This is one of my favorite records and I think that it is worth discussing in-depth: The Death Waltz Recording Company release of Joe Delia’s soundtrack to Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 from 2014. Despite the popularity of Ferrara’s film, Delia’s score had never been pressed to vinyl before. Here one can hear the original soundtrack remastered under Delia’s supervision in a clear, crisp mix. This pressing also includes extensive liner notes and comments by Delia, as well as an original poster by Alice X. Zhang.
The cover art and bonus print by Zhang show Zoë Tamerlis in her nun costume right at the film’s climax. Zhang renders this iconic image against black with splattered blood all about, evoking the cathartic carnage that makes Ms. 45 such a compulsively watchable film. The print is terrific and would likely accent any media room well.
Fans of Ferrara’s work will find all of this to be great fun as well as an excellent tool for dissecting and re-evaluating Ferrara’s classic second feature. Music is such an integral part to Ferrara’s work, more so than most realize. On the director’s commentary track to the original DVD release of King Of New York (1990) Ferrara discusses at length about how music figures into his creative process as well as how he uses it in post-production. With this soundtrack to Ms. 45 we get to hear from Joe Delia, offering another perspective. Since Delia and Ferrara have had such a long collaboration the liner notes alone make this a “must have” item.
