Album Review: Tommy Simpson – Kung Fu Games OST
Tommy Simpson is one of the most celebrated under-the-radar heroes on this blog. We've recently covered his excellent soundtrack to "Streets Loud With Echoes", a documentary about the life of brave political activists in Kazakhstan. Now it's time to turn our ears to a strikingly different kind of soundtrack penned by Tommy. This time he composed music for "Kung Fu Games" – a "Kung Fu genre film mixed with a SAW/Cube claustrophobic thriller".
Tommy Simpson
With the score, I was tasked to highlight and embody the feelings of existential dread that our heroes are consumed by in the "Void Rooms" in-between battles, and ferocious, high-energy electronic music to match the adrenaline rush of the fight scenes. Fans of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Clint Mansell and Ludwig Grandson will find this score appeals to their sensibilities.
The soundtrack is available in two versions. We'll focus on the recently released expanded edition, turning our attention mostly to the more energetic pieces soundtracking the fight scenes. It's important to note that, unlike the last time we reviewed Tommy's soundtrack, this time we haven't seen the film. It means we have good news – no spoilers! It also means we will use our imagination extensively, which might also be good news, depending on your view of the world and the role of soundtrack reviews in it.
Let's begin with "Fight 1 – Bamboo Forest". The synth bass sounds like a roaring tiger and snare drums can be easily mistaken for screams of pain and despair. More synths appear later, pulsing like waves of fear, rage and a dozen of other conflicting emotions in a fighter's body, with its shaking muscles, shivering nerves and boiling blood. Anxious strings and synth textures add an epic dimension to an otherwise minimalistic soundscape.
"Fight 2 – Dojo" is refreshingly different. This time the harsh and abrasive synths take a step back and the textural elements fill all the sonic space they left behind. Interestingly, this decision makes the track sound more claustrophobic and uncomfortable. There's less air to breathe for each of the fighters, less space for them to move and more space for the darkest of their emotions to crawl in and grow bigger than the room itself.
"Fight 3 – Tides Turn" is still highly synesthetic and cinematic. However, it's easily imaginable as a dancefloor filler at an avant-garde tecnho party. My favorite element of the composition is the offensively pleasing bass timbre, especially it's lower overtones tickling the listener's pleasure zones while the rest of the sonic picture bites and scratches you like a wildcat.
"Fight 4 – Subway, Pt. 1" sounds like a train a approaching, but the picture falls apart and color-morphs, like a broken TV or a psychedelic dream. "Fight 4 – Subway, Pt. 2" evokes similar associations, but this time it's like you're hearing sounds of life outside from a bubble – real or metaphorical (for example, if you're in a state of concussion).
"Fight 5 – Tea House" (parts 1 & 2) is a postmodernist take on classic Kung Fu soundtracks with traditional Chinese instruments ruthlessly swallowed by Frankenstein sewn together from ambient textures, walls of noise and relentless techno beats.
"Run For Your Lives" borrows colors from the same sonic palette as the rest of the soundtrack, however, its mood, structure and energy reminded me of classic Big Beat acts like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, highly influenced by Funk and Acid music.
"You've Won The Game" continues in the same vein, sounding like a Post-House banger slowed down due to the illusionary effects of substances or exhausting Kung Fu fights in claustrophobic rooms and bamboo forests haunted by ghosts and demons created by Hollywood's evil geniuses.
Other album highlights include the beautifully thin-sounding "What Where Why How Who" with its sense of danger around the corner, "The Control Room" that feels like a scarier, more visceral take on the atmosphere created by Eduard Artemiev in Tarkovsky's "Stalker" and the deeply unsettling resonance of "Eric's Amygdala".
Why is this album interesting? Reason 1. Raw emotions. Moreover, raw emotions of the kind you don't usually get from modern music, even if it's avant-garde, forward-thinking techno or experimental sountracks. Sometimes these emotions are so huge and raw that it can get overwhelming, sometimes they are subtle, like changes of a mental state of a person in deep meditation.
Reason 2. It's super inspiring. It shows you how music can provoke your imagination to paint crazy cinematic pictures (even if you haven't seen the film!). It's wildly synesthetic. Timbres are moving, shape-shifting, changing their color and density. You can feel all of these effects that help you understand the music deeply, without the need for meditation or psychedelics. And the album is just sonically bold. After hearing all the nuances discovered by Tommy, musicians might feel the drive to starting writing music with colors as bold and unheard of, as ones found on this record.
Reason 3. It's a lot of fun! What sets the the record apart from a lot of music in this vein is the touch of humour that never devalues the deepness of the record. You can feel the artist had fun creating these sonic universes, and it means you can catch the same vibe listening!
Of course, there are more reasons to dive deep into the world of timbral, melodical and textural Kung Fu. But with joy and friendly envy we invite you to discover them for yourself!
Let's begin with "Fight 1 – Bamboo Forest". The synth bass sounds like a roaring tiger and snare drums can be easily mistaken for screams of pain and despair. More synths appear later, pulsing like waves of fear, rage and a dozen of other conflicting emotions in a fighter's body, with its shaking muscles, shivering nerves and boiling blood. Anxious strings and synth textures add an epic dimension to an otherwise minimalistic soundscape.
"Fight 2 – Dojo" is refreshingly different. This time the harsh and abrasive synths take a step back and the textural elements fill all the sonic space they left behind. Interestingly, this decision makes the track sound more claustrophobic and uncomfortable. There's less air to breathe for each of the fighters, less space for them to move and more space for the darkest of their emotions to crawl in and grow bigger than the room itself.
"Fight 3 – Tides Turn" is still highly synesthetic and cinematic. However, it's easily imaginable as a dancefloor filler at an avant-garde tecnho party. My favorite element of the composition is the offensively pleasing bass timbre, especially it's lower overtones tickling the listener's pleasure zones while the rest of the sonic picture bites and scratches you like a wildcat.
"Fight 4 – Subway, Pt. 1" sounds like a train a approaching, but the picture falls apart and color-morphs, like a broken TV or a psychedelic dream. "Fight 4 – Subway, Pt. 2" evokes similar associations, but this time it's like you're hearing sounds of life outside from a bubble – real or metaphorical (for example, if you're in a state of concussion).
"Fight 5 – Tea House" (parts 1 & 2) is a postmodernist take on classic Kung Fu soundtracks with traditional Chinese instruments ruthlessly swallowed by Frankenstein sewn together from ambient textures, walls of noise and relentless techno beats.
"Run For Your Lives" borrows colors from the same sonic palette as the rest of the soundtrack, however, its mood, structure and energy reminded me of classic Big Beat acts like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, highly influenced by Funk and Acid music.
"You've Won The Game" continues in the same vein, sounding like a Post-House banger slowed down due to the illusionary effects of substances or exhausting Kung Fu fights in claustrophobic rooms and bamboo forests haunted by ghosts and demons created by Hollywood's evil geniuses.
Other album highlights include the beautifully thin-sounding "What Where Why How Who" with its sense of danger around the corner, "The Control Room" that feels like a scarier, more visceral take on the atmosphere created by Eduard Artemiev in Tarkovsky's "Stalker" and the deeply unsettling resonance of "Eric's Amygdala".
Why is this album interesting? Reason 1. Raw emotions. Moreover, raw emotions of the kind you don't usually get from modern music, even if it's avant-garde, forward-thinking techno or experimental sountracks. Sometimes these emotions are so huge and raw that it can get overwhelming, sometimes they are subtle, like changes of a mental state of a person in deep meditation.
Reason 2. It's super inspiring. It shows you how music can provoke your imagination to paint crazy cinematic pictures (even if you haven't seen the film!). It's wildly synesthetic. Timbres are moving, shape-shifting, changing their color and density. You can feel all of these effects that help you understand the music deeply, without the need for meditation or psychedelics. And the album is just sonically bold. After hearing all the nuances discovered by Tommy, musicians might feel the drive to starting writing music with colors as bold and unheard of, as ones found on this record.
Reason 3. It's a lot of fun! What sets the the record apart from a lot of music in this vein is the touch of humour that never devalues the deepness of the record. You can feel the artist had fun creating these sonic universes, and it means you can catch the same vibe listening!
Of course, there are more reasons to dive deep into the world of timbral, melodical and textural Kung Fu. But with joy and friendly envy we invite you to discover them for yourself!