Escape From New York soundtrack reissued

Wp-Content Uploads 2012 04 Escape-From-New-York1 John Carpenter not only directed the cult classic 1981 film Escape From New York, he composed the soundtrack too. It's a modular synth masterpiece, melding epic Krautrock-esque cinematic scoring with electro-disco. A-number-one. Death Waltz Recording Company has released a remastered vinyl of the original soundtrack, including six tracks that weren't in the film. Jay Shaw (aka Iron Jaiden) did the cover art and the large poster included with the record. And if you're not yet hip to the new media of vinyl, an expanded edition of the soundtrack has been available on CD for several years from Silva Screen Records.

Vinyl: Escape from New York LP (Forced Exposure)

CD: Escape from New York: New Expanded Edition [Original Film Soundtrack] (Amazon)

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bbonyx

I was so blown away by the EFNY main theme when the movie came out that I remember my 13-year-old self recording it through the air from our family TV during the closing credits when it aired on HBO. It (like the theme from Airwolf and Knight Rider) was pure synth bliss for my adolescent self.
Navin_Johnson

Those chandeliers.
ROSSINDETROIT

Please stop hyping vinyl. I haven’t yet filled the rec room with superb 1970s turntables, tonearms, cartridges and records purchased for pennies on the dollar. Once I have my stash you can turn the hipsters loose to bid prices into the stratosphere.
- joeposts
  
  we must delay the inevitable… HEY I HEAR CASSETTE TAPES ARE RILLY COOL, like way better than records, you can play them in a portable player and maybe hang strands of broken tape from the tips of your fixed-wheel bicycle handlebars, hipsters, because that’s cool eh?
- CognitiveDissident
  
  I think a high-fidelity FLAC sounds better than vinyl, and vinyl is more time consuming to digitise for your portable player than a CD or MP3 etc.
  
  On the other hand, if the future is anything like Snake’s dytopian energy-starved prison island, you could still play a record with a turntable of some sort, a needle and a cardboard cone, when you’re taking a break from rescuing President Pleasence.
  (Try doing that with a CD.)
  - beepbeep
    
    Considering the movie, I would have to say that a cassette tape would be the way to go.
Dave Lloyd

I’d vote the soundtrack of The Thing as the best of John Carpenter’s but none really disappoint.
- http://www.youtube.com/user/ziccup akbar56
  
  Well, The Thing soundtrack was done by Morricone, so it does have a specific quality. Most of his other great films (EFNY, BTiLC, Halloween, etc) John did the most of the music himself.
  - Dave Lloyd
    
    Cor blimey, you’re right! I’d always thought it was his as all the others. Morricone produced a very sympathetic feel.
  - http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki
    
    It was done by Morricone, but Morricone pretty much use Carpenter’s original composition because he liked it so much.
    - http://www.doggo.org doggo
      
      bleak & spooky
  - http://twitter.com/snarf Snarf
    
    Well, Morricone wasn’t completely pleased with how it turned out : “ ”I wrote an hour of music for The Thing, and I just can’t believe the way it was ignored,” he frowns.”
    
    Link to snippet of interview with Morricone : http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=73647&forumID=1&archive=0
    
    But then again, there IS more Morricone on the soundtrack album than in the movie.
http://twitter.com/flyoverland flyoverland

Little known fact. Escape from New York was actually filmed in St. Louis. Our downtown actually looked like that in many places then. The fight scene was filmed in the then abandoned Union Station which was later rehabbed into a tourist area.
- Navin_Johnson
  
  Yeah, East St. Louis, and it still looks pretty Escape From New Yorky..
  - http://twitter.com/flyoverland flyoverland
    
    ESTL is so bad very few people live there anymore. anyone who can move has moved. North STL is about as bad. The Union Station rehab was a big deal for a few years, then started to wane. I hear they may be re-doing it again. I’m waiting for the movie “Escape From St. Louis.” They will film it in the western suburbs.
http://twitter.com/MrAaronSwainEsq Aaron Swain

The expanded Escape From NY soundtrack has been available on iTunes for quite a while, and it sounds great – no re-mastering needed. This vinyl edition is limited to 500 copies worldwide and is selling for $27 a pop. While I do love vinyl (and everything Carpenter), I think the electronic version is the better deal…. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/escape-from-new-york-original/id100959866
- Engineer_
  
  You can listen to it on Spotify as well.
Navin_Johnson

Interesting, people are trying to get $50-$100 for the o.g. vinyl on ebay. Good luck with that..
Cowicide

Oh man, some audiophiles are starting to go at it in this thread!

[cow makes popcorn. puts bowl on floor for dog. leaves room. dog hears audiophiles, ignores popcorn bowl and leaves room.]
bobkat

Most folks overlook it, but many of Carpenter’s film scores were co-written/produced with Alan Howarth, an extremely talented guy. Perhaps it’s just the politics of top billing, but everyone’s always raving about how great “Carpenter’s” music is, when in reality, most of it is “Carpenter/Howarth” music.

http://alanhowarth.com/credits.html