The Songs about a movie project

The idea was born more than 20 years ago. I loved the connection between image and sound. The idea of showing a story visually trough pictures and simultaneously telling it through music was a for me a new and inspiring way of thinking about music and conveying feelings. I wasn’t necessarily into classical score music. Even though I also appreciate them very much, of course - the bombastic works of 1960s cinema, as heard in many adventure movies, or - of course - in Star Wars, are magnificent. Also there are great musicals, of course. I loved Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and the movie adaptation by Tim Burton.

But I was particularly fascinated by the more minimalist soundtracks, such as those for "Dead Man" (1995, directed by Jim Jarmusch, music by Neil Young, album: Dead Man (Soundtrack)) or later "Ex Machina" (2014, directed by Alex Garland, music by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, album: Ex Machina (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)) and recently "All Quiet on the Western Front" (2022, directed by Edward Berger, music by Volker Bertelmann, album: All Quiet on the Western Front (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)). But also rock and pop soundtracks, such as in the film "Bandits" (1997, directed by Katja von Garnier, music by Bandits, album: Bandits (Soundtrack)). I wrote a couple of songs about scenes for an imaginary movie. There are also some parts of screen plays but I never finished the concept. But one day the concept album will be finished. At the moment there is a new song every 3-5 years.

Track 1: "Something Else"

The idea behind the first song was a scene that loosely reminded me of the music video by Magnus Carlsson for Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" from the album OK Computer (1997), mixed with the music video by Todd McFarlane and Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris for "Freak on a Leash" on Follow the Leader (1998) by Korn. I start to work on this tune around 2007 in Munich and re-recorded some parts later in Berlin.

This song is about depressions. The idea in this song was from a movie idea, which I had in a long winter. The film scene is about tension and relaxation. About emotions that discharge and end in numbness. At the time, the song was very raw and rough for me. The first part is aggressiv and dissonant. The delayed guitar reminds me of bells. At the end it comes to terms with the situation.

"Something else" by Axiom (2007)

Credits: Written, performed and recorded by Daniel Kurzawe under the name "Axiom" 2007 - 2010.

Track 2: "Back to the 80s"

This song was written around 2012 in Göttingen. I used virtual synthezisers and had a film mood in mind as a reference rather than an exact scene.

Do you remember the 80s? I was still a child myself in the 80s and associate it not only with the flashy hairstyles and clothes, but also with a very special atmosphere. But also the many action comedies of the time.

My aim with this song was to capture the sound mood. The idea clearly comes from bands like Kraftwerk or Axel F by Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeyer, from the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop. But I'm also talking about the mood of the time. This special kind of transition from the wild 70s into a technological society. We are seeing the beginning of mobile phones, but still in a very clunky form. Computer screens still show the clichéd green text on a dark background or 16 colours on the TV. Technical devices have these brown or grey housings and there are chunky, angular cars on the roads.It was the thime just bevor the home computer took the world over!

This was the mood which I had in mind, as i created this tune. It is one of my attends to describe this special feeling. This are my memories to the 80s. Enjoy my time-travel.

"Back to the 80s" by Axiom (2012)

Credits: Written, performed and recorded by Daniel Kurzawe under the name "Axiom" 2012.