Comments on: "That's how it was done"

"That's how it was done"

Doleful Creature — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:54:06 -0800

Angelo Badalamenti describes the origin of the Twin Peaks theme. [SLYT]

The audio to this story was featured previously on the blue in the form of Nicolas Jaar's epic BBC Essential Mix.

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:58:25 -0800

Twin Posts

By: Celsius1414

Celsius1414 — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:02:19 -0800

Twin Posts Thank goodness for three-year-old reposts, then. This is wonderful!

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:09:51 -0800

Jaar made his Essential Mix (which opened with this clip) available as a No BBC Version, to stream and download, though it's a M4A file.

By: (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates

(Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:11:08 -0800

Wonderful.

By: Redfield

Redfield — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:11:39 -0800

This is for how he composed Laura's Theme, not the actual Twin Peaks theme song (which is a much better song, I think!).

By: schmod

schmod — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:24:23 -0800

I just started watching Twin Peaks about a month ago. Truthfully, I've never been a fan of David Lynch -- watching Blue Velvet was an outright traumatic experience for me. However, I love films and shows that are equal parts hyperbolically sad, mysterious, and absurd, and n that level, Twin Peaks works really well for me. I can see why it's earned its legacy as a cult favorite, and I may need to go explore some of David Lynch's other work. The soundtrack does seem to get repetitive, but I love its distinctiveness -- I have absolutely zero doubt that Badalamenti's score fit prefectly into Lynch's vision for the show. You can't have Twin Peaks without the soundtrack. Sadly, I doubt we'll ever again see a major network pick up such a profoundly strange show (complete with glacial pacing and kudzu plot) for two whole seasons (it's a miracle that we somehow got Fringe for as long as we did, even if it was overwhelmingly more mainstream than Twin Peaks). My boyfriend thinks I'm nuts for enjoying the show, and I can see why it would be alienating or problematic for most people. I look forward to completing it once I get the chance.

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:40:53 -0800

If there was such a thing as TV Show Family Trees then Twin Peaks would be sitting at the top of a bunch of them.

By: Redfield

Redfield — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:42:20 -0800

How about David Lynch making quinoa.

By: Diablevert

Diablevert — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:51:26 -0800

I always pictured Baldementi as a thin, dark fellow with his hair a bit longish and brushed back to show a widow's peak. Sort of person who'd always wear smoking jackets, sort of a dapper Cole Porter crossed with intense Charles Baudelaire type. It's funny to see him so friendly and warm and open and Californian.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:02:03 -0800

David Lynch is amazing. That is all.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:11:00 -0800

I always pictured Baldementi as a thin, dark fellow He plays the shady mob-type guy in Mulholland Dr. who the studio execs struggle to impress with their procured espresso. Whenever I watch interviews with him I imagine him spitting a mouthful of coffee onto a pristine white napkin.

By: Damienmce

Damienmce — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:22:20 -0800

I doubt we'll ever again see a major network pick up such a profoundly strange show Although nowhere near as dark or strange as Twinpeaks, Lilyhammer is a seriously strange show: Sil from The Sopranos! In Norway! Its just baffling that it exists.

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:35:05 -0800

Hi explanation - telling us the song was composed right then and there in real time as the two men talked - narrated as he plays the song they cam up with - is a wonderful thing (whether or not it is true).

By: empath

empath — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:36:38 -0800

Sadly, I doubt we'll ever again see a major network pick up such a profoundly strange show To be honest, I think reality tv shows are more strange and disconcerting.

By: duvatney

duvatney — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:37:21 -0800

I showed Twin Peaks to a small group of college students I was supervising in the week after Hurricane Sandy. Conditions were perfect, since classes were cancelled and we were all stuck in Brooklyn for an entire week. Night after night, they would come and crowd into my room, clutching fold-up chairs and pillows and bags of snacks, and I would fire up the projector and we would watch three or four episodes at once. Together they gaped and gasped and shrieked as the show grew stranger and the mystery unfolded (yet the show never loses it mystery, which is part of its basic appeal--the radical notion that not everything needs to be explained, because not everything can be explained.) I thoroughly encourage you to share Twin Peaks with people who haven't seen it before, because it allows you to relive the transformative experience of watching the show for the first time. I genuinely believe that there is something numinous about that show. Lynch taps into other worlds that you didn't know you knew existed. (Shameless self-link: after my last rewatching of the series, I was inspired to create an icon of Agent Cooper that you can see here.)

By: furnace.heart

furnace.heart — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:45:08 -0800

I was introduced to Twin Peaks by the fine folks at the Department of Safety in Anacortes Washington. This artists collective lived in an old police/fire station, and the front desk had a nameplate on it that read "Lucy Moran." A couple months later I watched the entire series front to back and then realized how awesome the name plate was for that particular space. The horrible snow storm we just had played a very large part in me rewatching the entire series this last weekend. So great.

By: penduluum

penduluum — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:05:04 -0800

I doubt we'll ever again see a major network pick up such a profoundly strange show I don't know. I bet if we had a highly idiosyncratic director with a big built-in audience (who networks knew would generate tremendous buzz and critical attention just because of who he is) decide that he wanted to start making an episodic TV show, one or another of the networks would open up some doors. Maybe we just don't have enough fairly big-name directors out there with an interest in doing something unexpected.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:14:51 -0800

Tim Burton's thirtysomething

By: kozad

kozad — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:20:06 -0800

I play what must be a simplified version of the Twin Peaks theme now and then at brunch gigs. Sometimes people come up to me, puzzled, and say, "that really slow piece you were playing...what was that?" It doesn't build as much as "Laura's Theme," but it's nice and moody. And it's been so long since that wonderful show that the music is just a fragmentary shadow in their minds.

By: Admiral Haddock

Admiral Haddock — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:47:00 -0800

I don't think there has ever been, or will ever be, a better television show. Badalamenti's score was sublime. I have the rare doughnut-disc version of the soundtrack. I used to listen to it all the time.

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:56:45 -0800

For those of you in the L.A. area, USC has begun showing the entire series on the big screen, starting a few weeks ago. They have over 40 guests from the original series lined up - almost the entire original cast, writers, directors, Mark Frost, Angelo Badalamenti, Julee Cruise ... pretty much everyone except Lynch and Michael Anderson. Worth investigating if you can find a way in.

By: computech_apolloniajames

computech_apolloniajames — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:19:35 -0800

ARGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For once in my life, I wish I were in L.A.

By: Mothlight

Mothlight — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:51:23 -0800

I bet if we had a highly idiosyncratic director with a big built-in audience (who networks knew would generate tremendous buzz and critical attention just because of who he is) decide that he wanted to start making an episodic TV show, one or another of the networks would open up some doors. I think you just described the circumstances surrounding the greenlight given to David Lynch's Mulholland Dr pilot for ABC. Which was, of course, nixed before it could even make it to air.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:54 -0800

I'd be surprised if David Lynch has what ABC would consider a big built-in audience.

By: Horizontally a Champion

Horizontally a Champion — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:39:55 -0800

I've been listening to this snippet for months. It's near the beginning of Nicolas Jaar's 'Essential Mix' from last year. Odd hearing it out of context... (Listen to the mix. Do it.)