The Golem is a soundtrack written and performed by Black Francis at the 2008 San Francisco International Film Festival for the 1920 film The Golem: How He Came into the World.[7]
| The Golem | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original 2010 5-disc release | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 13 February 2010[1] 15 March 2011 (one-disc edition)[2] | |||
| Recorded | April 2008 | |||
| Venue | Castro Theatre, San Francisco, California (live recordings) | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 84:05 (studio discs) 85:35 (live discs) 60:23 (one-disc edition) | |||
| Label | Not on label The Bureau (one-disc edition) | |||
| Producer | Eric Drew Feldman | |||
| Black Francis chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 2011 one-disc edition | ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 68/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Alternative Press | 6/10[4] |
| Consequence of Sound | C+[5] |
| Filter | 84%[6] |
| Pitchfork | 6.4/10[7] |
| Popmatters |   [8] |
The soundtrack was released in 2010 as a 5-disc set. Only 500 copies were made, and was released exclusively for purchase from Blackfrancis.net. The set included 2 CDs containing the studio recordings, 2 CDs containing the original 2008 live performance at San Francisco International Film Festival, a DVD of The Golem: How He Came into the World with the soundtrack synced to the film,[7] and a book containing chord charts by Nick Vincent and lyrics by Black Francis for The Golem. Each of the 500 copies were signed by Black Francis, and each were wrapped in brown paper and sealed with a "Black Francis" marked wax stamp.
A "rock songs" version, according to Francis,[9] was released to the public in 2011. This version contains only the substantial songs, leaving out the reprises and themes that were included with the box set.
Background
editIn April 2008, Black Francis told the Village Voice, "I'm performing it in a couple of weeks down in San Francisco at this film festival. The requisite there is to show up with some music and perform it in some way along to this movie that they're screening. And so I said, "Well, that sounds fun, but I have to sort of make a record." I have to have some sort of blueprint, you know. So I went down to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and made a record with Eric Feldman producing. ... It took about a week, including the writing."[9]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Black Francis
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You're Gonna Pay (Preview)" | 1:26 |
| 2. | "Little Stars Theme" | 2:17 |
| 3. | "Bad News" | 3:33 |
| 4. | "Astaroth" | 2:56 |
| 5. | "The Maharal" | 5:30 |
| 6. | "Miriam and Florian" | 3:43 |
| 7. | "Stars Theme" | 2:58 |
| 8. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 1)" | 1:18 |
| 9. | "Stars" | 4:07 |
| 10. | "The Conjuring" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Astaroth (Reprise)" | 2:06 |
| 12. | "Makanujo (Preview)" | 0:50 |
| 13. | "The Word" | 3:19 |
| 14. | "The Obedient Servant" | 4:33 |
| 15. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 2)" | 0:32 |
| 16. | "Golem's Theme (Version 1)" | 1:11 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 3)" | 0:37 |
| 2. | "The Maharal (Reprise)" | 2:55 |
| 3. | "Golem's Theme (Version 2)" | 0:57 |
| 4. | "The Flower Song (Preview)" | 1:04 |
| 5. | "Golem's Theme (Version 3)" | 1:21 |
| 6. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 4)" | 0:27 |
| 7. | "Makanujo" | 3:06 |
| 8. | "Golem's Theme (Version 4)" | 0:45 |
| 9. | "Meet Me at the Ghetto Gates" | 4:03 |
| 10. | "Custom all the Way" | 5:50 |
| 11. | "You're Gonna Pay" | 3:56 |
| 12. | "The Word (Reprise)" | 3:36 |
| 13. | "(Oh How I Wish I Could) Stay" | 2:16 |
| 14. | "Makanujo (Reprise)" | 1:00 |
| 15. | "(Oh How I Wish I Could) Stay (Reprise)" | 3:09 |
| 16. | "The Flower Song" | 1:53 |
| 17. | "The Golem's Theme (Version 5)" | 1:57 |
| 18. | "The Obedient Servant (Reprise)" | 1:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You're Gonna Pay (Preview)" | 1:37 |
| 2. | "Little Stars Theme" | 2:03 |
| 3. | "Bad News" | 3:16 |
| 4. | "Astaroth" | 3:06 |
| 5. | "The Maharal" | 5:12 |
| 6. | "Miriam and Florian" | 3:29 |
| 7. | "Stars Theme / Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 1)" | 5:07 |
| 8. | "Stars" | 4:23 |
| 9. | "The Conjuring / Astaroth (Reprise)" | 5:33 |
| 10. | "Makanujo (Preview)" | 0:34 |
| 11. | "The Word" | 3:03 |
| 12. | "The Obedient Servant" | 3:59 |
| 13. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 2)" | 0:19 |
| 14. | "Golem's Theme (Version 1) / Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 3)" | 3:10 |
| 15. | "The Maharal (Reprise)" | 2:46 |
| 16. | "Golem's Theme (Version 2)" | 1:10 |
| 17. | "The Flower Song (Preview)" | 1:01 |
| 18. | "Golem's Theme (Version 3)" | 1:02 |
| 19. | "Miriam and Florian (Version 4)" | 0:25 |
| 20. | "Makanujo" | 2:47 |
| 21. | "Golem's Theme (Version 4)" | 0:48 |
| 22. | "Meet Me at the Ghetto Gates" | 3:49 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Custom All the Way" | 5:17 |
| 2. | "Nicht!" | 0:19 |
| 3. | "You're Gonna Pay" | 4:05 |
| 4. | "The Word (Reprise)" | 3:08 |
| 5. | "(Oh How I Wish I Could) Stay" | 2:01 |
| 6. | "Makanujo (Reprise)" | 0:38 |
| 7. | "(Oh How I Wish I Could) Stay (Reprise)" | 3:23 |
| 8. | "The Flower Song" | 1:57 |
| 9. | "The Golem's Theme (Version 5)" | 2:05 |
| 10. | "The Obedient Servant (Reprise)" | 1:12 |
| 11. | "Outro" | 0:35 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Golem: How He Came into the World" |
One-disc edition
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miriam and Florian Theme (Version 2)" | 0:32 |
| 2. | "Makanujo" | 3:04 |
| 3. | "Bad News" | 3:33 |
| 4. | "The Flower Song" | 1:51 |
| 5. | "(Oh How I Wish I Could) Stay" | 2:13 |
| 6. | "The Word" | 3:18 |
| 7. | "Astaroth" | 2:57 |
| 8. | "The Obedient Servant" | 4:11 |
| 9. | "The Maharal" | 5:28 |
| 10. | "Little Stars Theme" | 2:13 |
| 11. | "Miriam and Florian" | 3:41 |
| 12. | "The Conjuring" | 3:38 |
| 13. | "Meet Me at the Ghetto Gates" | 4:02 |
| 14. | "Stars" | 4:03 |
| 15. | "Custom All the Way" | 5:35 |
| 16. | "You're Gonna Pay" | 3:56 |
| 17. | "The Word (Reprise)" | 3:09 |
| 18. | "The Maharal (Reprise)" | 2:55 |
Personnel
edit- Musicians
- Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Duane Jarvis – lead guitar
- Joseph Pope – bass
- Ralph Carney – horns
- Eric Drew Feldman – keyboards, synthetics
- Jason Carter – drums, percussion
- Roy Zimmerman – emcee at live recording
- Technical
- Eric Drew Feldman – producer
- Jason Carter – engineer, mixing, photography
- Gabriel Shepard – engineer
- Thaddeus Moore – engineer
- Bobby Mack – live recording engineer
- Mark Chalecki – mastering
- Mark Lemhouse – design, layout
- Wesley Curtis – photography (album cover and band)
References
edit- ^ "The Golem". frankblack.net. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b Phares, Heather. "Black Francis: The Golem". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ "The Golem By Black Francis". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ "Black Francis: The Golem Review". Alternative Press: 90. January 2011.
- ^ Kivel, Adam (26 November 2010). "Black Francis - The Golem". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ Thill, Scott (20 January 2011). "Black Francis: The Golem - The Bureau". Filter. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ a b c Grandy, Eric (14 January 2011). "Black Francis: The Golem Rock Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ Bahler, Alex (18 November 2010). "Black Francis: The Golem Rock Album". Popmatters. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ a b Trucks, Rob (15 April 2008). "Interview: Black Francis a/k/a Frank Blank a/k/a Charles Michael Kittredge Thompson IV". The Village Voice. Retrieved 12 August 2020.