The Internet Age hasn’t really lived up to the promising predictions we used to witness back in the 1990s. Admittedly, though, the various corners of the hellscape have provided for interesting television and film. Using compelling storytelling, one Netflix series, Brian Knappenberger’s Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet, looks at the dark side of this cyber world — things like fraud, conspiracy, violence, and murder. Complementing the arresting visuals is composer John Dragonetti’s inventive, synth-laden score. Today, Vehlinggo premieres the delectably percussive and hauntingly ominous cue “Mod Chip Scam” from Dragonetti’s 21-cut soundtrack that is releasing tomorrow.
The gifted Dragonetti threw everything but the kitchen sink at this score, and the result is just fantastic. The novel soundscapes you hear come from an antique piano and old metal fan that yield novel percussive elements and noteworthy reverberations. And, of course, there’s this dark synth element that would sound at home in a John Carpenter flick.
“A lot of the music doesn’t sound like your usual documentary score,” Dragonetti said in a statement. “I got a lot of inspiration from music and bands that I’ve loved over the years that aren’t necessarily film music…channeling psychedelic textures with post-punk and ’80s British synth music.”
Knappenberger gave Dragonetti a fair amount of free rein to create and he likes the result.
“John Dragonetti’s stunning soundtrack for Web of Make Believe is an explosion of musicality that lands us — poignantly — in the sweet spot of this age of chaotic misinformation,” the direct said in a statement. “Experimental but familiar, it is a drumbeat for humans searching for truth in the technological whirlwind. And like the high note you barely hear at first but becomes more present, there is hope. After all we are emotional creatures stepping into the void of an uncertain future, but it’s going to be okay.”
The album is available tomorrow through a variety of digital platforms. (That link will also open up the show on Netflix for you.) You can, of course, pre-save the album through any number of your favorite digital realms.
Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet, notably, comes from Oscar-winning executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind). Knappenberger is also known for The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, which Dragonetti also scored. (They have a bit of a Spielberg-Williams dynamic going on — Dragonetti has scored several Knappenberger works.)
Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies, & the Internet (Soundtrack From the Netflix Series) Tracklist
1. I Am Trying to Forgive (2:52)
2. Cheers From the Bazement (Main Title) (1:59)
3. Gored Tutor (1:49)
4. Mod Chip Scam (2:23)
5. Adelina (3:11)
6. Unanswered Questions (2:13)
7. Floppy Disk (Prelude) (1:24)
8. Floppy Disk (2:19)
9. A Name and a Face (3:34)
10. Loving Yourself (1:58)
11. In the Land of Make Believe (3:15)
12. Before You Die (2:43)
13. No School Today (2:32)
14. Death Index Gold (3:15)
15. Caught in a Metal Fan (2:33)
16. Without Any Consequences (0:50)
17. Pleasant Sadness (2:25)
18. The Lull (1:23)
19. I Remember Waking Up (1:06)
20. Star Chaser (2:24)
21. Burning Castle (2:56)
