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Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Beats? How Blade Runner impacted electronic music

posted 7 years ago by Satan2016 (23351)
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Good article on how the original score by Vangelis influenced electronic music years later. Includes a video and several stills including Vangelis in studio.

http://www.factmag.com/2017/10/04/blade-runner-documentary/

35 years ago, Blade Runner and its iconic Vangelis score captured the imagination of a generation of electronic musicians. On the eve of its eagerly awaited sequel, artists old and new explain how electronic music’s obsession with Deckard’s dark, neon dystopia is stronger than ever in our new mini-documentary.

[–] MikeCable (1662) 7 years ago

Thanks for sharing this. As a long-time lover of electronic music, I find it very interesting.

[–] Sandoz (2021) 7 years ago

It's nice that Blade Runner's score gets recognition for being the excellent composition that it is, but I'd dispute the assertion that it was the predominant one that resulted in electronic musical soundtracks becoming so prevalent later in the '80s. Sorcerer (1977) scored by Tangerine Dream was probably the first electronic score to really be noticed for how effective that form of music could be in a film, and even though that film was a box-office bomb, those who did see it usually singled out the score as being one of the best elements of the film. Tangerine Dream also returned to the world of film-scoring in 1981 to provide an excellent score to Michael Mann's crime-drama Thief, too.

And I'm glad that article mentioned Clockwork Orange (1971) as being a pioneer in electronic music, too, but they really should have also mention The Andromeda Strain from that same year with a great electronic score by Gil Melle.