CUE: MUSIC

Born to Italian parents in Brooklyn, the famed New York borough, Angelo Badalamenti first began writing film music in the early 1970s. Yet it was not until he met director David Lynch in the mid-1980s that his career really took off. The two connected during the production of the 1986 film Blue Velvet. Initially, Badalamenti was brought on as a vocal coach for actress Isabella Rossellini to assist with her performance of the titular song. After presenting Lynch with a recording of the session, the director was sufficiently impressed to invite Badalamenti to compose the film’s score and serve as music supervisor. This partnership marked the beginning of a prolific creative relationship between the two artists. The list of David Lynch films & television productions featuring Badalamenti’s music is impressive.

Wild at Heart (1990)

Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

The Straight Story (1999)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Music from all these—and more—appears on the collection Music For Film And Television, originally released on CD in 2010 and re-issued on coloured vinyl by Varèse Sarabande for RSD 2024. (Note that the LP version has five less tracks than the CD.)

With such an extensive career it comes as no surprise that Angelo Badalamenti worked with other film directors too. This collection includes music from The Comfort of Strangers (1990) and The City Of Lost Children (1995), as well as a song performed (and co-written) by Marianne Faithful for the latter film.

Badalamenti’s music is characterised by lush, atmospheric, and emotionally evocative qualities. His compositions often blend jazz, orchestral, and electronic elements, creating dreamlike and sometimes unsettling soundscapes. The influence of Philip Glass is audible in sparse melodies and subtle minimalistic tropes, yet the arrangements are often lush and deep. A seam of romantic despair runs through his film work. One can hear 'classical' influences here—Debussy and Ravel spring to mind—while the long shadows cast by film score giants such as Bernard Herrmann (an Alfred Hitchcock collaborator) and Nino Rota (The Godfather) are ever present.

Standouts include the dark, orchestral ambience of "Mulholland Drive (Main Title Theme)" and of course the mesmerising "Twin Peaks (Laura Palmer’s theme)-Main Title Theme (Falling)". The Marianne Faithfull song is excellent too. How poignant to hear her doleful lament "Who will take my dreams away" (from The City of Lost Children) alongside music for David Lynch films, both of these legendary artists sadly reaching their end credits in January 2025.

At first glance, the cover of this 2024 re-issue seems a trifle garish, more folk-art than high art. The painting of a rosy-cheeked Badalamenti stares out enigmatically, just avoiding eye contact. Around him float a corona of objects. Are they connected to the films? Of course! It’s a neat little quiz built into the cover design, something for film aficionados to puzzle about over a glass or two of wine (perhaps skipping the cherry pie desert). On the top right with have Alvin Straight driving his tractor across Wisconsin (The Straight Story, a relatively (ahem) straightforward entry in the Lynch filmography) while the straight razor he’s heading towards bodes ill for one of the characters in The Comfort Of Strangers (Paul Schrader, 1990). We’ll leave the remaining illustrations for film buffs to ponder, and enjoy the bucolic beauty of "Rose’s Theme" (The Straight Story) that closes this satisfying dip into the cinemascope world of Angelo Badalamenti.

© Bruce Jenkins－April 2025