we have the entire album “Themes for an Imaginary Film” from Symmetry, yet another project by Italodisco revivalist Johnny Jewel, known for his involvement in Chromatics/Glass Candy/Desire/all of the “Italians Do It Better” music label. Word around the ‘net is that Jewel was originally tapped by Nicolas Winding Refn to score “Drive,” and while several existing tracks from his groups Chromatics and Desire were used, the gig for original music went to Cliff Martinez. Jewel denies that “Themes” is his unused “Drive” music, but it’s already become Internet canon to interpret it as such.

“Themes” is a good listen, but I can surely see why Winding Refn would choose the tracks he did, particularly Kavinsky’s “Night Call” during the opening credits. Jewel’s “Themes” are subtle, a little too cool and laid back for the on-edge tone of the film, and they’re experimental–messing around with  rhythms when a simple kick-snare-kick-snare much better represents the single-minded driving force of Ryan Gosling’s character. Furthermore, the synths are noticeably MIDI instead of analog, which would have made the film seem low-budget and campy.

Still, it’s an interesting listen to think of what may have been, and it’s a reminder that script isn’t everything; style and tone can make or break a film as much as stilted dialogue can. For comparison, here’s the song that was ultimately chosen for “Drive”’s opening sequence–a work with far more grit, aggression, and swagger: (more…)

I wrote “Brothers in Arms” two hours after seeing Jake Rademacher’s “Brothers at War.” Gary Sinise had set up a screening for a few folks in town and I popped down not knowing what I was in for.

Much has been written about the merits of this film at Big Hollywood and I can only echo the sentiments. As someone who has spent time with our troops overseas, “Brothers at War,” is an honest window into the reality of our soldiers and their families. A view to often obscured and agendized by our culture.

I didn’t know Jake at the time and had no thought of writing anything that would appear in the movie. I was inspired by what I saw and the song wrote itself.

The final master, now the end title, is the piano/vocal I cut in my living room that evening, accompanied by a string arrangement we added after the fact. (more…)