Star Wars Headspace
Star Wars Headspace is a new album featuring 15 tracks from your favorite techno artists including Flying Lotus, Rick Rubin, Röyksopp, Kaskade, A-Trak, and Claude VonStroke. The artists were provided access to a database of Star Wars sound bites before the new movie came out and asked to put their own spin on things. The result is some very memorable techno tracks with loads of C-3PO-esque clicks, wookie war crys and other familiar Star Wars sounds.
From the very first sound effect you recognize the unmistakable Star Wars flavor. A laser shot, the whistle of a droid, the sound of an X-wing… they’re all sounds that are undeniably and uniquely “Star Wars” as soon as you hear them. It’s a testament to the sound design team from the original Star Wars movies (most notably Ben Burtt). They helped created a soundscape through a set of sound effects that could only live in a Star Wars movie.
When Lucas set out creating the universe that Star Wars lived in, he made sure that the gadgets and tech used in the films showed its age. This was a revolutionary idea back then when set designs and props in Sci-fi productions always looked brand new and shiny. It was a design shift that influenced the Sci-fi genre forever (good examples of this are Alien and Blade Runner). With that in mind, I’d argue that the sound designers set out to do the same thing. You didn’t hear highly polished beeps and bloops that were common in Sci-fi films previously. The sounds were natural and imperfect. The sounds came from a believable imperfect universe which helpped make the Star Wars universe sound and feel real in return.
This album is a beautiful tribute to all of that (widely unappreciated) creative sound work created back in the 70s for Star Wars. I’ve selected a few tracks from the album below but you can listen to the full album on Spotify and Soundcloud or buy Star Wars Headspace on iTunes.
*If you’re interested in where the many sounds from Star Wars came from, check out What Culture to see how some of the most notable sounds were created.
Bonobo – Ghomrassen
Shlohmo – Druid Caravan Of Smoke
Röyksopp – Bounty Hunters
Flying Lotus – R2 Where R U?
TroyBoi – Force
Galantis – Scruffy-Looking Nerfherder
Breakbot – Star Tripper
