Water, Dark

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2005

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Appropriately enough, Angelo Badalamenti's score for Brazilian director Walter Salles' American remake of Hideo Nakata's 2002 Japanese ghost story (follow all that?), DARK WATER, is murky and washed out, a gloomy atmosphere of suspense and dread. Released on CD from Hollywood Records (2061-62492-2), the music is somber and sobering. Performed by a huge string orchestra with minimal woodwind, horns, and percussion, the music weighs heavily in almost every guise. This is not the shadowy water that obscures inky depths; rather it is the sourceless liquid skin that oozes impossibly across kitchen floors and hallways. The violins form a heavy liquid membrane, thicker than black blood, ominous in its harmonious portent. Badalementi's score is the sound of that oncoming rippling surface; its heavy atmospheres lurking in the midst of that gaunt translucent strata, resounding fluidly in a constant state of dribbling horizontal movement. It is superb in crafting the kind of menacing atmosphere that the film needs, and the music lurks sullenly on CD in tiny, gentle ripples, keeping us constantly on edge. The score is pure atmosphere, very little in the way of melody or even rhythm, and certainly no thematic unity; the score operates on a level of untainted ambiance dark, dismal, unrelenting. The gloom is lifted only for the End Credits, when a lush, romantic rhythm resonates airily, the black water having receded into shadows, the way out now revealed. www.hollywoodrecords.com

UNDEAD, the 2003 sophomore directorial effort from The Spierig Brothers, has brought to life its musical score on La-La Land Records (LLLCD-1034). The score is the work of New Zealander Cliff Bradley, who scored THE BIG PICTURE for the Spierigs in

2002. His work on UNDEAD is a vividly melodic and symphonic composition, highly thematic (Bradley details his five major themes in the CD's booklet; the Spierigs also contribute a page about working with Cliff). The complete antithesis of something broodingly atmospheric like DARK WATER, the music for UNDEAD is quirky, animated (or, re-animated, if you will), as over-the-top as the film's own sense of humor, while at the same time playing it perfectly straight. While the film is belovedly cheesy, reveling in its references to other films, and manically comic, Bradley plays straight man, providing the emotive stability the film needs to work as a comedy horror film. The score remains very inventive, such as the bluesy guitar riff that accompanies the weirdo farmer Marion, but accommodates the film quite straightforwardly. It's a constantly delight on CD. www.lalalandrecords.com  www.cliffbradley.com

Also released by La-La Land this week is the score to MIRRORMASK (LLLCD 1031), an eloquent English fantasy film written by NEVERWHERE's Neil Gaiman and directed by Dave McKean, also a NEVERWHERE alumni. The film has been described by one review as "ALICE IN WONDERLAND meets WIZARD OF OZ performed by Cirque de Soleil." Composed by saxophonist and composer Iain Ballamy in this his first feature film score (he composed McKean's short film, N[eon] in 2002), the music is a sonic

delight. An inventive, jazz-based score that is as varied, articulate, and adroit as any Cirque de Soileil performance, and just as impossibly agile and attractive, the music for MIRRORMASK is alternately circus-like, cabaret-like, and old fashioned European jazz-like - often in the same cue. It develops not atmospheres but an almost magical intensity through its incessant vim and vigor, occupied by absorbing rhythms (accordion-based cues like "Sock Puppets/Flyer," "Leaving the City," "Fish Street", etc.) inspired textures ("Abandoned Hall," for example, includes sounds of typewriters, piano strings, and tiny, fragile percussion taps; "Arresting Helena" is an marvelous track for a variety of percussive meanderings arranged as programmed samples shakers, xylophone, what could be gourds, and much more; "The Library" is a provocative duet between soprano saxophone and cimbalom, and I doubt you've heard anything like it before!; "Giants Orbiting" houses a bizarre melee of slowly swirling synth sounds), and haunting performances ("Running for the Bus" is an outstanding short jazz piece for acoustic guitar and bass; "Looking Through The Window" is a jazz motif for accordion and sampled bass and piano). www.lalalandrecords.com  www.ballamy.com

FILM MUSIC NEWS

Buysoundtrax.Com announced the world premiere CD release of 1977's sci-fi cult classic LASERBLAST. Kim Milford Stars as Billy Duncan, a down-and-out young kid

who stumbles across a discarded alien laser weapon out in the California desert, who then proceeds on a maniacal shooting rampage after being possessed by the laser gun's original alien owner. This is the first-ever original film score by two veterans in the sci-fi film and TV genre: Richard Band who later became known for such works as METALSTORM, RE-ANIMATOR, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, GHOULIES, PUPPET MASTER, and Joel Goldsmith, son of legendary maestro Jerry, who later went on to score films such as KULL THE CONQUEROR, JOBMAN, WATCHERS, VAMPIRELLA, and television's THE UNTOUCHABLES, STARGATE SG-1 and STARGATE: ATLANTIS. For LASERBLAST, Richard and Joel employed innovative electronic techniques that pre-dated the use of MIDI and other digital mediums. After close to thirty years, the music of LASERBLAST finally makes its premiere debut on CD. The first 100 copies ordered from buysoundtrax.com will be autographed by composer Richard Band at no additional charge. http://buysoundtrax.com/bsx-laserblast.html

England's Harkit Records informs me that, as a follow-up to their new releases of

Krzysztof Komeda's scores for ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (see last week's column), they will release later this year a revised and expanded version of Komeda's CUL-DE-SAC, coupled with the composer's KNIFE IN THE WATER. One of Komeda's earliest pair of collaborations with Roman Polanski, with many recurring visual themes. This expanded version of the music from CUL-DE-SAC now has an added vocal version of the main theme sung by Polish songstress, Ewa Bem with Bemibek. KNIFE IN THE WATER'S haunting themes perfectly match the oddness of the film's deceptively simple story of jealousy and mistrust. Liner notes are in English and Polish. www.harkitrecords.com/

Milan Records has launched two new releases in their Silver Screen Edition series. GHOST (1990) became one of the decade's most popular films. The heartfelt score by Maurice Jarre is digitally remastered, and as an extra there is an exclusive interview with the composer. The other Silver Screen Edition release is THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995). At times tender, sometimes brutally riveting, this dynamic score demonstrates John Ottman's ability to delve into a variety of musical styles and bizarre orchestral techniques, while at the same time carrying out a definitive signature of his own. The music is digitally remastered and there is an interview with the composer on this disc. www.milanrecords.com

Containing 8 tracks in a limited edition digi-pack pressing, the Italian epic metal band Rhapsody has released an EP titled The Magic of the Wizard's Dream, which proffers a stunning new take on the highlight track from the band's latest album, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret (see our review elsewhere on this web site this week). The EP highlights a re-recording of the album track "The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream," this time as a duet that would feature the rich and expressive singing voice Christopher Lee (who functions as narrator on the Symphony CD) with the band Rhapsody, supported by a Cologne string orchestra and some other guest musicians. For more details, see today's Music News report.

FILM MUSIC ON RADIO

Film Music Media Group announces the September 12, 2005 launch of Film Music

Radio (www.FilmMusicRadio.com), an Internet-based radio station which will play a 24-hour stream of soundtrack recordings. The station will feature genre-based block programs and DJ-hosted specialty shows. Film Music Radio joins other Film Music Media Group ventures, including Film Music Magazine, the Film Music Network, and the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Young Composers Competition, which Film Music co-sponsors. The station went live on August 8, 2005, with a limited programming schedule, in advance of the September 12th official launch.

The Film Music Radio schedule will be broken into two-hour genre-based segments including Science Fiction, Drama, Comedy and Family, Action, and Songs. The website will include a searchable database of reviews of these recordings, edited by author/producer Didier C. Deutsch, with links to purchase CDs, via affiliations with Amazon.com and CD Universe. During the 7AM and 7PM blocks (PDT) the station will broadcast exclusive original programs, including:

"On The Score", featuring composer interviews with film music journalist Daniel Schweiger
"Theme and Variations", hosted by CineMedia Promotions President Beth Krakower
"Soundtrack Cinema", hosted by Ford A. Thaxton (formerly aired on KING-FM in Seattle)
"Clef Notes from Tinseltown", a news and review show, hosted by Dan Goldwasser, SoundtrackNet
"Foreign Focus", featuring international soundtracks, hosted by Didier C. Deutsch
"The Classics", featuring music from classic films and television

"We're thrilled to bring people who enjoy instrumental music a new way to enjoy the best of film and television music," says Film Music Media Group founder Mark Northam. "We've combined the best of music from visual media, from the classics to the latest hits, with an incredible line-up of exclusive shows that explore the world of film music with composer interviews, insightful commentary, and new perspectives on today's new 'classical' music." www.FilmMusicRadio.com

FILM MUSIC IN BOOKS

McFarland has published an extensive and provocative biography of composer Alex North (1910-1991), written by musicologist and pianist Sanya Shoilevska Henderson. Alex North, Film Composer emphasizes the composer's life and work. It is a

biographical and analytic study, rather than a purely historical examination of North's life, Henderson spends the first half of the book on North's growing up and his experiences in modern dance, documentaries, theater, and film. She covers just about every film score in turn, basing her commentary both on her own studied perceptions and upon detailed interviews with the compose, who is quite articulate about his objectives and experiences in composing specific scores, including details on his aborted efforts in scoring Kubrick's 2001 and his epic, doom-full score for the epic fantasy, DRAGONSLAYER, and, briefly, his efforts on the original WILLARD ("Where does my inspiration come from?" North asks. "There was a scene where the rats are chewing up a man, so you try to write a piece of music that lends something to the scene that isn't there..." his only real efforts in the fantastic genre. The second part of the book accommodates lengthy musical analysis of five pivotal North scores A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SPARTACUS, THE MISFITS, UNDER THE VOLCANO, and PRIZZI'S HONOR.

"For those of us coming of age in the 1950s, and seriously interested in film music, Alex North was an inspiration, a role model, and a hero," writes John Williams in his introduction to the book. "To present and future generations, Alex North is a treasure to be discovered and enjoyed..."

Alex North, who received a lifetime achievement Academy Award in 1986, was an amazing composer and a gentleman as well (I found him very warm, quite unassuming, and gently outspoken when I had the opportunity to speak with him concerning 2001) whose musical legacy may not be quite as accessible as the more traditional sounding scores of his protégé Jerry Goldsmith or his admirer John Williams, but whose sophisticated modernity resulted in a canon of complex, distinguished, and intriguing film score artistry. A book like this has been long in coming, and is most welcome. You will find it illuminating both in terms of appreciating North's music and in terms of appreciating North the man and the artist. www.mcfarlandpub.com or call: 800-253-2187

Recommended Soundtrack sources:
www.buysoundtrax.com  
www.intrada.com  
www.screenarchives.com  
www.footlight.com  
www.arksquare.com/index_main.html (Japan)
www.intermezzomedia.com (Italy)
www.moviegrooves.com  
www.moviemusic.com

For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com