When I saw my first orgy, it was scored by Basil Poledouris. It had a profound effect on my 10-year-old brain. It was this simple waltz, stitched together with violins and French horns, and over it I watched an opera of sex, violence, and giant snakes (while some hooded creep calmly cooked green skull soup). The rest of 1982’s Conan the Barbarian is an equally awesome opus of swords, sex, and giant snakes — and the movie has little to no dialog — so Poledouris’s big Carmina Burana-style soundtrack speaks when Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan) cannot.
The movie and its score are a childhood favorite, and they both still hold up surprisingly well (honest, I just watched it). It has been a while since I’ve tried to mix voice captures with music, but the film’s Wagnerian score and ridiculous one-liners made it pretty approachable. Case and point: The movie’s opener “Anvil of Crom” matched with the hardcore post-punk outfit METZ’s “Headache.” Basil’s twenty-four French horns and tribal base drums bleed right out of the brutal guitar bends of the Canadian three-piece. The film’s most memorable lines also feel like they were meant for electro anthems from the likes of Morcheeba, Washed Out and Emancipator. I’m a little surprised it all works in weird unison, which makes the old, awesomely goofy fantasy flick still feel relevant, but please judge for yourself.
The download links are below — both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art). Before and after, I suggest enjoying the short video below on Basil Poledouris. He’ll explain how that orgy scene was actually written with the help of his young daughter, so looking back, I guess it all makes sense. Poledouris died on Nov. 8, 2006, so this year (way too late) we celebrate his finest work, which sits besides masters such as Ennio Morricone and John Williams as one of the best soundtracks of all time.
The Riddle of Steel (MP3 download)
The Riddle of Steel (FLAC download)
Track Listing
1. Kemosabe – Everything Everything
2. Stone Letter – Tomahawk
3. Gimme Your Love – Morcheeba
4. Alright [Ratatat Remix] – Memphis Bleek
5. Alarm – Wise Blood
6. Old Devil – Emancipator
7. Hermila – Shout Out Louds
8. Under My Nose – Fucked Up
9. On and On – Autre Ne Veut
10. Thanks for Your Hospitality – Seth Sentry
11. Yon Ferrets Return – Neko Case
12. See It My Way – Mikal Cronin
13. Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue – Portugal, The Man
14. One Hand – Leagues
15. Spinoza – Generationals
16. Talent Supercedes – Deltron 3030
17. Headache – METZ
18. Anvil of Crom – Basil Poledouris
19. Bite My Tongue – King Khan & The Shrines
20. California Dreaming – The Flashbulb
21. Yeah – Washed Out
22. Defeat – Afu-Ra
23. Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem
24. Agua Verde – Strawberry Girls
Nemo 