Update: the Stranger Things soundtrack scored by Kyle Dixon and Michael Steinwill from S U R V I V E, will be released in two parts, with the first part released digitally THIS FRIDAY (August 12th), and an LP release follows on October 14th. The second part will be released digitally on August 19th, with the LP following closely behind.
Stranger Things is mine, yours and your favourite aunty who grew up listening to far too much Joy Division in the room next door to yours’ very favourite thing right now.
We’ve kept relatively quiet about the spooky 80s-set Netflix series, which borrows liberally from our very favourite icons of the era – John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg – but that’s mainly because it’s just been tooooooo good to just bingewatch for a quick review. Instead we’ve been savouring the series episode by episode, and stealthily avoiding spoilers as much as humanly possible.
However one of of my very favourite things about the show – apart from Eleven, Dustin and it’s refreshing lack of condescension – is its music, both in the score created by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein who perform as the Austin-based S U R V I V E, and the beautifully curated yet eclectic soundtrack featuring everything from brooding synth-pop to Dolly Parton.
As there are loads of great Stranger Things related playlists, mash-ups and extended remixes flying around the internet at the moment, I thought I’d gather them all together in one place for your convenience…
Stranger Things Main Theme – 10 minute long version
The best theme tune of the last few years (that isn’t Bojack Horseman) is extended to a more leisurely, progressive length. Almost as value-for-money as that 10 hour long extended remix of the Sorry theme tune.
The official Stranger Things Spotify playlist
Featuring Joy Division, New Order, some other bands that don’t feature Bernard Sumner and the glorious cover of ‘Hazy Shade of Winter’ by The Bangles, which still sounds utterly storming.
DJ Yoda’s Stranger Things mixtape
Pop culture turntablist extraordinaire DJ Yoda has just released an hour long mixtape containing all the above tracks, along with the score itself, snippets of almost too perfect dialogue (as if he could stop himself from sampling any mention of Yoda) and other awesome tunes from the era. It’s an absolute pleasure.
Discover S U R V I V E
The soundtrack will be released officially by Netflix, although no release date has been set. In the meantime you can discover the composers’ earlier work, which is just as brooding, synthy and Carpenter-esque and the Stranger Things theme.
Here’s their debut…
S U R V I V E’S new album RR7349 is due out in September.
Now all that’s left for you to do is figure out how to transfer it all to cassette, pop some batteries in your Walkman, sneak out of your bedroom without your parents noticing, and go for a nighttime bike ride in the woods looking for trouble.
