Instead of saccharine strings and bright horns, they favor dense, swampy atmospheres and pulsing electronics, creating soundscapes that unsettle and fascinate. In their film scores, composing duo Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) and Ben Salisbury shun many tropes of the form. “The Weaker the Executive, the More Notes You Get”: A Conversation With Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury
So let’s raise the curtain by talking to two composers who are part of an innovative new vanguard that’s creating today’s most exciting movie music. And sometimes, musicians who’ve found fame with their own songs can channel those same gifts into film work. Put another way: Whereas a soundtrack highlights moments of a movie, a score blankets the entire film. (We’re only looking at narrative films in this list we are not including documentaries.)Ī great original score is an art form in itself: While it serves the director’s vision, it can also stand alone as its own immersive listen. As you’ll see below, the original score is a beloved medium for musicians, who often have a favorite one they can point to immediately. We’re defining scores as original music composed for a film, with recurring motifs and almost always without vocals. This type of work is often the result of a collaboration between a composer and director, and created in tandem with a movie to steadily enhance the narrative onscreen. Now that we’ve looked at the best soundtracks in film, let’s turn to the best scores.