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Candyman (It Was Always You, Helen)

from Orbis by Mike Dickson

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about

Candyman was of course the Clive Barker slasher movie from 1992 which told a bizarre story of a student who writes a paper about an urban myth only to find that it's no myth after all. All attempts to be 'intelligent' were sadly eclipsed by the buckets of blood and somewhat predictable way it all pans out. Not unlike Hellraiser, in other words.

It turns out that this disappointment is not isolated. The film's director asked Philip Glass to come up with a score for the film, and the redoubtable composer produced a Gothic masterpiece which was miles better than the film. Sadly, Glass' initial ideas about the film's suggested 'intelligence' were sadly misplaced, and he came to see it as just another genre shocker from the swamp of mediocrity that is Hollywood.

Feeling thus used, Glass didn't sanction the release of the film's recorded score for nearly a decade. None of that makes a good deal of sense though, since Philip Glass also managed to write the soundtrack for the equally brainlessly blood-soaked sequel 'Farewell to the Flesh' in 1995. Maybe his principles only went as far as the next cheque. Mind you, he escaped making the soundtrack for the straight to the bucket DVD third episode, which was so bad it wasn't even so bad it was good. It was so bad it was just...well...bad.

Anyway. The tune presented here is the main theme of the film (as played on the Celesta and mallets) which is later joined by the massed voices of the Mellotron and Birotron. A wonderful, simple tune that is extremely fun to play as well.

A special mention here also for the sound of the Birotron Choir which joins the noise at around the two minute mark. What a great sound. As choirs go, it's recorded fairly weirdly, with male voices at the bottom end, then women somewhere in the middle and then what sounds like a boys choir at the top, with them all getting mixed together somewhere in between. Brilliant.

credits

from Orbis, released November 30, 2011
Instrumentation:

Celesta
Glockenspiel
Mellotron and Birotron choirs
Pipe organs
Bass pedal

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Mike Dickson Edinburgh, UK

Independent musician located in Scotland, producing cinematic/ambient/electronic works as and when he feels like it, for little to no fee.
Early works centred very much on the Mellotron but the palette is now much more varied.
Releases made periodically and usually frequently throughout the year. If you're listening to my stuff then I'd love to hear from you. ... more

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