The Year of Living Dangerously Soundtrack by Maurice Jarre (Varese Vinyl)

This is the first in a series of posts about albums I am selling or have bought for myself. They will just be quick impressions; nothing definitive or even necessarily correct!

I saw THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY at an advance screening hosted by radio station KPFK where my girlfriend Ahna worked. We both enjoyed it tremendously. I remember the love scene in the pouring rain, the dramatic backdrop of Sukarno's presidency, and the awesome  & unexpected performance by Linda Hunt.

I did not remember the music, so it was interesting to find this soundtrack album in a dollar bin. The cover is a bit worn, but the vinyl was clean and unmarked and played beautifully with minimal surface noise.

Maurice Jarre is a name that should be familiar to most moviegoers, at the very least for Doctor Zhivago. For this soundtrack he has blended a minimalist synth score with Indonesian and Asian influences. It is amazing how similar this music and its sensibility is to the soundtrack of BLADE RUNNER, another of my favorite movies. Most 80's Synth Music has not aged well (and Drum Machines were a terrible idea, at least without live accompaniment) but this music recalls its time and place without sounding especially dated.

I am listing this LP for $7.87 in my Amazon store. That's below the minimum I try to keep for selling records but this is one that somebody will really enjoy.