Eraserhead

An astonishing, peerless masterpiece, the soundtrack to David Lynch's debut labor of love creates a world of haunting mechanics and sexual distress in such a bizarre layer of sonic fog that any record collection is simply poorer without it. The enormity of the aural experimentation is extraordinary. With renowned sound designer Alan Splet, Lynch developed any technique he could conjure up — from recording with pieces of glass tubing, pneumatic engines, or water-based pieces of machinery — to produce sounds never heard before (or since) in any medium. Pieces of Fats Waller filter in through the unsettling haze. The sounds of the unimaginably horrific baby are nothing less than ghastly. Few directors could have realized such a potent vision only a first time out. Disturbing, haunting, and — decades later — still one of the most compelling sonic creations in the history of film.