Toons of Caliban – My Music Playlist
As has become customary around the release of a new work, I present to you the playlist I had on my iTunes whilst I was writing Angels of Caliban.
If you want to really immerse yourself in Angels of Caliban, you might like to get this playlist set up before the book is available to order on Saturday. I can’t guarantee you’ll be listening to the same tracks at the same moments in the story, but the general vibe will be the same! You may also find it helpful during your own writing, if you need some inspiration (you can find all my published playlists here).
The main plot of Angels of Caliban is split between two locations – Macragge in the Five Hundred Worlds and the homeworld of the Dark Angels, titular Caliban. These necessitated two different approaches, with Caliban being more medieval and knightly and orchestral, the action and drama on Macragge more military sci-fi in tone.
The playlist includes my go-to action tracks like the Aliens, Mad Max and Dredd soundtracks. The intensity of Fury Road accounted for a lot of the first Dreadwing attack we see… I also wanted some more orchestral and introspective moments. Le Nom de le Rose is great for medieval gothic atmosphere, as is the original Nosferatu soundtrack (recommended to me many years ago by Marc Gascoigne – editors can be useful is so many ways!). Ironclad is an interesting step between the two, quite bombastic in places, more period-sounding in others.
The Batman soundtracks are very good for drama – not just action, but an undercurrent of conflict and hard percussion that lends tension to any scene. You can’t beat Verdi’s Messiah or The Ring Without Words (Wagner is always better without words!) for grand processionals and arching battle, nicely counterpointed with the more contemporary ‘heroics’ of Prince of Darkness and the Conan soundtrack.
Aliens: The Deluxe Edition, James Horner & London Symphony Orchestra
Conan the Barbarian, Basil Poledouris
The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Dredd, Paul Leonard-Morgan
Ironclad, Lorne Balfe
Mad Max: Fury Road, Junkie XL
Percussion Power: Intense, Cinematic & Explosive, Tyler Lee Bates
Prince of Darkness, John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, James Horner
Vendetta – Position Music Orchestral Series Vol. 6, Jo Blankenburg
Amon: Divinus, City of the Fallen
Monastic Chant – 12th & 13th Century European Sacred Music, Theatre of Voices & Paul Hillier
Messa da Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi
The “Ring” Without Words, Richard Wagner performed by Berliner Philharmoniker & Lorin Maazel
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors, James Bernard performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
You can also see this playlist on the iTunes store. As always I’d love to know if you’ve listened to this playlist while reading the book, and whether it’s added to your enjoyment of it. Let me know in the comments.
Enjoy!
I’m going to do an Angels of Caliban specific Q&A a couple of weeks after release, so if you have any questions about the music, or any other aspect of the book, just get in touch. I’ll reply to you directly, and then combine all the questions into a blog post.
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