To cover it is therefore an act of either supreme confidence or mild insanity. Noud van Harskamp, the Dutch pianist who records as Juggernoud1, appears to possess a generous measure of both, and the result is rather splendid.<\/p>
The great temptation, when transposing a synth-driven classic to the piano, is to decorate it: to fatten the chords, lard the middle with flourishes, and generally treat the original as a rough sketch awaiting the attentions of a Proper Musician. Van Harskamp resists this with admirable discipline. His arrangement understands that the theme’s power lies in what it withholds. The relentless pulse is left to do its grim work, the melody creeps in as though it has been in the room all along, and the harmonies darken only when the listener has stopped paying attention, which is, of course, exactly when you want them to.<\/p>
What the piano brings, which the original’s electronic chill did not, is flesh. Those sharp attacks land like footsteps on a bare floorboard, and the low notes resonate with a physical presence that seems to travel up through the floor and settle somewhere near the stomach. Where Carpenter’s version was a ghost in the machine, this is a stranger standing very still at the end of the hallway. It is a different kind of frightening, and arguably a more intimate one.<\/p> There is a curious beauty in the restraint, too. Strip away the film, the mask and the decades of sequels, and what remains is a surprisingly tender thing: a small, repeating figure, almost a nursery rhyme, bent slightly out of true. Van Harskamp lets that quality show. For all the menace, there is a melodic sweetness at the heart of the piece that makes the menace worse, in the manner of a lullaby sung by someone you suspect of holding a knife.<\/span><\/p> It would be easy to dismiss a single like this as seasonal fodder, a novelty to be rolled out every October alongside the pumpkin lattes. That would be a mistake. Van Harskamp’s career, built on film scores and video game soundtracks, has evidently taught him that the best of this music is composed with a ruthless clarity that deserves serious, unfussy interpretation. His stated aim is to preserve the character of the original while exploring its possibilities at the keyboard, and here he does precisely that, a modest ambition magnificently achieved.<\/span><\/p> Slot it between your Bernard Herrmann and your Goblin, switch off the big light, and listen through decent speakers. Then try to ignore the sensation that somebody has just opened a door downstairs.<\/span><\/p> Delicious. Do lock up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/noudvanharskamp.com\/<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n
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