Creepy music is to horror film what salt is to soup. And horror and science fiction film director John Carpenter, creator of cult classics such as “Halloween” (1978), “The Fog” (1980) and “The Thing” (1982), has almost as many credits for scoring films as he does for directing and writing. Through a four decade long career speckled with many blockbuster hits, Carpenter has come to be known as the ‘Master of Horror’ or the ‘Prince of Darkness’, with his distinct style of filmmaking involving minimalist cinematography and lighting, and synth-heavy soundtracks, which he either composed himself or in collaboration with other musicians.He once said, “At the beginning, I was doing the music out of necessity, because we had no money. At some point, I realized that the scores became another voice, another way I could further what I was doing as a filmmaker. It became an extension of directing. Composing was a lot of extra work, but I kept going as long as I could stand it. Kind of like directing.” However a talent that emerged out of necessity ended up reinforcing his stamp on the genre. His haunting scores for “Halloween” and “Assault on Precinct 13” (1976) impressed both critics and fans alike at the time and continue to act almost as a beacon for horror and science fiction movies of the Seventies and the Eighties, besides inspiring numerous electronic producers over the years.At the age of 67, the filmmaker has not yet lost his spirit of enterprise. In February this year, Carpenter released a well-received studio album “Lost Themes” through Sacred Bones Records, in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies. In a press release, he noted, “Lost Themes’ was all about having fun… It can be both great and bad to score over images, which is what I’m used to. Here, there were no pressures. No actors asking me what they’re supposed to do. No crew waiting. No cutting room to go to. No release pending.”But that’s not all. On October 16, Carpenter is also set to release “Lost Themes Remixed”, featuring eight remixed tracks from this album on vinyl. American singer-songwriter and producer Zola Jesus remixes “Night” with producer Dean Hurley, on the lines of her lo-fi Stridulum-era work. Los Angeles minimal techno mastermind Silent Servant reworks “Vortex”. Visionary Australian producer JG Thirlwell, who also goes by the name Foetus, mixes “Abyss” in line with the modern classical scores he’s known for. Los Angeles synth pop outfit ohGr works on the track “Wraith”.Dominick Fernow of Prurient says about his remix of the track “Purgatory”, “John Carpenter is the master of sustained tension with electronic music. The fine line between stasis and energy is almost impossible to define but Carpenter consistently achieves this paradox with Spartan means. This remix attempts to break the compositional tension of Carpenter’s ‘Purgatory’.”Multi-instrumentalist and producer Ben Greenberg, who creates an alternate “Vortex” remix, says, “There’s a true minimalism at work in his (Carpenter’s) music, but it’s a means, not an end. It’s simple, but synthetic, so there’s very little going on, but it’s very distinctive and unsettling.”The director-son team have also let on that they might be working on more music to be released in the future.Preorder John Carpenter’s “Lost Themes Remixed” via Sacred Bones here.“Lost Themes Remixed” Tracklist:1. Purgatory (Prurient Remix)2. Night (Zola Jesus & Dean Hurley Remix)3. Wraith (ohGr Remix)4. Vortex (Silent Servant Remix)5. Vortex (Uniform Remix)6. Fallen (Blanck Mass Remix)7. Abyss (JG Thirwell Remix)8. Fallen (Bill Kouligas Remix)Follow @ARTINFOIndia
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