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Music aficionados choose memorable audio and Hi-Fi in film

Music aficionados choose memorable audio and Hi-Fi in film

In celebration of Record Store Day we asked renowned musicians, music lovers, designers and Hi-Fi experts to pick out their favourite item of audio, music hardware or Hi Fi in film and movies scenes. Be it a turntable, Walkman or sound system, it transpires that all things analogue in movie scenes make a lasting impression.

Record Store Day is the one day of the year when over 200 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture. Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day and many shops and cities host artist performances and events to mark the occasion. Thousands more shops celebrate the day around the globe in what’s become one of the biggest annual events on the music calendar. 


Nick Phillips: Technics turntables in La Haine (1995)

Nick Philips
Nick Phillips is an award winning music director, composer, producer and sound designer. For the last 15 years, he has created acclaimed work across the worlds of art, film, TV, fashion, science, technology and advertising. Clients include Channel 4, BBC, Samsung, Nowness, Nokia, Audi, Rockstar Games, Zaha Hadid, Bentley, Sony Playstation, Invesco, Disney/Marvel and Paul Smith.

What could be more classic than a pair of Technics to celebrate Record Store Day? Well here they are featured in this iconic scene from Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 epic film La Haine.

We begin with Hubert smoking a joint, listening to Isaac Hayes on his ghetto blaster, cut to the Cypress Hill T-shirt wearing DJ, played by Cut Killer, positioning his speakers over the housing projects, cueing up the turntables, then blasting out his cutup track ‘Nique la Police’, which includes elements of NWA, Notorious Big and KRS-One. The track plays out on Edith Piaf, as the Flying-Cam floats over the estate down to Vinz and Saïd, where Vinz sees the mirage of the COW”.

Technics turntables in La Haines audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
Technics turntables in La Haine


Liz Goodwin: The Walkman in Back To The Future (1985)

liz goodwin
Liz Goodwin is Managing Director of Glassnote Records in the UK. Home to wonderful artists such as Phoenix, Childish Gambino, James Hersey, Baio, Jade Bird, Flo Morrissey, Hamilton Leighthauser + Rostam & IDER. She is a music obsessive and has worked in the industry for 20 years.

“In 1985 I was nine, and Back To The Future was the first film that I genuinely discovered by myself. Obviously it was wonderful: The skateboards! The orange body warmer! The Delorean! The electric guitar! Huey Lewis & The News! It was also the first time I saw someone using a Walkman. I knew I wanted one, but became obsessed with them when I saw 1985 Marty McFly trying to grab his young father’s attention in 1955 with a pair of portable headphones, an Aiwa Walkman (with Auto Reverse!) and a Van Halen cassette. It really felt like a significant moment – the moment when portable music became mainstream”.

The Aiwa Walkman in Back To The Future audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
The Aiwa Walkman in Back To The Future. Image: The Walkman Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jtp7pGZLL4


Rod Thomas: The wall of speakers in Mannequin (1987)

Rod Thomas Record Store Day
Rod Thomas aka Bright Light Bright Light makes electronic pop music. His album Choreography featuring Elton John, Scissor Sisters and Alan Cumming is hugely inspired by dance sequences in 80s and 90s cinema.

“My pick is the scene in Mannequin where Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy are in the department store’s audio section. There is a wall of huge, 80s speakers (all the same model, I believe) and a giant sound desk – which doesn’t make much sense for consumer electronics, but looks so 80s and so cool. When she accidentally triggers the music and shouts “where do they hide all the musicians?!” it’s one of my favourite moments. The scene actually inspired my song Symmetry Of Two Hearts. I love how dated and oversized the speakers are. I’d LOVE them in my home”.

You can buy the album Choreography via the Bright Light Bright Light website or find your local record store on the Record Store Day website.

The department store in Mannequin record store day
The department store in Mannequin

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agxwOaTVnCY


Malcolm Garrett – The Esper Machine in Blade Runner (1982)

Malcolm Garrett photographed by Sheila Rock
Malcolm Garrett (photographed here against a ’68 Thunderbird in the early 80s by Sheila Rock) is a graphic designer and creative director whose background is rooted in music (Buzzcocks, Simple Minds, Duran Duran). Since the early 80s he has run Images&Co – a partnership with Kasper de Graaf. He is also Joint Artistic Director of Design Manchester which in October this year hosts its fifth annual festival of design and this year will screen a series of science fiction films, highlighting notable design content.

“I love the voice-controlled, image-enhancement Esper Machine that Deckard (Harrison Ford) uses in Blade Runner to navigate virtual 3D space in a 2D photograph, through to a tiny detail where the replicant Zhora is hidden within the image. I’m not sure if this really qualifies as an item of audio, but the distinctive sonic responses accompanying each of Deckard’s spoken instructions are amongst the most iconic in film.

The machine is literally the most fantastic device. There is debate as to whether such an advanced machine could ever exist, given the way it looks around corners to see things that are not visible in the photograph. Observers have also commented on the incongruity of such advanced technical capability housed in decidedly clunky, analogue hardware”.

The Esper Machine in Blade Runner audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
The Esper Machine in Blade Runner

Pour yourself a whiskey in the exact glass tumbler Deckard drinks from in this scene and watch the clip:


Lauren Fitzgerald – The Barrington Portable Record Player in Moonrise Kingdom (2012).

Lauren Fitzgerald
Lauren Fitzgerald works at Glassnote Records as the digital marketing and streaming lead in the UK. Despite spending her day immersed in all things digital and occasionally DJ-ing by night, she has a penchant for all things analog and loves a great American adventure movie.

“The 1960’s Barrington portable record player and radio featured in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is Suzy’s essential item for running away from home having fallen in love. Not only is it a beautiful bit of music tech, it provides the film with the most wonderful plot points and musical cues: Suzy’s parents discover she has run away when she takes the record player without asking, and Suzy and Sam’s confession of love and slightly awkward coming of age is soundtracked by Francoise Hardy’s Le Temps De l’Amour spinning in the background.

Unfortunately Barrington discontinued the model but there are a few second hand models online it you’re considering taking your 45’s to the beach this summer”.

The Barrington portable record player in Moonrise Kingdom audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
The Barrington portable record player in Moonrise Kingdom

moonrise kingdom audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day

You seriously need Francoise Hardy’s Le Temps De l’Amour in your life. Download on iTunes now or buy on vinyl from your local record store using the handy search on the Record Store Day website.

If you’re a Wes Anderson fan, checkout our Wes related merchandise.


Loren Weeks – High Fidelity (2000)

New York based Loren Weeks is the Production Designer for the Marvel Netflix series: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist. The Defenders, the last in the series, is due for release in August 2017. Weeks also worked on Gossip Girl, feature films such as Interview and is a frequent contributor to Film and Furniture.
New York based Loren Weeks is the Production Designer for the Marvel Netflix series: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist. The Defenders, the last in the series, is due for release in August 2017. Weeks also worked on Gossip Girl, feature films such as Interview and is a frequent contributor to Film and Furniture.

“I haven’t seen High Fidelity in 16 years. It still holds up and is a fun story of love, break ups, music snobbery and music nerdom. Set mostly in the used record store Champion Vinyl, the main character Rob and his 2 (sort of) employees spend their day ignoring customers and arguing over top 5 lists. There is no occasion that doesn’t warrant a top 5 list typically expressed in songs. There also seems to be an on going one-up-manship over mix tapes where music tastes are ridiculed and defended with passion.

The film sets of Champion Vinyl and Robs apartment are extensions of his character. Both are filled with records, CDs and in Rob’s apartment – a great stereo component system. When I was a teen in the mid-70’s stereo components were a source of pride to me and my friends. We never bought a one brand system: The receiver might be by Harmon-Kardon or Marantz, the turntable by Technics or Thorens, the stylus and speakers yet other brands. The stereo system was a real presence in the room, something to be crafted, a source of pride to be admired and respected. Rob’s apartment is an extension of his record store, a visual support as to the importance of the music in Rob’s universe. The walls are lined with shelves of plastic sleeved vinyl albums. In one scene Rob tells his employee Dick, that he is reorganizing his record collection. Dick’s eyes light up, he asks how? Chronological order of Rob’s life and yes, break-ups play a big role in the organization. The vinyl and stereo equipment is precious and loved, cared for and pampered, the constant other woman in Rob’s life and always there in the background”.

High Fidelity audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
High Fidelity


Paul West – The Hacker Grenadier GP45 record player in Control (2007).

paul west
Paul West, having studied Graphic Design in the 80s and incurring a large debt in spending all his grant on vinyl, pursued the love of his life (music) by working with Peter Saville, Mark Farrow and Vaughan Oliver before co-founding design and branding agency Form®. Here he has created scores of iconic record covers (Cocteau Twins, Everything But The Girl, Depeche Mode, Elbow) and rebranded Abbey Road Studios. Paul is also a successful fine artist and landscape painter. His preferred canvas size is 12”x12” – the size of a vinyl record cover.

Hacker Radio manufactured domestic radio and audio equipment including mono record players, most of which could be converted to stereo with the additional purchase of a matching amplified loudspeaker such as the GP45 Grenadier. The GP45 record player (Dansette style) with SA45 Amplifier is featured in Control (Anton Corbijn’s film about Ian Curtis – the enigmatic singer in Joy Division). It makes a subtle yet seductive entrance early in the film.

What resonates with me is that a young Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) does what all teens did in the 70’s – he longed to be somewhere else. For now (dis)content, formulating his idea of the world within the world of his bedroom. Growing up in 70’s Dorset, the soundtrack of my early years included Pink Floyd, The Who, Roxy, The Jam, Japan and the immortal David Bowie. My bedroom walls were covered in images of my heroes – Japan, Bauhaus and an amazing Scary Monsters poster I bought with my Saturday morning wage (missing out on my 7” that week). These pictures weren’t just about the bands but what the bands represented – the alternative reality they offered. Intoxicating stuff when you’re living in a town that closed shut at 5pm on a Saturday.

In Control we see Curtis stealing his sisters coat to indulge his burgeoning showmanship glam-existential sensibilities listening to The Jean Genie, surrounding his room with his idols – Bowie, Iggy and Lou Reed posters (photographed by Mick Rock) and books including ‘Apolcalyptic’ writers JG Ballard (Crash, The Atrocity Exhibition), William Burroughs (Naked Lunch, Ah Pook Is Here) – very art school and narcissistic – but that’s what we had pre MTV and YouTube. We had Smash Hits for lyrics, NME, Melody Maker and Sounds for news, Radio Luxembourg and John Peel, Better Badges, and our dissatisfaction. And as Malcolm McLaren famously said in 1967: “Frustration is one of the great things in art. Satisfaction is nothing.”

Control audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) plays Drive In Saturday from Aladin Sane on a Hacker Grenadier GP45 in Control
Image: Pureiro.
Control bedroom audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
Hacker Grenadier GP45 amplifier loudspeaker to give a stereo sound in Control. Image: Pureiro


Robin Bruson – Transcriptor turntable in A Clockwork Orange et al

robin brunson
Robin Brunson is one of the team at Audio Gold. Based in Crouch End, they are London’s largest turntable stockist and are experts in audio and Hi-Fi form the 1930s right up to modern day. A veritable treasure trove of all things audio and vinyl, they also provide prop hire services for film and TV. Few places still exist like this in London. Take a trip and check them out.

“Designed by the late David Gammon the Transcriptor ‘Hydraulic Reference’ turntable has featured in many films and TV programmes. In fact many of them have probably been provided by us here at Audio Gold. We have a had a long relationship with the turntable. Audio Gold founder Richard Goldsmith being one of the few people able to refurbish them fully. In the shops 25 year history many have passed through our doors, including rare ‘curved cover’ versions.
 
The turntable appeared most notably in A Clockwork Orange (1972) but versions have also appeared in X-Men First Class (2011) and The Look Of Love (2013) and countless TV appearances – from CS Lewis documentaries to CBBC!
 
We are one of the few places to deal with the turntable and take pleasure in it’s unique and distinctive design, earning it a design award in he seventies, a future retro classic that is now becoming rarer than ever. It endures today and is the turntable people most ask for when using our prop hire service. I think anyone can see why”.

a clockwork orange audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
“A stunning Mitchell ‘Transcriptor’ Turntable soothes Alex with Beethoven’s 9th and add to the mix two walls of white, wall-mounted wall speakers to amplify it and that is a real horrorshow hi-fi set-up my brothers”
The Transcriptor in X Men First Class audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
The Transcriptor in X Men First Class
The Transcriptor The Look of Love audio and Hi-Fi in film Record Store Day
The Transcriptor in The Look of Love


So where can I get one?

For new, vintage and refurbished audio and Hi Fi’s your first port of call should be Audio Gold >
They beautifully reconditioned this SK4 Snow White’s Coffin for us recently.

SK4 "Snow White's Coffin" record store day
SK4 “Snow White’s Coffin”

John Lewis have a wide range of audio and Hi Fi equipment >

Ebay also have a large selection of pre-loved turntables >
So excited was Paul West by the Hacker Grenadier GP45 record player in Control, after submitting the above contribution to F&F he immediately started bidding on Ebay and is now the proud owner of this bad boy:

Hacker Grenadier record player

You may also enjoy:

How Blade Runner combines a multi-cultural past with a retro-fitted present (plus details on those iconic whiskey glasses) >

Essential viewing for Blade Runner fans: An atmospheric tour of Deckard’s apartment >

Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange : Brutalism in exteriors, interiors and a quilt >


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