Usually, we don’t report too much on soundtrack developments. Sites like The Playlist and Upcoming Film Scores take care of that nicely. But this is too good to pass up: the Jim Jarmusch movie The Limits of Control (trailer for which I posted late last night) will feature music from atmospheric doom lords Boris, Sunn O))) and Earth.
Many times before, I’ve sung Earth’s praises in articles and message board posts, but they’re still an unknown quantity for many. Which is too bad, as their current reverb-drenched moody Americana (with song titles taken from Cormac McCarthy) is great movie music. Similarly, Boris and Sunn O))) can make wildly atmospheric music, especially when they work together.
When I posted the trailer I wondered who might have been responsible for the music within. It took reader Bob Ham to point out that Boris is named in the credits; founding Sunn O))) member (and Boris collaborator) Stephen O’Malley confirms on his blog that the other bands are part of the package as well.
That said, the trailer music doesn’t sound quite like any of those three bands. There’s a vaguely Earth vibe, but I’m not certain it’s them. Emails have been sent, but in the meantime if you can ID the tune(s) I’d love to know.
Here are a couple of tracks. In their piece The Playlist highlighted the same Sunn O))) and Boris track I will here (which has vocals by Jesse Sykes) and I’ll throw out another Earth track, from their most recent effort, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull.
UPDATE: As it turns out, Jarmusch wrote the trailer music himself. So says the Focus Features blog: While the Japanese trip [sic*] Boris wrote and performed much of the music in the film, the trailer music
(which is also in the film) was actually written by the director Jim
Jarmusch himself. And it was performed by a band composed of Jarmusch
(electric guitars, baritone guitar), Carter Logan (drums, percussion)
and Shane Stoneback (carillon, organ).
*That should probably be ‘trio’, but even that term may not be right, as Boris has worked almost constantly with the amazing guitarist Michio Kurihara in the last couple years.