With much anticipated sequel Tron: Legacy hitting cinemas worldwide on December 17, we listen to its fantastic soundtrack, composed by French electronica wizards Daft Punk.
The pressure that accompanies directing a movie as big as Tron: Legacy doesn’t sound that different to living in a video game: much like the movie's Kevin Flynn, director Joe Kosinski was living in another world for three years and battling technical malfunctions, multiple personalities (and/or programs) and even a few last-minute 90-degree swerves to avoid disaster in the race to the finish line.
“I just finished the movie Wednesday,” laughs Kosinski, plonking himself down in one of the plush red chairs at Apogee inside famed LA indie radio giant KCRW on Saturday. “Three years of my life, and I’m less than 72 hours back in reality.
"I got to watch the movie once, finished, and then it was shipped out and watched now with an audience both the last two nights, so it's been pretty cool."
One of those very last-minute changes was to switch one part of the score with another and the soundtrack was the reason for Kosinski's interview with KCRW's music director and DJ Jason Bentley who played a crucial role himslef in persuading French electronica wizards Daft Punk to write the music.
It took Kosinski and Bentley almost a year to talk the duo (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter) into it. “They’re very meticulous,” says Kosinski, who also directed the Starry Night trailer for Halo 3. “They don’t want to do anything unless they can commit to it."
Daft Punk spent weeks locked in the studio listening to various classic movie scores, slowly immersing themselves in an unfamiliar world. Insistent on certain things, like recording at Air Lindhurst studios in London so they could get the particular brass sound that they wanted.
"They wanted to make sure that this was something they could commit themselves to, creatively and completely, for a couple of years, so I totally understand that," adds Kosinski. "I knew we wanted to create a classic film score that blended electronic and orchestral music in a way that hadn't been done before. I knew creatively we were in the right spot, it just took some time to get everything lined up as it had to be and then once we were off to the races, it was pretty incredible."
So, what were they like to work with? “There were times when we disagreed on some things, of course,” smiles Kosinski. “But agreed on other things too. We would push each other creatively. It made the collaborative process all the easier.” He thinks for a second. “It was just an awesome experience.”
You can hear the Tron: Legacy score online here, but here's our pick of the best cuts...
Solar Sailer is one of Daft Punk's catchiest and most effective melodies ever, one that will burn itself into your brain and keep you humming it for the rest of the day. The hybrid of symphony and synth is a hint of what’s to come; sweeping cello melts with brass and builds into something truly epic, almost in the tradition of Hans Zimmer, before leaving the game grid in tiny, dying sparks.
Derezzed is the first single to be released from the soundtrack, and a throwback to classic, Discovery-era Daft Punk. When one of the T:L cameras malfunctions, “something that happened a couple times,” chuckles Kosinski, “Daft Punk happened to be there on set when it did, we ended up just having a Tron: Legacy dance party.”
Recognizer: ” This is where the 3D really kicks in,” says Kosinski. It’s a lumbering, foreboding symphony, and the first thing that came to mind is Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia which seems appropriate for a Disney picture.
Adagio is the background piece for Kevin Flynn’s (Jeff Bridges) tale of how his life on the grid. This is mostly a strings piece, melancholy and somber, before it moves to something more sinister; suggesting Flynn’s time in Tron-land hasn’t been exactly all roses. Again, there’s a bit of German composer Hans Zimmer’s influence evident here, particularly his early and more techno/dance-influenced synth work on Tony Scott and John Woo movies. Still, out of all the tracks, it’s the most traditional, and therefore new territory for Daft Punk.
Disc Wars: Heavy on the percussion, with a smattering of 80’s-sounding analog synth. This particular track earned the score the unofficial title of “loudest ever” from the ILM engineers mixing it at Skywalker Ranch.
Like Derezzed and Solar Sailer, End Credits is classic Daft Punk, relatively untarnished by the traditional symphony score, and one of the best cuts. A reprise of earlier melodies, the closing track highlights Punk’s knack for rhythm, and will remind fans why the Legacy soundtrack is not just musical accompaniment; it’s one of the main reasons you’ll have your butt in a front-row seat on December 17… it’s that good.
And keep an eye out for Guy-Man and Tom in Tron: Legacy. According to star Olivia Wilde, they appear fleetingly as robot DJs.
Want more?
- Check out a Red Bull Music Academy Session with Daft Punk's former manager Pedro "Busy P” Winter.
- Check out the Tron Soundtrack
- More music and film news here
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