Carlos pt. 1
In 2024 the Rice Media Center ran a retrospective of French director Olivier Assayas’ films from the 1980s and 1990s. While Assayas didn’t appear in person he did send a list of songs to play before each film; a kind of remote mix tape of mostly new wave style pop. It’s not surprising that his newest film Carlos has a wall-to-wall new wave soundtrack.
To give an example of where Assayas’ music influences lie check this out. In the flyer handed out during the Assayas retro the following films had a pre-show program that consisted of:
DISORDER (1986)
1. Ceremony – New Order
2. Final Solution – Pere Ubu
3. Darklands – Jesus and Mary Chain
4. L’Rectangle – Jacno
5. Sonic Reducer – The Dead Boys
6. Velvet Underground – Jonathan Richman
7. Ring of Fire – Wall of Voodoo
8. Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones
9. Anthrax – Gang of Four
10. 12XU – Wire
WINTER’S CHILD (1989)
1. United – Throbbing Grislte
2. TVOD – The Normal
3. Atmosphere – Joy Division
4. Nyah Keith – Burning Spear
5. Warm Leatherette – The Normal
6. Johnny Mathis’ Feet – American Music Club
7. Bewitched – Luna
8. Life in Vain – Daniel Johnson
9. Everything Merges With The Night – Brian Eno
10. Rudy With A Flashlight – Evan Dando
PARIS AWAKENS (1991)
1. Young Parisians – Adam and the Ants
2. The Girl in Paris – Lee Hazlewood
3. Viva la Magababes – Shampoo
4. Circus Mirror – Pink Floyd
5. The Water Song – The Incredible String Band
6. San Franciscan Nights – Eric Burdon and the New Animals
7. Glastobury Revisited – Cosmic Rough Riders
8. Why Are We Sleeping – The Soft Machine
9. Jenifer Juniper – Donovan
10.Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes – Kevin Ayers
11. Chelsea Girls – Nico
A NEW LIFE (1993)
1. Rust – Ministry
2. Ear To The Ground – Heather Nova
3. Dying on the Vine – John Cale
4. Kowalski – Primal Scream
5. Dream – Forest For The Trees
6. The Northern Line – Opal
7. Dark Globe – Syd Barrett
8. Last Stop: This Town – The Eels
9. Gluefoot – Vic Chesnutt
10. Lindy Lou – The 6ths
11. Zyklon B Zombie – Throbbing Gristle
Part two of Carlos next week on the Free Press Houston website.
- Michael Bergeron
