I'm particularly fond of the soundtrack editions which overlay Vangelis' music with city background noise, bits of dialog, and other atmospherics from the appropriate scene:
I don't know what this version is properly called; however I used to listen to a similar (but shorter, perhaps one hour long) version called the 'Esper Edition'.
Give it a listen, while you read the article... or anytime.
It's great. There is also great versions without dialog if preffered.
Finding an "authentic" version if the Blade Runner soundtrack is surprisingly difficult. Most are compilations and reinterpretations, even made by Vangelis himself. My favourite is this version: http://www.vangelisrarities.com/produit/blade-runner-2019-ed...
The maker must have spent a lot of time extracting this from the multichannel Audiotracks of the Blu-Rays.
You might enjoy this classic site - youarelisteningtolosangeles.com - ambient music overlaid with live police chatter.
The creator has made other versions since; the Quebec one is nice if you want a different language.
"Most San Francisco Police radio is now encrypted and no longer available Unfortunately, all SFPD traffic aside from initial dispatch and response has been encrypted and no longer accessible to the public. San Francisco has moved Police, Fire and EMS to a new digital system. Fire and non-police Emergency Services are still non-encrypted for many of their channels, so this will constitute the majority of the stream."
What a wonderful album. Like "Direct", it features many explorations using new digital synths from the late 80s. Fun fact: the voice-overs were done by Polanski and his wife Emmanuelle Seigner (she acts in the "The Ninth Gate" with Johnny Depp). They used to hang out at Vangelis' studio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3fz6CC45ok
I don't know what this version is properly called; however I used to listen to a similar (but shorter, perhaps one hour long) version called the 'Esper Edition'.
Give it a listen, while you read the article... or anytime.