My favorite show on television right now is far and away the horror fantasy thriller, "Hannibal" on NBC. It's developed a small and dedicated (perhaps growing?) cult following, and before its Season 3 premiere two weeks ago, renowned pop art emporium, Mondo, announced the release of their exclusive, limited edition soundtrack for the show, on colored vinyl, with only 1,000 copies being pressed.
I, naturally, couldn't resist the call, so I waited and waited, and jumped at the chance the moment the sale was announced. Thankfully, I snagged one right before they sold out! The show premiered with what I would describe as the most original, ground-breaking hour of television, and a few days ago, I was greeted with the arrival of Mondo's exclusive release.
The packaging features Mondo's dripping blood logo, appropriate I thought for "Hannibal"'s themes. Inside, the blood dripping theme continued, the cover of the vinyl featuring the shadowed face of the titular character, portrayed by actor Mads Mikkelsen. If you've ever seen the show, you know the representation of Dr. Hannibal Lector's grip over our protagonist Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), is often portrayed through the visuals of a stag (whether it be feathered, metal, bloody, or furred). A gorgeous cover to the album, and once unwrapped, completely without words.
Inside the bi-fold flap, our hero, Will Graham, is on display, again fully spattered in blood.
Now comes the beauty of the discs themselves. When announced, the people at Mondo described the coloring as "Steak Tartare colored vinyl"—another homage to Hannibal's love of the culinary arts; and of course, cannibalism.
My favorite part of the soundtrack was the organization of the music itself. Rather than playing in order of air date, this 2-LP set is organized instead by course. Meal course, as it were. Beginning with L'Apéritif, continuing with L'entrée... onto the second disc with Le plat principal, and finally, finishing it all off with Le dessert.
Composer Brian Reitzell creates an unnerving musical compilation, that starts out very slow. It builds and crescendos, and gives me a bit of the willies. It takes the best of the first two seasons of "Hannibal" and lays it all out perfectly. Here's a wonderful article about how he created his sound.
Take a moment to check out the video below of "Hannibal" Disc 1, Side 1 L'Apéritif: "Feeding the Dogs / Family Dinner" from Episode 104 "Ouef". A small, 1-minute snippet that shows you the vinyl in action and gives you just enough to tease your palette.
Soooooooooooo awesooooooooome!
ReplyDelete