THE  AV  ROOM

    Some time ago, I heard about a strange phenomenon called “Dark Side of the Rainbow.” According to legend, if The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon” were played together, magical things would happen. Lyrics would match on-screen actions, sound effects in the music would complement on-screen action…the album would serve as a new, alternate “soundtrack” for the movie. As both the movie and the album are favorites of mine, I decided to give it a try.

    I was amazed. The music fits the movie perfectly - so perfectly that I cannot hear/see one without thinking of the other. The first 19 minutes of Dark Side will forever sound "black and white" to me. The tornado scene, with “Great Gig in the Sky” playing is truly great. The vocals soar and plunge right along with the house. “Us and Them” later plays while Dorothy is in Munchkinland. The entire album synched up with the movie very well and I was intrigued.

   After some research, I found that there were other Pink Floyd “synchs” (as they are known) lurking around. The next synch I tried combined Pink Floyd’s track “Echoes” from the album Meddle with the end “Jupiter” segment from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both pieces are about 23 minutes long and are equally spacey. Not only did the music fit the movie, it seemed to be written specifically for that “stargate” section of the movie.

     Now I was really intrigued. I was not convinced that Pink Floyd did either of these intentionally (well, maybe Echoes/2001). But I was curious to see if the same procedures would work with other movies and albums. Here's what I've found so far...If nothing else it has provided a nice alternative to watching regular TV…

THE SYNCHS:

By The Way...     

    Listening to an album while watching a movie can have strange results. Lyrics can take on whole new meanings or relate to characters in the movie in strange ways. The lyrics can describe what is happening on-screen or seem like words spoken by the characters. The mood of the music may perfectly match what is happening on-screen and scene changes may be accented by dramatic musical shifts. Thus, most of these synchs have very specific starting points. Naturally, following the directions will yield the best results. I have included a few key points to watch or listen for in each synch, but there are many more to discover. Mute your TV and enjoy…

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This month's top five albums;

The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka: Defeating The Purpose Mix

Doves - The Last Broadcast

Earl Scruggs - Live At Kansas State

The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Grateful Dead - Ladies And Gentlemen...The Grateful Dead: NYC April 1971

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