The original soundtrack prompted the release of a second soundtrack on 21 October 1997. This second album included songs from the film that did not make the cut for the first album, as well as songs that did not appear in the final film but were involved at earlier stages or were used as inspiration by the filmmakers, and one duplicate song. The popularity of the first volume led EMI to reissue it and continue to press it since 16 June 2003.
The film's sex, violence and copious drug-taking sparked controversy over whether it glamorised, or condemned, heroin use. But it also inspired a crucially banging soundtrack. Featuring an expertly curated cross-section of '70s rock iconoclasts (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Brian Eno), on-trend Britpop (Blur, Pulp, Elastica) and intoxicating electronica (Leftfield, Underworld, Primal Scream), the soundtrack — released 30 years ago today — was a significant part of Trainspotting's cultural impact all over the globe. Representing a golden era of '90s compilation tie-ins, it provided overseas audiences with a Cool Britannia cheat sheet.
The music followed throught the film arrived in the arresting opening sequence, where the pounding drums of Iggy Pop's Lust For Life match the pace of protagonist Mark Renton, tearing down Edinburgh's cobblestone streets away from pursuing security guards. The 1977 song takes on a heightened energy accompanying the now-infamous "choose life" monologue as the shoplifting sequence turns into a soccer-match-and-smacked-out montage that introduces us to our main cast of misfits.
Then there's the soothing ambience of Brian Eno's Deep Blue Day scoring a visit to "The Worst Toilet In Scotland". Or how about Lou Reed's elegant Perfect Day given a fresh, harrowing take soundtracking a heroin overdose?. A nightclub sequence that morphs from battle of the sexes comedy to a meet cute and subsequent one night stand is set to Heaven 17's Temptation, Sleeper's stellar Blondie cover, and New Order wafting in the background of the morning after.
In each case mentioned, the songs "matched and amplified key scenes, especially when they seemed incongruous", no doubt why the soundtrack remained as one of the 50 Most Memorable Movie Soundtracks. Few soundtracks from the '90s have aged as well.
The film loosely begins in the "mid-to-late '80s … But by the time you reach the end of the film, [the characters] move through the house [music] scene and rave scene. And then we end up with Britpop".
Trainspotting snagged many of the UK musical movement's reigning favourites: Pulp, who'd gone supernova with era-defining anthem Common People; the female-fronted Elastica and Sleeper, and Britpop titans Blur, who were engaged in a media-charged charts battle with Oasis. The latter were a glaring omission from Trainspotting's track list, kept off because Noel Gallagher thought the film was literally about people watching trains.
David Bowie — whose music is referenced frequently in Welsh's original book — also turned down all licensing requests. (His track Golden Years was the first choice for the "worst toilet in Scotland"). However, Boyle says Bowie still provided a "big turning point" in helping access Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, whose solo material Bowie had produced.
Beyond Britpop, Trainspotting presaged the mid-nineties ascent of dance, electronic and big beat music, where the likes of The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx came for Britpop's crown.
Trainspotting's signature tune is Underworld's Born Slippy (.NUXX): the thumping, euphoric shout-along that closes the film, and Renton's narrative arc. The now-iconic Born Slippy almost didn't make the cut. Boyle was already editing the film when he discovered the 1995 B-side while browsing HMV in London's Oxford Street. "I didn't know they'd released it as a single. [But] I took it home … heard the second mix and thought 'that's the end of the film'!" He reached out to Underworld's Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, who were initially reluctant.
Boyle convinced Underworld after screening them a sequence, and the duo sanctioned not only Born Slippy, but also Dark & Long for Renton's disturbing detox sequence, featuring a baby crawling on the roof.
Another influential electronic group that gave Trainspotting their blessing was Leftfield, who had released their seminal 1995 album Leftism before the film's arrival. The duo of Paul Daley and Neil Barnes had also supplied music for the title sequence of Boyle's first film, Shallow Grave.
The energy and vitality of the film chimed with the Zeitgeist and mid-to-late '90s youth culture: Britpop, YBA [Young British Artists], New Labour," as Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie put it. "There was some kind of hopefulness in the air back then, a post–acid house rush of possibilities, both chemically and politically pronounced. "Trainspotting rode in on that wave and stands as a testament to those times."
Primal Scream recorded a spy-rock instrumental titled Trainspotting, featured in yet another quotable sequence in which Renton's frenemy Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller) is educating him on a cultural phenomenon.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario