beta watches the long good friday

the soundtrack for this limey gangster flick with Eddie Valiant as the main tooth-grinding gangster is sick. often considered one of the finest British films, it was scored by Francis Monkman (who was in some Brit prog band partially named after a Terry Riley joint, Curved Air, who i'll probably have to check out now, as i have seemingly fallen for prog this year, between Andy Votel's Vertigo Remixed and uh...The Mars Volta), and it appears to be one of his few, maybe his only (?), soundtrack. a shame, as it sets piercing synth tones against funky wonky riffs to ratchet up the tension, and flute trills get sharpened into shanks as Monkman tightens all the ropes and themes masterfully. this is what i kept hoping those Sound Gallery comps would sound like, an amalgam of Lalo Schifrin, seventies cop shows licks (which may be the same thing), as heard bouncing from inside the head of a businessman/gangster (again, may be the same thing) coke binge. i'm not sure what's up with the prolonged shower sequence, but the upside-down camera work when they round up the usual suspects and hang them on the meathooks is one of the more frightening shots i've come across recently.