N&G AoTM /// Vol. 58 - April 2024 /// Angelo Badalamenti - The Music of Twin Peaks

Homework:

1. 15 was year-end ARIA chart position
2. Lots of frosty pines in Twin Peaks/Cascadia
3. See #1 and #5
4. Badalamenti plays Fender Rhodes
5. #1 on ARIA April 7th, 1991
6. BOB is a key Twin Peaks character
7. Takashi Tezuka wanted to build a world of characters inspired by Twin Peaks when he ser abkutbti create Link's Awakening
8. Lynch was inspired by The Beatles, met them all, wrote a forward for Ringo's book and there are pictures of Ringo in The Red Room
9. There are jazzy and soap opera elements to the soundtrack and show. The last picture is maybe a reference to the 'Between Two Worlds' featurette? Not sure about the other pics
10. One Eyed Jacks is the Candian brothel in the show
11. Released in 1990
12. The Velvet Room is very reminiscent of The Red Room
13. "Twin Peaks Theme" received the award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance at 33rd Annual Grammy Awards
14. Snoqualmie was a filming location for Twin Peaks, and is whereabouts Twin Peaks exists geographically in-show. (*this is the clue that tied it all together for me, and let me double back to a bunch of previously clues I hadn't solved!)
 
avecigrec said:
Homework:

1. 15 was year-end ARIA chart position
2. Lots of frosty pines in Twin Peaks/Cascadia
3. See #1 and #5
4. Badalamenti plays Fender Rhodes
5. #1 on ARIA April 7th, 1991
6. BOB is a key Twin Peaks character
7. Takashi Tezuka wanted to build a world of characters inspired by Twin Peaks when he ser abkutbti create Link's Awakening
8. Lynch was inspired by The Beatles, met them all, wrote a forward for Ringo's book and there are pictures of Ringo in The Red Room
9. There are jazzy and soap opera elements to the soundtrack and show. The last picture is maybe a reference to the 'Between Two Worlds' featurette? Not sure about the other pics
10. One Eyed Jacks is the Candian brothel in the show
11. Released in 1990
12. The Velvet Room is very reminiscent of The Red Room
13. "Twin Peaks Theme" received the award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance at 33rd Annual Grammy Awards
14. Snoqualmie was a filming location for Twin Peaks, and is whereabouts Twin Peaks exists geographically in-show. (*this is the clue that tied it all together for me, and let me double back to a bunch of previously clues I hadn't solved!)
Click to expand...
We have a winner! The album is indeed Angelo Badalamenti - The Music of Twin Peaks. Nailed it on all the clues as well. I'll write up a more detailed bit about why I chose this album next week (about to go out of town for a few days). That being said, there's some other links with some of these clues.

I also had a hidden clue I was going to reveal next week. Prior to the correct guess, I was liking everyone's posts with fire, a nod to Fire Walk With Me (also a great Badalamenti album).

1. 15 was originally meant to be a red herring, was hoping someone would lean into the early NOFX guess, as they have 15 studio albums. Along with the Aria link, It also refers to socket 15 from The Return series.
2. 2 clues on this one, the frosty pines common to the Pacific Northwest, but also chose frost specifically to reference Mark Frost, co-creator of the show.
3. Aria charts chosen specifically to confuse on the location, which I think worked.
4. Got scared when @Colonel_Angus listed the noted musicians that played the Rhodes, Badalamenti was right there.
5. Again #1 on Aria
6. Another attempt at the red herring, hoping someone would bite on the NOFX reference. But yes, this is very much a reference to the character Bob from the show.
7. Again, spot on, the whole game being a dream very much inspired by Twin Peaks.
8. An extra clue here as well, I specifically chose, according to google, a picture of Ringo from 1964. Christine Hunter, with Angelo Badalamenti as composer and arranger, released the song "Santa, Bring Me Ringo" that year.
9. This one's taken direct from the 33 1/3 book on the album, which lists the music as featuring "cool jazz, classical, soap-opera melodrama, retro teen balladry, and everything in between. I like the connection to the between two worlds as well, though that wasn't my initial intention with this clue.
10. Spot on again, song title a reference to the brothel
11. Realized at this point I hadn't given a direct time period, so freebie clue with no subtlety.
12. Correct again
13. Also correct, was planning on posting more of Badalamenti's awards if it didn't get guessed.
14. I had a feeling this one might give it away. Beautiful area, as is most of the PNW.
 
Happy Friday everyone! Sorry for my absence the past week or so, Let's talk about why I chose this album!

First off, when narrowing down the list of albums to cover, I wanted to pick something that hadn't been represented yet by previous AOTM's. I immediately thought of video game soundtracks, but they are notoriously hard to come by. Thought I might have a winner with the Shenmue OST, but right before the month started I decided to double check, and sure enough, it was sold out. I then started going through my collection to see what would work, and what was available. There it was staring me in the face: Twin Peaks. Didn't see any soundtracks as an AOTM previously.

On top of not having a soundtrack before, this felt like the only choice given the artist. Angelo Badalamenti sadly passed away in 2022, so I hope this can be a small tribute to a fantastic composer that has influenced many aspects of my life, both directly and indirectly. Best known for his work with David Lynch, he helped popularize the notion that a film or TV soundtrack could be good enough to stand on it's own as an album. Angelo had this brilliant talent of being able to write music that both captured the mood and themes on display visually, while being something equally good on the turntable.

For those that know me a little, I tend to lean towards the various flavors of rock for my music tastes. Over the years I've expanded my musical palette considerably, and I think this album was a big help for that. I was WAY late to the Lynch/Twin Peaks party - to be fair it came out when I was 3. It wasn't until streaming came into prominence that I finally jumped in. For the clues in this thread, I was going to include the game Alan Wake if nobody had guessed it at this point in the month. There is nothing else that I can think of more inspired by the show. Playing that game piqued my interest in the show, and I watched it for the first time soon after. I was hooked from the first few notes of Badalamenti's Rhodes in the Twin Peaks Theme, and I immediately picked up on how much the music was instrumental to this show. I tend to be a bit dense, and this is not something I usually pick up on - a testament to the composing talent on display here. After watching and hearing the show, I sought out his other soundtracks and also watched more of Lynch's works. When this AOTM and Fire Walk With Me were announced on vinyl through Mondo, they were instant buys and to this day are in my top 10 albums that I've spun the most.

The music on this album is a great expression of human emotion. Admittedly the main tone is mostly somber, but there are moments of happiness, hopefulness, and anger. It's also got some swagger, and just comes across as "cool" at times. I think it also hits on nostalgia, making me reminisce of eating at a diner as a kid. I struggle to truly put into words how things make me feel, but this one is always a comfort, even though it can be unsettling at times.

Think I'll wrap things up here. Final thoughts, I love this album and the show associated it. No need to have seen the show to appreciate the beautiful music on display here. When I checked before starting the thread, this album was readily available on Amazon and other retailers, as well as used copies on Discogs. The Mondo pressing I have is harder to find, but from what I can tell, both versions have the same track list, can't comment on quality unfortunately.
 
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