Are
these inferior synchs to the featured ones?
In
a word: no! The synchronicities I've selected for featured spots so far
were chosen because they are the ones that have inspired my own work
the
most. As I stated in the introduction, there may already be a
handful
of other synchronicities presently on the Internet that approach or
perhaps
even surpass some of these featured ones in terms of a one to one
comparison,
although I doubt any can yet compare with the most universally loved of
these, "Dark Side of the Rainbow." Thus what I've tongue-in-cheek
called
the kitchen synchs in this particular page are not necessarily
inferior,
but instead act more as a backdrop for my own personal involvement in
the
field. The purpose of this particular page is to outline this broader
synchronistic
backdrop (from which I've chosen my featured synchs, and from which
future
"ultimate Pink Floyd synchs" may emerge), moving through each Pink
Floyd
album chronologically according to year released and ending with
synchronicities
of a non-Floydian nature.
Piper
at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
The first
synchronicity
in this review is another of my own finds I call "Piper's
Nightmare Christmas", which synchronizes the first portion of Tim
Burton's
1993 animation classic Nightmare Before Christmas with the last
seven songs off this first Pink Floyd album, their only album where
legendary
guitarist/songwriter Syd Barrett acted as band leader. The internal cue
"Piper's Nightmare Christmas" is structured around is perhaps at least
an unconscious nod toward the same in the earlier "Soft Toy Story."
In
Fall, 2001, this synchronicity was combined with another of my finds ("Full
of Secrets") using Floyd's 2nd album, A Saucerful of Secrets,
creating a combo synch called "A Neat Pair." Together they attempt to
symbolically
chart the rise and demise of Syd Barrett through the hypothetically
twinned
realms of Christmastown (Nighmare) and the Black Lodge (Twin
Peaks).
Until the
summer of
2001, "Piper's Nightmare Christmas" was the only well known Piper
synchronicity that I knew of, but now at least two other sites list one
or two synchs that employ this initial Floyd effort: Mike Casey's
Yes
I'm Cake and T.L.'s Cinesynchs.
Mike's "Army and the Gates of Darkness" has especially recieved some
attention
lately, and I can personally vouch for T.L.'s Piper-Evil
Dead 2 combo as well, which, interestingly, uses the only 4
songs
off the album not found in my own Piper synch.
A
Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
See: Piper
at the
Gates of Dawn
Ummagumma
(1969)
Pink
Floyd's 3rd studio effort, the 1969 double album Ummagumma,
also
has several synchronicities attached to it. Perhaps the best
known
Ummagumma
synchronicity is one featured on Andrew Wendland's "The Pink Floyd
Movie
Synchronization Story," which marries the studio album of the double
set
(also containing a live album) with the 1958 film Gigi starring
Maurice Chevalier. Although not replete with a lot of obvious
internal
match ups, I personally find “Gigi-Ummagumma,”
also called “Gigigumma” and "Ummagigi” on various synchronicity sites,
pretty entertaining in a trippy kind of way. One of the most
interesting
aspects of this synchronicity is that a Gigi soundtrack album
is
prominently display on the cover of Ummagumma -- undoubtedly
the
inspiration for playing the two works together in the first place. On
the
surface at least, this seems to provide evidence that the synchronicity
was intentionally created by Pink Floyd. This hypothetical intent
factor
is aided by the fact that, like "Dark Side of the Rainbow," the start
of
"Gigi-Ummagumma" is cued to the last roar (2nd in this case) of the MGM
logo Leo the Lion introducing both films.
Another
interesting synchronicity involving Ummagumma is another of the
author's creations called "Psychogumma,"
combining the album with Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1960 horror film Psycho.
I personally think this match with Ummagumma is at least as
strong
as "Gigi-Ummagumma," and, if so, seems to help counter any
intent theory involving the latter. However, check out SoOo gUy's Saucerful
of Secrets site for an opposing viewpoint on this particular aspect
of "Psychogumma." ScOo gUy also lists a synchronicity between Psycho
and the live version of Ummagumma on his site.
Another
Ummagumma
synch with a more difficult set up is the "2001-Ummagumma"
combo from DreamX's science fiction oriented "Synchronicities of Pink
Floyd
in Space." This has been mentioned by one prominent syncher as a
personal
favorite, and blends segments of Floyd music with movie dialog in an
effective
psychological union.
Atom
Heart Mother (1970)
Pink
Floyd's 4th studio album, Atom Heart Mother, also has its share
of synchronicities, including a fairly well promoted one called "Labyrinth
Heart Mother," discovered by Dave T. and advertised on his web side
of the same name. This combines AHM with the 1986 fantasy movie
Labyrinth
(02/15/03 note: the LHM site seems to be down, at least for the moment).
Another
popular synchronicity, this time using the "Atom Heart Mother" song
alone
(making up the entire side 1 of the original lp) is what we can call
"2001-Atom
Heart Mother." As is the case with "Gigi-Ummagumma," many intent
theorist
use this synchronicity as gist for their mill, saying that it was Pink
Floyd's original attempt at creating a soundtrack for the "Jupiter and
Beyond the Infinite" section of 2001: A Space Odyssey -- a
warm
up, if you will, for the later, more polished "Jovian Echoes." However,
some regular synchers actually prefer the "2001-Atom Heart Mother"
combo.
Meddle
(1971)
"Jovian
Echoes" & "Contact
Echoes," both utilizing the brilliant "Echoes" song comprising the
original side two of Meddle, have already been featured in the
"2nd
Banana and Odd Doubles" page of this site. The other synchronicities I
know that involve
Meddle don't seem to measure up to these two,
but you can test them out yourself if you wish. These include, among
others,
"Meddle-Gone
With the Wind" (another Wendland find) and "Meddle-The
Shining" from "The Kubrick-Floyd Site." I haven't tried ScOo
gUy's various Meddle synchs such as Meddle-Willy Wonka or
Meddle-Matrix out yet. Admittedly I don't like the Matrix movie
very much, and since this is a popular film to use in f/a
synchronicities,
this may put certain limitations on my overall judgment of donations
here.
Also,
several sites
list variations on a Meddle-Fantasia match, including the Synchronicity
Arkive and 2% David's Unusual
Synchs.
Dark
Side of the Moon (1973)
Dark
Side of the Moon, spurred by interest in "Dark Side of the
Rainbow,"
is probably the most popular album for synching experiments in general.
I’ve featured "Dark
Side of the Rainbow" in a page of its own on this site, and my "Dark
Side of the Yellow Submarine," also using this album, is discussed
in the "2nd Banana & Odd Doubles" page. There is a good chance,
given
the sheer number of DSotM synchs out there now, that others may
certainly approach and perhaps surpass the level of at least "Dark Side
of the Yellow Submarine." Contenders include "Dark
Side of Jekyll and Hyde" and "Dark
Side of the Apocalypse" by the aforementioned Carlo, and "The
Dark Crusade" (DSotM + Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade)
and "Dark
Side of the Matrix" (DSotM + The Matrix) from
Michael
Allen. Dark Side-Matrix has been especially noted as a very
good
synch by some. Although I haven't tried most of these yet, my guess,
once
again, is that none will measure up to the consistent quality of "Dark
Side of the Rainbow." A later entry into this category is T.L.'s
"Dark
Side of the Third Kind," certainly a more noteworthy effort
than
most. 2% David also has several DSotM synchronicities now
listed on his Unusual Syncs site.
Wish
You Were Here (1975)
Another
popular synching album is this highly successful follow-up to Dark
Side
of the Moon. Most of the Wish You Were Here synchronicities
seem somewhat under the level of the best, including "Wish
You Were Here-Bladerunner" and "Wish
You Were Here-Akira" from the Synchronicity Arkive, and "Wish
You Were Here-It's A Wonderful Life" from the Wendland site.
Michael
Allen has one I've yet to try in this category called "Wish
You Were Neo", an accompaniment to his "Dark Side of the Matrix."
Carlo's
"Wish
You Were 13" (WYWH + Apollo 13) has some nice
moments,
particularly during the rocket launch which ends the first loop of the
synch. 2% David has added his Wish You Were Here-2001
combo
to this list, which he personally rates as an A+ ( I haven't seen it
yet).
One
of the problems I have with Wish You Were Here synchronicities
in
general is that the album is so ambient and motionless overall, perhaps
moreso than any other Floyd album, that about any movie can be found to
"synch" with it to one degree or another.
Animals
(1977)
Not
as many for this one. Two featured on popular sites are "Casablanca-Animals"
and "The
Good, the Bad, & the Ugly-Animals." Reviews I've seen
have
been mixed for both. More recently, PinkFan, owner of the Sync
or Stink web site (02/17/03: link not working), has added
an
Animals-Heavy
Metal combo to this particular list, which is described by another
syncher as uncommonly good, particularly in terms of lyrical
matches.
2%Dave has an Animals based synchronicity on his Unusual
Synchs site called "Animals Now," this time matched with Francis
Ford
Copula's 1979 war epic Apocalypse Now.
The
Wall (1979)
Probably
the best known synchronicity involving this famous Floyd double album
is
its combination with Disney's 1951 animation standard Alice In
Wonderland.
"Alice-Wall"
is one of the oldest known synchronicities listed on this page, and,
like
"Dark Side of the Rainbow" and "Jovian Echoes," has a dark and
mysterious
origin. I must agree with many others that this is a pretty good
synchronicity
overall. Especially interesting from my viewpoint is the overlap
between the two trials ending "Alice-Wall" -- Pink's in The Wall,
and Alice's in Alice in Wonderland. In combination with
the
coordinated time between movie and album (if we skip the song
"Comfortably
Numb," then the video and audio components in "Alice-Wall" become the
same
length), we admittedly have a nice foundation for some type of intent
theory,
such as espoused on Andrew Wendland's "The Pink Floyd Movie
Synchronization
Story" site.
My
original theory concerning the "Alice-Wall" synchronicity was that it
perhaps
represents more a symbolic match than anything else. As Dark
Side
of the Moon and The Wall are commonly joined together as
Floyd's
two masterpieces, likewise their two best known film pairings
respectively
in the synchronicity field, The Wizard of Oz and Alice In
Wonderland,
are inspired by books often grouped together as the two most popular
works
of fantasy in modern literature. Thus when Dark Side of the Moon
was found to possess an Oz resonance, it was perhaps natural to connect
its counterpart, The Wall, to Oz's own counterpart of
Wonderland.
Yet this could also be used for an "Alice-Wall" intent theory -- that
Pink
Floyd thought of this correlation as well.
Several
other Wall synchronicities are prominently displayed on various
synchronicity sites and message boards. I have already reviewed
probably
my favorite of these, Michael Allen's "Show
Truman The Wall." Another syncher reviewed in the "3 More..." page,
Dave Bytor, has created several nice dubs involving the music of The
Wall. Dave's "Titanic-Wall,"
for instance, has been called first rate by at least one prominent
syncher,
although I personally prefer his Pi-Wall
combo, which contains some really nice song transitions. And it
also
seems appropriate that the third syncher reviewed in the "3 More..."
page,
Carlo of "Soft Toy Story" fame, also has a Wall synch that he
has
promoted in the past: "The
Basket-WALL Diaries," in this case combining the Floyd double album
with The Basketball Diaries starring a youthful Leonardo
DiCaprio.
Later
Floyd
For
a long time, the only well known post-Wall Floydian
synchronicity
I knew of was DreamX's
"Planet
of the Division Bell," combining The Division Bell (1994)
with
the original Planet of the Apes movie from 1968. However,
relative newcomers such as 2% David and SoOo gUy have now come up with
a number of synchronicities using later Floyd albums. Perhaps
especially
notable at this point is 2%'s synchronization of Momentary Lapse of
Reason (1989) with 2001.
Outside
the Wall: Non-Floydian Synchronicities
In terms
of some post-Floyd
synchronicities, we have already discussed Dave Bytor's various
detailed
synchronicity sites on the web presently, spotlighting what I percieve
as the core of his "Rush-Wonka Project." If only because of the
precise
and detailed nature of his web sites, I would personally consider Dave
to be at the forefront of our little film/album synchronicity field.
As mentioned before, Dave is an expert at all things Rushian, and his
synchronicities
("Rush-Wonka Project," "Rushian Matrix,") tend to pay
homage to the band he most loves and respects.
Another
synchronicity
that's been floating around the web for some time now is "Fantasia
Dream," featured on the Synchronicity Arkive. It matches the music
of the now disbanded Smashing Pumpkins with the Disney animation
favorite
Fantasia,
object of many other synching experiments. Problems: the set up is
rather
difficult, and you have to have two Smashing Pumpkin cds in order to
run
it.
Many
other synchronicities
could be listed here. Michael Allen, once again, has an impressive list
of non-Pinkish synchronicities -- just visit his "The
Synching Ship" web site for further information.
Mike
Casey has also
published descriptions of some personal synchronicity finds on his "Yes
I'm Cake" site, including
"Our
Little Oz," a combo of The Wizard of Oz and the Lords of
Acid's
Our
Little Secret. Mike's page on this synchronicity contains one
of the more impressive and detailed lists of individual matches I've
seen,
and he has created similar analyses for some of his other synchs as
well. Like Dave Bytor and Michael Allen, Mike is another
"Shared
Fantasia" participant featured on this site, creating a nice 9 part
piece
to the difficult Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony section and
using
selections from 8 separate artists in the process. This is
actually
my favorite work of Mike's I've been able to view. Also make sure
to check out his mind blowing "Mikecosm"
as well, based on the collaborative Gridcosm game from the people at
sito.org/.
Another
nice synchronicity
I've had the pleasure to view is T.L.'s "Like
Swimming Fantasia 2000," combining the unique sounds and words of
the
band Morphine (a favorite of the author's wife, in fact) with the first
four sections of Disney's recent Fantasia update. I'd
recommend
it as much as about any of the others mentioned here, in fact,
including
those highlighted on previous pages. T.L. is another "Shared
Fantasia"
contributor, with, oddly, the piece he was selected to overdub, the
famous
Sorcerer's
Apprentice featuring Mickey Mouse, being the next one up after the
finish of the 4 section of the film used in "Like Swiming Fantasia
2000"
(for those who don't know, both Fantasia projects use the same
Sorcerer's
Apprentice animation). Maybe T.L. should look into the possibility of
combining
the two projects in some way.
And
finally, Carlo
also has a number of other non-Floydian synchs listed on his AV
Room site, many of which also involve the music of Flaming Lips,
obviously
a favorite. Be sure to tell him baker b. sent you.
That's
all for now
folks!
NEXT
Previous
Introduction
| Dark Side of the Rainbow | 2nd
Banana & Odd Doubles | 3 More | Kitchen
Synchs | Art of Synchronicity | Synch-Links
| Home
