Thursday 15 October 2009

Vangelis - Blade Runner OST, Esper Edition (1982)


The release history of one of cinema's most celebrated soundtracks (and groundbreaking electronic album in its own right) is a long and complicated one, with large swathes of the most memorable score left unissued, alternate track titles, blahblahblah. All you need to know is that this incorporates the entire original soundtrack - nothing is left out and it's all noirish, cyberpunk, sci-fi synth-classical genius. The tracks are in chronological order as they appear in the film. I can't remember whether I included the artwork as this is an old upload, but it's likely =D
The remit is broad: Moog jazz/blues, grandiose synth compositions, Middle Eastern modes with uncanny synthesized bazaar orchestra...
For fans of the movie (if you haven't seen it go buy the tin box final cut edition or watch here, you mug) you'll appreciate the fact that this 320kbps bootleg includes everything from the geisha billboard music to Vangelis' spot-on speculation of what clubbers would be dancing to in 2019 dystopian Los Angeles. These tracks are possibly the best feature for me, the ones where the musical cues were never issued separately, so you still get to enjoy the subtle genius of the sound effects department: rain falling, wind chimes, etc. The bootleggers obviously made a conscious decision to extricate the dialogue track but keep in alot of these sounds, and they only serve to enhance the atmosphere.

Tyrell Records


^(This is just the main title theme and closing credits,
doesn't quite do justice to the scope of the soundtrack)

4 comments:

Aaron Poole said...

Thanks for one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever..Great film too.

Molecules said...

you're welcome beatmastermix. It deserves a much better write-up than i could be bothered/am able to provide!

vcn said...

Hi. I'd like only to say this is not BR Esper edition soundtrack but "The Sound of Blade Runner 08 edition" created by me two years ago . If you're interested in my definitive 2010 version you'll find it on Br2019.com .

One of the best soundtracks!

Best wishes

Molecules said...

ah gee vcn, thanks for the heads up and sorry for the mistake. Fine job you did and all