23. Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie- Music From the Film Mysterious Skin


This record is almost diametrically opposed to the film's content- a hard-edged film that deals with two youths battling the after effects of being the victims of a pedophile, with one of them finding a life as a hustler, the other convinced that he has been abducted by aliens. While this makes at times for very uncomfortable viewing, this soundtrack gives it almost a sweet and sour background. Pianist Harold Budd teams up wit Cocteau Twins-guitarist Robin Guthrie for the music that doesn't emphasise the harshness of the situation but rather offers a mean of escape. And does that really well. The two have collaborated in the past on Budd's Lovely Thunder, where the unobtrusive, weaving echoed guitars of Guthrie shirked up against the slow, deliberate pianotouches of Budd. This one follows the same paths but without the bed of synths that drowned out the overall sound. Guthrie's signature guitar sound is more defined here and that suits Budd right down to the ground as the two create beautiful melancholic music. Sadly enough Harold Budd has announced his retirement from producing more records- on the basis of this soundtrack I hope he rues that decision soon.