John Hughes III

John Hughes III has certainly had plenty of experience with soundtrack projects. Not just son of the famous director, but as music supervisor for projects like John McEntire's Reach the Rock (itself a soundtrack to pop's little-seen film), the filmic projects released by his Chicago-based Hefty label, and his own work as front-man in Bill Ding and his Slicker alter-ego. When Italian actress-turned-director Asia Argento contacted him about her film Scarlet Diva, it was to license some Bill Ding tracks, but discussion soon led to Hughes scoring the whole film. The result is a trippy, click-y effort that meets in the middle between faux jazzers Isotope 217 and his own, more song-based Bill Ding work. It covers wide territory, as film soundtracks are wont to do, but is held together by a consistency of feel and mood that the best post-rock style instrumental exploration does, allowing you to create your own at-home in-your-mind movie. Not all of it works as a whole without its big screen context, but it's an fun exercise in MGI ¾ mentally generated imaging.