You might wonder why Lopatin decided to go back to the 1980s once again for this one when Safdie's film, a fictional biopic of Marty Reisman, is set in the 1950s. Well, Safdie was fascinated by table tennis as a kid in the 1980s and when he was brainstorming with Lopatin in the early stages of the process, was batting across names like New Order, Tears for Fears and Constance Demby - clearly inspirations that Lopatin was equally familiar with. So the project plays like an homage to their own teenage years, with nods to classic '80s film soundtracks and enough synthesized and sampled mallet sounds (that's gotta be a Fairlight CMI, right?) to make the ping-pong theme stand out whether you've peeped the movie itself or not.
Fans of Lopatin's earliest Oneohtrix Point Never records will be stoked; it's 'Russian Mind' upgraded, in many ways, with some of the composer's loftier influences (we can hear Morricone, Jarre, Vangelis and Glass quite clearly on the ambitious standout 'Holocaust Honey') realized properly now with a fitting budget. And although the 'Marty Supreme' soundtrack is confection next to this year's mind-altering 'Tranquilizer' set, it's undeniably enjoyable. If you enjoyed Lopatin's cues for 'Good Time' and 'Uncut Gems', this just takes it even further, proving that he's one of the most capable artists in the Hollywood ecosystem right now. If the 'Stranger Things' soundtrack has gone down in history as the Demogorgon of forced nostalgia, 'Marty Supreme' is fighting the good fight.
Tracklist
The Call
Martys Dream
Endos Game
The Apple
Pure Joy
Holocaust Honey
The Humbling
Motherstone
The Scape
Tub Falls
Fucking Mensch
Rockwell Ink
Hoffs
Seward Park
The Necklace
Vampires Castle
Back To Hoffs
Shootout
I Love You, Tokyo
The Real Game
Endos Game [Reprise]
Force Of Life
End Credits [I Still Love You, Tokyo]