by Mondo, in collaboration with Howe Records, announces three incredible Howard Shore scores from classic David Cronenberg films Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers, and Crash. This continuation of Mondo’s Cronenberg series, which began with a soundtrack for Scanners and The Brood, features beautiful and haunting design work and marks the first time all three titles will be available on vinyl.
Naked Lunch (available May 25)
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the score for Naked Lunch was composed by three-time Oscar-winner Howard Shore collaborating with both jazz legend Ornette Coleman and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Based on the novel by William S. Burroughs, Cronenberg takes the character of William Lee (Peter Weller) through his drug-fueled escapades through the fictional land of Interzone, while also blending it with a semi-autobiographical story about Burroughs himself.
Once referred to as an unfilmable novel, the film Naked Lunch is one of the great book-to-film adaptations, in no small part due to the wildly inventive score by Shore and Coleman. Their collaboration transports you seamlessly into Burroughs’ world.
“Naked Lunch is one of the great film scores” wrote Royal S. Brown. “The whole thing, which has been recorded with exceptional depth and warmth, gives a simultaneous impression of simplicity and complexity, of harmony and dissonance, of reality and half dream, rather like Burroughs’ own disturbing visions.”
Available for the first time ever on vinyl, with original artwork by Rich Kelly.
Dead Ringers (available this June)
Based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, Dead Ringers tells the story of identical twin gynecologists — suave Elliot and sensitive Beverly, bipolar sides of one personality — who share the same practice, the same apartment, and the same women. It is a chilling tale, but a high-water mark for the shared filmography of Cronenberg and Shore.
Shore’s score creates a beautiful yet mysterious atmosphere. However, Shore uses the beauty of a string orchestra to represent the sinister. Howard Shore has said that “the music in Dead Ringers works all around the edges. It’s all about subtext.” Shore won the Genie Award for the *Dead Ringers score.
Original artwork by Randy Ortiz.
Crash (available this July)
Crash is an utterly audacious piece of work from Shore — using six electric guitars, three orchestral harps, three woodwinds, and two percussionists. Shore crafts a meticulous sonic landscape.
Based on the novel by J.G. Ballard, Crash deftly explores the complex interpersonal relationships of a select few, who find themselves colliding head-on with the world of car-crash fetishism.
Crash is the first Cronenberg film to premiere at Cannes. John Bender wrote, “Shore’s calculated instrumentation, mostly electronically manipulated guitars, harps and percussion, give Crash a cold and burnished metallic sound.” The perfect companion to an uncompromising filmmaker like David Cronenberg.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of this complex film, Mondo and Howe Records are pleased to present Howard Shore’s score for Crash for the first time ever on vinyl, with original artwork by Rich Kelly.
Rock Hard \m/
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