You know: that lone, sad saxaphone echoing as Bogart or Hayworth wander down
a rain-slicked sidewalk after midnight. Or the sultry, slightly out of tune piano
tinkling in a smoke-filled bar… What tunes would you pick to capture the mood?
There is, of course, the classic “Harlem Nocturn”. IIRC, it was the “theme music” to the Mike Hammer TV Series.
“Blues in the Night” (in the instumental version) is another piece that creates an instant-noir mood.
How about The Friends of Mr. Cairo by Jon Anderson and Vangelis?
Nightmare by Artie Shaw.
Scroll down and click on the link, then go out and murder Phyllis Dietrichson’s husband.
As usual, Eve strikes gold.
Not entirely, but TMBG - Hotel Detective comes to mind.
“No Way Out” - Electric Light Orchestra
“Twilight Zone” - Golden Earring
“1930s Rust” by Gary Numan
Raymond Scott’s Naked City. Not the theme from the movie or tv series, and that’s too bad.
[sub](Scroll down to the soundclips and click up #8. Then buy the g/d album. It’s THAT good.)[/sub]
The Taxi Driver theme fits.
A (most unfortunately titled) CD by Kozo called Planned Penetration - it consisted mainly of a lone trumpet over an electronic background. Makes me think of a dim smoky martini bar. Very cool.
• Bruce Springsteen, Meeting Across the River. I’ve always directed the film noir music video for this in my mind: Springsteen singing directly into the camera, lit by neon light in a cheap room.
• The Pretenders, Thin Line Between Love and Hate.
• Bela Bartok, Concerto for Orchestra. Ernie Kovacs did a film noir version of this.
Bob Seger’s Turn The Page.
Oh, quit laughing at me.
Lots of Costello songs:
Watching the Detectives (of course)
Man Out of Time
The entire Brutal Youth album
Concrete Blonde’s Joey
Pogues’ Dirty Old Town
Portishead - really, any song.
Tom Waits - “Eggs and Sausage (in a cab with Susan Michelson)”
T-Bone Walker sets the tone for me unmistakably. Especially:
Cold, Cold Feeling
Mean Old World
The Hustle is On
Evil Hearted Woman
Check out the bargain available in the Complete Imperial Recordings. After you’ve gotten a taste of that, you can move onto the Complete Black & White/Capitol Recordings.
But generally any of it makes me feel like I’m elbowed up to a bar, some dive where they haven’t cleaned out the spitoon since the Roosevelt administration. Teddy. I strike a match on the edge of the counter as I fit a Lucky to my lips. I light up and shake out the match, drop it in a tin ashtray. My lips are dry. I nod to Joe and he puts rye whiskey on the wood and moves on. I guess I looked like I might get chatty. There’s nobody else here, so he’s looking busy with his little towel on a glass that isn’t getting any cleaner. Fine by me. I pick up my glass and punish it a little, wincing as the busthead burns my throat. I tell it, “Hello, Breakfast.”
Tom Waits might just be the modern king of noir-sounding music:
“Romeo Is Bleeding”
“Goin’ Out West”
“Jockey Full of Bourbon”
“Small Change”
“Eggs and Sausage”
“Shore Leave”
“Alice”
“I Never Talk To Strangers” (duet with Bette Midler)
“Frank’s Wild Years”
“Pasties and a G-String”
“Spare Parts I”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:
“Red Right Hand”
“Henry Lee”
Mike Ness:
“The Devil In Miss Jones”
“Crime Don’t Pay”
Portishead:
Anything they’ve ever done
Massive Attack:
“Teardrop On Fire”
“Protection”
Sneaker Pimps:
“6 Underground”
Angelo Badalamenti’s music for David Lynch projects (Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Industrial Symphony, Twin Peaks)- whether or not accompanied by Julee Cruise singing Lynch-written lyrics.