Assault on Precinct 13 Original Soundtrack
John Carpenter
(Records Makers)
Reported Monday, March 15 2004
Courtesy of Jonty_Adderley @ www.skrufff.com
"Assault on Precinct 13 is a truly minimalist score. I never imagined that anyone anywhere at any time would listen to the music on its own, away from the images and narrative." John Carpenter.
When John Carpenter's low budget movie about LA gangstas shooting up and terrorising a South Central police station first came out in 1976, it promptly disappeared without trace, though 28 years later both film and soundtrack are widely recognised as classics.
The film took off almost immediately after being shown at the 1976 London Film festival, becoming a film noir classic almost overnight, though amazingly the soundtrack has never been released until now (courtesy of latter day soundtrack gurus Air).
Recorded in three days, the 26 minute 16 track record builds around a startling dark analogue synth riff that's moody, threatening and starkly atmospheric. Beneath the synth sinister chords, an equally ominous beat ebbs and flows, disappearing altogether for tracks like Julie, a haunting piano ballad sound tracking a character's death, and during the infamous ice cream van scene which precedes the shooting of a little girl and the consequent orgy of violence.
Groundbreaking, powerful and delightful to listen to, Assault on Precinct 13 is one of the truly great movie soundtracks of all time as well as one of the world's first genuine techno records. Brilliant!
http://www.moviegrooves.com/shop/assaultonprecinct13.htm (Sound-clips here, also available to buy)
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