More “Fuckin A!” Moments in Action Movie Music (A Bio-Mechanical Examination of the AMS-80)

Illustration of a DX9 synthesizer against a laser-like blast of yellow, purple, and orange light.

|Matthew Tchepikova-Treon| For the inaugural 1980s Action Extravaganza, three years ago now, I wrote an ode to a few particular moments from action movie soundtracks that, by sheer musical force, can compel moviegoers to exclaim aloud, “Fuckin A!” This year, inspired by… Continue reading

The Lyrical Loneliness of Down By Law

|Jackson Stern| Some of the best songs you can listen to when you’re at your lowest are the loneliest ones. When I was near the end of high school, I got my heart broken in a few different ways, like a lot of people do at that age, and I’d go for these long drives. Almost every day after school Continue reading

Graft & Collusion: Finding the Real Tom Waits Within the Illusions of One from the Heart

|Sam L. Landman| As he ventured onto the American Zoetrope lot in the fall of 1980, fully prepared to write the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s One from the Heart, Tom Waits had already spent a majority of his career as an imposter. (And I say that lovingly, as a fan who’s… Continue reading