(OST])[BO] Climax

Cerrone, Supernature (Instrumental Climax edit), 1977

Gaspar Noé's film opens with Marc Cerrone's disco hit, in an instrumental version. "When I started looking for tracks for the film," explains the director, "I began by exploring disco and electronic music. 'Supernature' came to mind quite quickly. But ideally, I wanted only instrumental versions, so I could freely create a dialogue within the film." Cerrone thus remixed an instrumental version of his hit, specifically for Climax. "In the 1970s," the director explains, "it was impossible to sell a record without a chorus. But today, since Daft Punk and all the electronic music, you realize that the instrumental version sounds much more appealing. The track thus seems fresher, more contemporary—or at least universal." It's a story of how a somewhat forgotten disco hit becomes a modern electronic anthem. Perhaps one of the major events of Climax is Noé's resurrection of Cerrone.

Giorgio Moroder, Utopia me Giorgio, 1977

« At first, I wanted to use the music from the film Midnight Express, composed by Giorgio Moroder, but it was impossible due to rights issues », explains Gaspar Noé. And then, tracks like Chase are too closely linked to Alan Parker’s film.

« There are pieces that define films. Midnight Express is Moroder, and Climax is Cerrone », adds Gaspar Noé, referring to the new remix of Supernature that opens his film. The director then settled on Utopia (me Giorgio), a slightly earlier piece by Giorgio Moroder, but one that already foreshadows the electronic music of Daft Punk – who would later pay homage to the Italian disco composer on their fourth album, Random Access Memories (2013). « I had planned to end the film with a very dark electronic track », continues Gaspar Noé, « but then there was no longer any counterpoint to what we were seeing in the film. I preferred to place this catchy disco track here, so that everything wouldn't go in the same direction. » Noé's touch.

Patrick Hernandez, Born to be Alive (instrumental), 1979

Incredible but true, just like with Supernature, the Climax soundtrack features the very first instrumental version of Patrick Hernandez's hit. « I danced to Born to Be Alive a thousand times; I needed an instrumental version. My music supervisor then contacted the record company, who confirmed the existence of an instrumental version that had never been released. We were able to get the rights.  » Thus, the very first instrumental version of Born to Be Alive on an album is on the Climax soundtrack. Awesome.

Soft Cell, Tainted Love / Where did our love (extended), 1981

Soft Cell's hit, a new wave cover of two soul standards, Gloria Jones's "Tainted Love" (1964) and The Supreme's "Where Did Our Love Go?" (1964), features prominently in Gaspar Noé's film. The director explains: « Tainted Love was my music supervisor's idea. Initially, I wanted to include another version of this music by Soft Cell in the film Tainted Dub, a more experimental version that I liked even more. But with the visuals and the dancing, it just didn't work at all. »

Dopplereffekt, Superior Race, 1995 et Technic 2000, 1995

« Dopplereffekt is genius. In the realm of hard, classy techno, these early Dopplereffekt tracks are absolute bombs. » Gaspar Noé doesn’t mince words when talking about this Detroit group, close to industrial funk. « At first, I only wanted to include one track, but in the end… ». When you love something, you don’t hold back.

Thomas Bangalter, What To Do, 1995 and Sangria, 1995/2018

« I met Thomas [Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk] when I was filming Irreversible », explains Gaspar Noé. « In Irreversible, I needed a fifteen-minute techno track for the party sequence. I asked Thomas if I could use the tracks he had released on his label Roulé », the director continues. Roulé is a house music label founded in 1995 by Thomas Bangalter, a year before Daft Punk’s first hit, Da Funk. « Thomas quickly agreed, and then, after seeing a rough cut of the film, he asked me to compose the soundtrack. » The beginning of a long friendship, which continues with Climax, since Daft Punk offers two pieces of music, What We Do, released in 1995 on the album Trax on Da Rocks from the Roulé label, and the almost original title Sangria, an untitled piece, never released, produced by Bangalter in 1995 and which has remained on a hard drive ever since… Until it finally appears, finally named, in Noah's film.

Aphex Twin, Windowlicker, 1999

« Along with Daft Punk's Rollin & Stratchin, it's one of the early electro tracks I like the most » explains Gaspar Noé, for whom it was obvious to include this cult 90s track – memorable for its unsettling video directed by Chris Cunningham.

Kiddy Smile, Dickmatized (instrumental), 2018

Also an actor in Climax, the artist and LGBT activist Kiddy Smile contributed his only anachronistic track to the film. « It's thanks to Kiddy that many of the dancers agreed to be in the film; as a thank you, I knew he'd be pleased to have his song on the soundtrack », explains Gaspar Noé. « And besides, it's one of the few tracks—along with Cerrone's Supernature and Thomas Bangalter's What To Do—that brought together the diverse influences of the dancers, some of whom come from voguing and others from R&B. »

Thibaut Barbillon, Angie (instrumental cover), 2018

« When I was a teenager, there were three slow songs that were always playing: Hotel California by the Eagles, Honesty by Billy Joel, and Angie by the Rolling Stones », recalls Gaspar Noé. « I wanted to include Angie by the Rolling Stones in the film, but there wasn’t an instrumental version », explains the director, who feared “dysfunctional clashes” between the song lyrics and the film’s dialogue. The producers of Climax nevertheless obtained the rights to create an instrumental version of this melancholic hit. It was entrusted to Thibaut Barbillon, a composer experienced in film work. « It was important for me to include well-known music in Climax, » explains Gaspar Noé. « It puts the viewer on familiar ground. It’s like when you watch a film with famous actors: you see a film with Depardieu, you feel right at home. It’s the same here. » No Gérard Depardieu in Climax, but Angie and Born to be Alive.

Daft Punk, Rollin & Stratchin', 1997 (not included on the album)

The flagship track from Daft Punk's first studio album, Rollin' & Stratchin', featured in the film « thanks to Thomas Bangalter's intervention » is nevertheless absent from the album released by Milan Records. « Due to rights issues. Daft Punk generally refuse the use of their music in films », explains Gaspar Noé. Out of friendship, they do appear in the film Climax, but declined the invitation to contribute to the Original Soundtrack.