John Carpenter is a director, screenwriter, producer, editor and composer most commonly known for working in some of the most beloved and influential, horror and science fiction films of the 70s and 80s, including Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978),The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981)The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Starman (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), and They Live (1988). In fact, the Halloween theme, which Carpenter composed himself may arguably be one of the most recognizable theme songs in movie history with his scores for Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York being equally beloved.
Earlier this year, Carpenter released his first solo album of non-soundtrack based music, Lost Themes to overwhelming critical applause from the likes of The Guardian, The New York Times, The Times, Uncut, The Wire, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, Artforum, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and others. And the album was a commercial success as it was debuted on the Top 100 Charts in the UK and the US.
Recorded with his son Cody Carpenter and his godson Daniel Davies, the album reveals that Carpenter is an adventurous artist, whose sound and aesthetic manages to be influential and timeless — in the work of artists like Red Traces, Umberto and others, Carpenter’s influence looms incredibly large. “Vortex,” one of the singles off the album is a tense and minimalist composition comprised of piano backed by ominous and dramatically, swirling electronics, pulsing synths and propulsive drum programming.
Recently, director and composer Carpenter announced a vinyl release of remixed tracks from his debut album Lost Themes. Titled Lost Themes Remixed, the album features remixes from the original album by 8 contemporary electronic music artists including Zola Jesus, Silent Servant, Foetus‘ JG Thirwell, Skinny Puppy‘s ohGr, PAN Records‘ Bill Kouligas, and Uniform.
Uniform’s remix retains the eeriness atmospherics and the pulsing synths of the original but with beefed up drum programming, which turns a tense and cinematic composition into a tense and shimmering, club-banging track.