Under the Nightlands moniker, The War on Drugs’ Dave Hartley sends pop, soul and psych sounds on an evolutionary journey, returning with a retro-futuristic sound that’s equal parts outer and inner space. Fitting, then, that he’ll be creating a live soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film that set the standard for mind-expanding science fiction. Hartley promises to recontextualize the film, his personal favorite, with “the sounds and smells of nostalgia and pastwatch,” suggesting a soundscape that captures a future that never was, that only existed as the fantasy of a distant past. Replacing Kubrick’s classical-music appropriations with Hartley’s blissed-out chorales can only transform the visuals into more of a headtrip, and his soaring sound is large and weightless enough to compensate for not watching the film in 70mm.
Tue., Dec. 4, 7 p.m., $12-$14, with Mikele Edwards, PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 267-519-9651, philamoca.org.
