Music Reviews

A few years ago, I raved at great length about L.E.O., a loose collective of (largely) indie label power-pop veterans joining forces to pay a “stylistic” tribute to Electric Light Orchestra without covering any of the band’s existing songs. I’ve always held ELO and Alan Parsons Project in a similarly high esteem – both of them routinely turning out engrossing, lush music with stellar production – so it’s good to find Rubber Universe, a band which offers up a similar “stylistic tribute” to Parsons.

Where it was easy to figure out the object of L.E.O.’s musical affections, Rubber Universe is almost like a tribute – or, better yet, a whole new entry – to prog rock in general. The band states up front that their chief inspiration was Parsons, but in a couple of places (namely on the tracks “Paint My World” and “Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight”) they also remind one forcefully of the Moody Blues at the height of their early ’70s experimentation (i.e. when their every release was mind-blowing and not just in service of a paint-by-numbers tour), and occasionally – especially in those songs with a healthy dose of female vocals – Clannad comes to mind.

Not that Rubber Universe is slavishly imitating anyone. The admission to having sprung from a tribute/cover band may be a way to automatically grab the attention of a certain fanbase, but Parliament Of Fooles is a fresh new entry in the prog rock pantheon on its own; the whole “former cover band” line in the publicity material may end up being counterproductive. The project (no pun intended) may have started as a cover band that wanted to do something original, but while Parsons fans will appreciate it, it’s nothing that screams “Hey, they’re trying to sound like the Alan Parsons Project.”

Though in a few places, they kinda do, with a little help from their friends: Project guitar god Ian Bairnson contributes to one track, while Godfrey Townsend, Parsons’ current touring guitarist, plays on another. The real coup, however – if those two weren’t enough to lend it the seal of Parsons Project authenticity – is a spoken-word intro for “Let Me Rule Your Heart” by the Project’s most famous vocalist and co-founder, the late Eric Woolfson.

If there’s one trap that Parliament Of Fooles falls victim to, it’s a tendency for most of the songs to hover in the same mid-tempo territory. The good news is that, when a song that breaks that mold comes along (i.e. “Romance Of The Illusion”), it instantly stands out, but much of the album sticks around the same tempo; any second effort from Rubber Universe would do well to vary things a bit more.

But for a freshman outing by a new band, especially one that has one hell of a musical and production pedigree to live up to, built into its mission statement, Rubber Universe is an outfit that bears close watching – and repeat listening. Though fans of the Alan Parsons Project, they’ve proven that they’re more than ready to carve their own path, and with Parsons’ own output having dropped to less-than-prodigious levels in the past 20 years, I’d welcome a new entity making music with the same expansive feel.

1. Negative Spaces (4:23)
2. Dream Catcher (6:53)
3. Romance Of The Illusion (2:16)
4. Madness In Slumberland (4:18)
5. Garden Of Earthly Delights (3:54)
6. Let Me Rule Your Heart featuring Eric Woolfson (5:36)
7. Paint My World (3:35)
8. We Insist (Place De Greve Mix) (5:05)
9. Goodbye My Love (2:02)
10. Trying To Go On (4:40)
11. Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight featuring Godfrey Townsend (4:04)
12. Parliament Of Fooles featuring Ian Bairnson (5:47)

Released by: Rubber Universe
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 52:33

It’s something of an understatement to say that Tim Finn has earned a best-of album by now. The only catch is that it’s taken so long that there’s probably a whole generation in New Zealand – never mind everywhere else – asking “Tim who?” Hence, North, South, East, West… has a bit of an identity crisis: it’s not just a Tim Finn compilation, but crams in the better part of a best of Split Enz best-of album and selections from Crowded House (well, after a fashion) and the Finn Brothers, in addition to the obligatory new songs designed to hook in everyone who’s already bought all of Tim’s previous work.

With that in mind, you have to forgive North, South, East, West…‘s inherent schizophrenia. The one common thread linking all of this very disparate material is Finn’s extremely versaitle voice. Whether it’s the very orchestrated sound of Split Enz or the relatively stripped-down guitar wash of Crowded House or the Finn Brothers, Finn’s voice cuts through the whole mix every time. His solo work has darted back and forth between more ornamented, Enz-like songs and more acoustic fare, so even if you set aside his non-solo projects, there’s no one sound dominating the entire 2-CD set.

The obligatory new material includes songs we haven’t heard before, and new recordings of songs that we have. Finn covers Split Enz’s “Stuff And Nonsense” as a duet with Missy Higgins, and gives Crowded House’s “It’s Only Natural” a similar treatment with Bic Runga riding shotgun. He also covers the Crowded House hit-in-some-parts-of-the-world “Weather With You” with Neil and Liam Finn. Also included are very stripped-down new versions of “So Deep” (from his very-produced, dance-rhythm-heavy second solo album Big Canoe) and Crowded House’s “How Will You Go”, and an instrumental piano cover of a portion of Split Enz’s “Poor Boy”. I felt that a partial cover was a little bit of a cheat (especially when it’s done so well), and “So Deep” already wasn’t my favorite song from Big Canoe, and it doesn’t really benefit from the toned-down rethink. I’m much more partial to “How Will You Go” in its original form, so this new recording, relieved of most of its beautiful vocal harmonies, certainly doesn’t supplant the original. It’s interesting to note that none of the Crowded House songs on this collection are the original recordings – all of them are re-interpretations.

Fortunately, the genuinely new tracks are a treat: “Into The Water” and especially the jumpy “Light Years Away” are up there with the best of Finn’s output over the past decade, and “Nothing Unusual” winds up being a kind of theme song for the whole compilation: it borrows the main riff from “Many’s The Time” and namechecks Enz chestnuts like “Maybe” and “Malmsbury Villa”, and the lyrics talk about the inspiration for songs in general – it’s a song about when one writes and performs songs, a bit of a meta-song, and a pleasant one at that.

Listening back to the songs chosen from Finn’s large body of solo work, I have to say that generally, the songs are very well-chosen; it seems like Big Canoe and Finn’s self-titled 1989 album were buried for some reason (and I still count the latter among his very best solo work), and his work from the musical stage production Steel City isn’t represented at all, but as many labels as Finn has been on over the years there may be issues there (which may also explain the Crowded House oddity noted above). Once the compilation moves on to music from 1993’s Before & After, things tend to line up, more or less, with the Tim Finn best-of mixes that I’ve been creating for myself for years. Considering how hard it’s become to find some of Tim Finn’s material, this compilation is probably a good idea for those curious about his work.

Disc One
1. I See Red performed by Split Enz (3:17)
2. My Mistake performed by Split Enz (3:02)
3. Poor Boy performed by Split Enz (3:23)
4. Six Months In A Leaky Boat performed by Split Enz (4:23)
5. I Hope I Never performed by Split Enz (4:36)
6. Dirty Creature performed by Split Enz (4:01)
7. Maybe performed by Split Enz (2:53)
8. Stuff And Nonsense performed by Tim Finn & Missy Higgins (3:27)
9. Fraction Too Much Friction (4:10)
10. Made My Day (3:20)
11. So Deep (4:15)
12. How’m I Gonna Sleep (3:52)
13. Not Even Close (4:18)
14. Many’s The Time (4:20)
15. Persuasion (3:52)
16. Into The Water (3:14)
17. Nothing Unusual (4:02)

Disc Two
1. Weather With You performed by Tim, Neil & Liam Finn (3:43)
2. How Will You Go (2:59)
3. It’s Only Natural performed by Tim Finn & Bic Runga (3:44)
4. Underwater Mountain (3:55)
5. Dead Man (4:04)
6. What You’ve Done (3:43)
7. Subway Dreaming (4:16)
8. Angels’ Heap performed by the Finn Brothers (2:50)
9. Disembodied Voices performed by the Finn Brothers (3:37)
10. Luckiest Man Alive performed by the Finn Brothers (3:59)
11. Winter Light (4:11)
12. Couldn’t Be Done (2:53)
13. Astounding Moon (3:36)
14. Straw To Gold (3:58)
15. Out Of This World (3:01)
16. The Saw And The Tree (4:05)
17. Light Years Away (3:09)
18. Poor Boy (instrumental) (1:31)

Released by: Capitol / EMI
Release date: 2009
Disc one total running time: 64:25
Disc two total running time: 63:14

I always joke – well, it’s kind of a joke – that it’s not a James Horner score unless it sounds remarkably like a previous James Horner score. It was easy to make that joke in the ’80s; after Battle Beyond The Stars, a rather good score which was shoehorned into the same stylistic box as Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Horner’s boss, producer Roger Corman. That music led Horner to work on Star Trek for real with Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, and he then used much the same formula (and damn near the same music) for Star Trek III, Krull and his first gig with up-and-coming director James Cameron, Aliens. The similarity was strong enough that even people who, unlike your reviewer here, don’t listen to soundtrack music all day long noticed the similarities. To be fair, Horner has graced us with solid slices of musical Americana such as The Journey Of Natty Gann and Apollo 13 and perhaps the most popular soundtrack in history that doesn’t have the words “Star” and “Wars” anywhere on the cover, Titanic (also for Cameron).

Titanic also had the dubious distinction, at the time, of being the most expensive movie ever made (one which, luckily, also managed to make more of that money back than any more that came before it). When Cameron finally started production on Avatar – at $400,000,000, the new “most expensive movie ever” record-holder – it’s not surprising that Cameron called on the composer of his previous big-screen opus.

While there are a few rapid-fire brass blasts that immediately remind one of Horner’s works as far back as The Wrath Of Khan, generally the music from Avatar just about lives up to the hype of being something that Horner put a lot of time and thought into: it doesn’t actively sound like his previous works. In fact, it achieves something unexpected – at a time when world-music-inspired sounds are standing in for the otherworldly in nearly every other SF film/TV score out there (see: Battlestar Galactica, District 9, Lost, etc. etc. etc.), strongAvatar manages to not sound like anything else out there. I think this revelation hit me about the time I heard percussion that seemed to be imitating hummingbird wings: that’s kinda neat.

Unusually for a major label soundtrack release, Avatar is filled to the brim, and not with tiny bite-sized cues either: one track, “War”, weighs in heavier than 11 minutes, and those 11 minutes are neither typical action music nor typical James Horner action music. The Avatar score interestingly treats mind-expanding, contemplative moments as little triumphs, but doesn’t bestow triumphant bombast on moments of conflict. Horner and Cameron were clearly on the same page thematically, and the music serves the movie well.

So I’ll admit it: James Horner has returned to science fiction, and aside from maybe all of twenty seconds, it doesn’t sound like any movie he’s scored in that genre before. What’s more, it fits the movie like a glove, and it stands up to a listen on its own. I may yet find a reason to drop my skepticism and become a James Horner fan after all.

1. You Don’t Dream In Cryo (6:09)
2. Jake Enters His Avatar World (5:23)
3. Pure Spirits Of The Forest (8:50)
4. The Bioluminescence Of The Night (3:36)
5. Becoming One Of “The People” / Becoming One With Neytiri (7:41)
6. Climbing Up Iknimaya / “The Path To Heaven” (3:14)
7. Jake’s First Flight (4:48)
8. Scorched Earth (3:30)
9. Quaritch (5:00)
10. The Destruction Of Hometree (6:44)
11. Shutting Down Grace’s Lab (2:46)
12. Gathering All The Na’Vi Clans For Battle (5:12)
13. War (11:19)
14. I See You (Theme From Avatar) (4:16)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 78:28

The soundtrack from AMC’s recent remake of The Prisoner is very much like the show itself: it starts out sounding as though it might go to some interesting places, and ends up plodding along into territory that’s largely pointless and meandering. I’ve tried to give every remake of late a fair shake; V and Battlestar Galactica were probably due for a rethink, and Galactica certainly delivered the goods. The problem with Galactica being so wildly successful is that it’s probably prompted more studio suits to green-light reboots of existing franchises that just don’t need a revisitation. The Prisoner is certainly in that category: while certain elements of the original 1960s series are signal flares for the era during which the show was made, those elements were far outweighed by themes both timeless and troubling. The original show is still universally hailed as a milestone of TV storytelling – as the original DVD releases said on the box, “television’s first masterpiece.” With all of that praise, who was bucking for a remake?

The answer is simple: the studio that still held the copyright on Patrick McGoohan’s original concept and 17 episodes. Surely a modernization of the story would find ample material to dramatize in a post-9/11 world, with the themes of identity, staying in lockstep with the popular majority and bucking the system havingly only gained incredible significance in the intervening years. Instead, what emerged from the new Prisoner was a muddle of half-baked ideas with little or no resonance, failed attempts at fan-pleasing callbacks to the original series that more often than not seemed grafted on at the last minute, and murky vagueness standing in for the original show’s symbolism and mystery. Replace the original Number Six’s seething, barely-able-to-keep-it-from-bubbling-over rage at his predicament with a new Number Six who just really didn’t want to be in the Village (but can’t remember why), and the new Prisoner is just an ill-thought-out mess that isn’t remotely a patch on McGoohan’s show. Hopefully the new show won’t poison the ongoing mystique of its vastly superior forebear.

One of the few things I did find to like about AMC’s Prisoner was its frequently-trippy musical score. Just about every note of original score and library music used in the ’60s version has been released, re-released, stamped, filed, indexed, numbered and critically dissected, and it’s well known that the disorienting near-elevator-muzak tone of the original show’s music was intended as part of its overall unsettling effect. Rupert Gregson-Williams opts for a more modern tone, but keeps some of that unsettling feel in many tracks by layering in backward elements that intertwine with the main melodic and harmonic ideas. Early tracks on the soundtrack CD are quite interesting to listen to, and demand more than one listening to really catch how all the sounds, both forward and backward, fit together.

Sadly, many of the later tracks are bogged down in a kind of non-specific, quasi-Mediterranean millieu, with the appropriate meandering string instruments that have been all the rage of late with non-orchestral scoring. There are still occasional orchestral elements, but the latter half of the CD is quite frankly not really relaxing, but just plain sleepy. The main theme for the series as a whole is a strange mix of ’70s keyboard sounds and modern electronics – and it barely breaks out from the score itself to do what a main theme should (i.e. provide a sonic signature that lets you know, even from the TV in the next room, that The Prisoner is on, and you need to report to the Village immediately).

Ironically, it’s only a couple of source cues which turn out to be the closest that this score comes to the tone of the original show; several songs appeared in the AMC series which aren’t included here, such as selections from Brian Wilson’s Smile.

I can’t muster much more than a 2 rating for this soundtrack; there’s simply too much of it that, rather like the show, loses its way and goes off into the desert, never to return. I can’t even really fault the composer, as I can’t imagine the scripts and footage providing enough inspiration for anyone to create music that salvages the entire endeavour (see also: the Star Trek: The Motion Picture effect). Sad to say, this soundtrack is probably the most worthwhile thing to come from the 2009 remake of The Prisoner.

1. Explosion (1:42)
2. Everybody Knows Everybody (2:29)
3. The Ocean (5:03)
4. Two (5:58)
5. Shadows And Nightmares (3:05)
6. 909 (3:36)
7. Tour Bus (0:57)
8. Walk With Me (2:25)
9. 313 (2:58)
10. Lucy (6:17)
11. Six Investigates (1:30)
12. Wonkers (0:59)
13. The Ruins (3:03)
14. Blackmail (3:28)
15. Escape Resort (1:21)
16. One Night Together (4:39)
17. Wedding Day (3:23)
18. Waking Up (2:16)
19. Helen (6:36)
20. In The Church (5:53)
21. Suicide (2:48)
22. I Am Not A Number (3:15)
23. The Prisoner Titles (0:37)

Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 74:18

A fun little EP released just in time for the holiday season, It’s A Chiptune Holiday! is a selection of traditional Christmas music, done in old-school video game style with 8 Bit Weapon’s usual arsenal of custom-programmed classic console sound chips.

“Deck The Halls” kicks things off with harmonized vocoder vocals – it’s like a cheerful choir of Christmas-caroling robots. “Jingle Bells” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” also have robotic vocals, though the latter has a kind of strange diction that makes me wonder if it really is a voice synthesizer as opposed to a human singer’s processed vocals.

The instrumentals are a treat too; “O Christmas Tree” is given a polyphonic arrangement that makes it sound like a “win” tune from Pole Position; “Ave Maria” actually comes closest to what I was expecting to hear from an EP of 8-bit Christmas tunes.

The only problem with It’s A Chiptune Holiday! is that it’s just too short! I instantly thought of about a dozen other Christmas tunes that would sound great with the 8 Bit Weapon treatment; I realize that it’d mean venturing into non-public-domain territory, but I can just about hear a chiptune version of “Christmastime Is Here” from Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas special soundtrack in my head.

The good news is, I hear they’ve already scheduled Christmas for next year – you’ve got 12 months to get on the case, 8 Bit Weapon!

1. Deck The Halls (Nos Galan) (1:52)
2. Hanukkah (Festival Of Lights) (1:01)
3. O Christmas Tree (O Chanukah) (1:31)
4. Jingle Bells (One Horse Open Sleigh) (1:14)
5. Joy To The World (2:09)
6. Greensleeves (What Child Is This) (1:51)
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (2:13)
8. Ave Maria (The Well-Tempered Clavier) (3:25)

Released by: 8 Bit Weapon
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 15:16

The first 7 Worlds Collide album (and DVD) chronicled an all-star gathering of international musicians who assembled quickly to play a few dates in Neil Finn’s stomping grounds; the album was culled from the live performances, and the superstar band (which included the likes of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder) disbanded, after its shows raised money for charity. The second release under the 7 Worlds Collide banner retains the all-star band part of the formula, but the resulting double album is a creature of the studio, often under the watchful production eye of Neil Finn and/or the talent to which any given track is credited. There a few old faces and a few new ones as well: many of the guest musicians are drawn from a somewhat more local talent pool, with a number of names who may be well known in New Zealand but perhaps not so much outside of the south Pacific.

Virtually the entire Finn family is present, naturally; Neil Finn duets with his wife Sharon on “Little By Little”, a song about the rapid approach of an empty nest at home, and he also duets with Liam Finn, his son who’s carving out a respectable career as a solo artist, on “Learn To Crawl”. Liam also gets a solo turn in the twisty waltz “Red Wine Bottle”, while his younger brother Elroy (who has already been playing live with Crowded House) gets the studio to himself for “The Cobbler”, and while he hasn’t quite carved out the unique sound that Liam has, Elroy still bears watching – as with his older brother, his voice gives away his lineage. Tim Finn also turns in a pleasant solo song, “Riding The Wave.” Fans of the Finn family tree certainly won’t be disappointed by this collection.

Neil’s signature production style permeates nearly every other track on the album, too. It could be argued that The Sun Came Out is perhaps a little less varied in style than the previous 7 Worlds Collide project; with the whole thing in the studio under Finn’s aegis, it’s easy to tell who was at the wheel. This doesn’t detract from the fact that there are some fantastic songs here: Don McGlashan’s “Make Your Own Mind Up” and the KT Tunstall/Bic Runga duet “Black Silk Ribbon” are two of the best songs I’ve heard out of anyone, anywhere, all year long. Liam Finn’s “Red Wine Bottle” is a low-key number that sticks in your head, while the cheery lead track, Johnny Marr and Neil Finn’s “Too Blue”, is enough to brighten anyone’s mood. I also have to single out Jeff Tweedy’s “You Never Know” for special praise: the tune, the performance and the production almost achingly remind me of early ’70s George Harrison, and this is not a bad thing. At all.

If I have a single complaint with The Sun Came Out, it’s that the first disc is a pure pop adrenaline rush, while the second seems to slow down. It really doesn’t, but somehow the second CD lacks the “oomph” packed by the first disc (which literally doesn’t let up for its entire running time). And disc two is no slouch by any means – we get a new Neil Finn solo number (“All Comedians Suffer”), Tim’s and Elroy’s songs, KT Tunstall’s “Hazel Black”, and another Don McGlashan number, “Long Time Gone”. There’s no letdown in quality but somehow there’s a slight darkening of mood.

But that’s a very minor quibble indeed; with the possible exception of Battlestar Galactica Season 4 (and let’s face it, in most cases these two projects are aimed at wildly different audiences), there’s not another two-disc set that’s going to give you this much enjoyment for the price – and once again, Finn & company are sharing the proceeds with charity, so there’s more feel-good to some of these feel-good songs than you might expect. Very, very highly recommended. (Now get back in the studio with Crowded House, Neil!)

Disc One

1. Too Blue – Johnny Marr with Neil Finn (4:01)
2. You Never Know – Jeff Tweedy (4:18)
3. Little By Little – Sharon Finn and Neil Finn (3:18)
4. Learn To Crawl – Neil Finn & Liam Finn (4:59)
5. Black Silk Ribbon – KT Tunstall & Bic Runga (3:48)
6. Girl Make Your Own Mind Up – Don McGlashan (5:29)
7. Run In The Dust – Johnny Marr (4:23)
8. Red Wine Bottle – Liam Finn (4:26)
9. The Ties That Bind Us – Phil Selway (3:22)
10. Reptile – Lisa Germano (3:53)
11. Bodhisattva Blues – Ed O’ Brien & Neil Finn (3:55)
12. What Could Have Been – Jeff Tweedy (3:41)

Disc Two

1. All Comedians Suffer – Neil Finn (4:28)
2. Duxton Blues – Glenn Richards (3:35)
3. Hazel Black – KT Tunstall (3:46)
4. Riding The Wave – Tim Finn (3:32)
5. The Witching Hour – Phil Selway (3:03)
6. Over & Done – John Stirratt (3:41)
7. A Change Of Heart – Bic Runga (3:14)
8. Don’t Forget Me – Pat Sansone (3:38)
9. Long Time Gone – Don McGlashan (4:02)
10. The Cobbler – Elroy Finn (4:33)
11. 3 Worlds Collide (3:06)
12. The Water – Sebastian Steinberg (4:02)

Released by: Sony
Release date: 2009
Disc one total running time: 49:33
Disc two total running time: 44:40

Produced with the blessing of Patrick McGoohan himself, this CD single is a lively remix/remake of Ron Grainer’s immortal theme from The Prisoner. Sound clips from the original series are sprinkled liberally throughout the song and become an integral part of its rhythm.

The best of the three tracks is the first, clocking in at about three and a half minutes; all three tracks incorporate the same ideas, but the second and third tracks are twice as long… and neither uses the extra time to expand on the musical or thematic ideas significantly. The succinctness of the original mix is, frankly, the best thing about it. The original elements of the music itself are very much a product of the times: think of the theme song from Cops, and you’ll have a good idea of the reggae-styled rap that kicks in about halfway through the song.

The best part of this remix is that someone really “got” the material. The clips are chosen well, and even the rap bit in the middle of the song dovetails thematically with The Prisoner’s over-arching themes of freedom, entrapment and rebellion. This is a cut above a lot of TV theme remixes where random clips are shoveled in on top of a 140bpm reworking of the original music – this takes the ideas behind the original material and runs with them – successfully, in my opinion.

1. The Prisoner (Free Man Mix) (3:20)
2. The Prisoner (Confidential Mix) (6:09)
3. The Escape (Solitary Club Mix) (6:10)

Released by: Telstar Records
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 15:39

Yet another Jason Falkner solo album that has so far only been released in Japan (as of this writing, his previous album, I’m OK You’re OK, still has yet to hit our shores as anything other than an import), All Quiet On The Noise Floor may well be the best thing Falkner’s done since Can You Still Feel? Still drenching everything in a guitars-at-the-front-of-the-mix 1970s power pop style, Falkner’s songs are better this time around. Tunes such as “Maybe The Universe”, “Doin’ Me In” and “Emotion Machine” are instantly catchy and hard to get out of your head.

I also have to give a recommendation to the mostly-acoustic “Counting Sheep”, one of the most infectious melodies Falkner has graced us with since his first album. Another catchy number, “My Home Is Not A House”, dates back to Falkner’s well-circulated demo tapes and originated during his brief stint as one of The Grays. “Doin’ Me In” is a fast-paced, talky rocker that lands somewhere between The Clash and The Knack in style (and that’s not something one can say about just any song).

If there’s a single problem with All Quiet On The Noise Floor, it’s that, once again, one has to blow a lot of money (relatively speaking, for a single CD) to get a Japanese import. Falkner himself has implored his fans to hold off an wait for a domestic release, which he assures us is coming – his logic there is that he’ll only land a North American tour if a domestic release generates significant sales. As if his fans are going to hold off that long (and as if his fans won’t go ahead and buy any eventual U.S. release anyway, just for a shot at that tour).

1. Princessa (4:20)
2. Emotion Machine (3:12)
3. Counting Sheep (3:58)
4. Evangeline (4:02)
5. The Lie In Me (5:17)
6. Maybe The Universe (5:17)
7. Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus (4:02)
8. My Home Is Not A House (3:51)
9. Doin’ Me In (3:49)
10. Y.E.S. (5:40)
11. This Time ’09 (4:40)

Released by: Noise McCartney Records / Phantom
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 48:08

It’s almost easy to forget, now that we’ve been getting the pan-cultural ethnic musical stew of the recent remake of Battlestar Galactica for so many years, that SF movies were routinely being scored with ethnic percussion and instruments for quite some time before that – it was in vogue as Hollywood’s stand-in sound for “otherworldly”. But the score for District 9 actually has a reason to use African-inspired music: it actually takes place in Johannesburg and deals, at least allegorically, with apartheid. If anyone can get away with it, District 9 and its composer, Clinton Shorter, can.

But the District 9 score isn’t exotic to the bone – underneath it all is an orchestral base, usually rumbling in the lower registers and filling out the bottom end of the mix with slightly more traditional musical portrayals of the darkness running through the story. (And it must be said that it’s pretty dark, but for more on that, check out theLogBook.com’s Movie Reviews.)

I don’t want to dismiss the more contemplative moments of either the movie or its music, but the real highlights are where the ethnic percussion and traditional orchestral backing meld together: tracks like “Exosuit” and “A Lot Of Secrets” show this combination off to best effect. The quieter moments are nice too, but Shorter really shines in the movie’s action scenes. Fortunately, much of the soundtrack draws from the latter 2/3 of the movie; the beginning of the film leans heavily on a documentary “fly on the wall” style and, aside from the opening titles (which are presented on the CD) is a bit light on music. Because of that unusual balance of where/when the music falls in the movie, you can rest assured that most of the cues you remember in the latter half of the movie are present here too.

The music from District 9 may not be the most breathtakingly original melding of western and non-western music for a film score, but it’s an enjoyable one, and it services a story that actually pays off its more exotic elements. It’s an interesting listen away from the movie’s visuals, especially if you’re in the mood for dark, thundering percussion.

1. District 9 (6:30)
2. I Want That Arm (2:14)
3. She Calls (1:36)
4. Exosuit (3:17)
5. Harvesting Material (1:47)
6. Heading Home (1:16)
7. A Lot Of Secrets (2:29)
8. Back To D9 (1:47)
9. Wikus Is Still Running (2:58)
10. Get Him Talking (2:07)
11. Prawnkus (4:01)

Released by: Sony
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 30:02

An EP to keep his fans satisfied after his successful (to say the least) indie debut, Champagne In Seashells isn’t so much a continuation of I’ll Be Lightning as it is a continuation of Finn’s celebrated live show, in which he uses multiple looping effects pedals and multiple instruments to perform stunning feats of live multitracking, building his grooves up right before his delighted audiences’ eyes. Along for the ride this time is E.J. Barnes, who’s been integral to his live show for some time now.

With only five songs, you probably wouldn’t expect dizzying experimental heights from Champagne In Seashells – but it manages to deliver them anyway. The highlights of this quintet are the distinctly ’80s-flavored “Long Way To Go”, and the final track, “On Your Side”, with Barnes’ beguiling lead vocals lending a whole new feel to Finn’s experimental palette of sounds. I don’t know if the two are planning on forging ahead as a double act, but with songs like, that, it certainly can’t hurt to consider it.

“Won’t Change My Mind” also reminds us that Liam Finn has stepped out from the not-inconsiderable shadow of his musical dad and uncle not because of studio trickery, but because he’s a gifted songwriter and performer in his own right – really, the whole EP is a testament to that, and as such comes highly recommended.

1. Plane Crash (3:43)
2. Long Way To Go (2:45)
3. Won’t Change My Mind (6:34)
4. Honest Face (3:42)
5. On Your Side (3:02)

Released by: Yep Roc
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 19:46

Another group that I file under “doesn’t release new material as often as I’d like,” veteran chiptune pioneers 8 Bit Weapon are back, now pared down to a duo, with some incredibly catchy new tunes. The opening volley, “Closer (Bitpop Mix)”, is an infectiously catchy song with the welcome return of a female vocal. While still heavily processed (a la vocoder epics like “One Last Mission” and “Micro Boogie”), it’s an interesting sound and one that, surprisingly, is a stand-alone here; it’s not as if 8 Bit Weapon’s instrumentals are suddenly chopped liver, but I wish they’d sing some more. When I look back at the group’s post-Confidential output, the songs that stick out as my favorites are the ones with vocals. 8 Bit Weapon has a gift for catchy tunes and their instrumentation gives them a unique sound by default; their vocal offerings, more often than not, have clever lyrics and just a little extra something that turns a good instrumental into a great, addictive, fleshed-out song. With only six songs on the Electric High EP, it would’ve been nice to have two, even three songs with vocals. I’d love for 8 Bit Weapon to bring the vocal-to-instrumental ratio to parity.

Not that the instrumentals are anything to complain about here; “Kiss My Bits (ComputeHer Mashup Mix)” and “Macro Disko (Minimal Mix)” are early favorites. “Chiptune Attack 2600 A.D.” features a rare foray into the nearly-atonal sounds generated by an Atari 2600, and yet still manages to be a catchy – if quirky – tune. All of the tracks on Electric High are worth a listen, and at only six tracks, there’s no filler material – the EP makes a strong statement and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

8 Bit Weapon has a unique, fun sound – so much so that Sony’s production music department singled them out to build an effects and instrument library so that anyone with Nuendo, Cubase or other sequencing software can start cranking out chiptunes. (That, in and of itself, could be a great thing, or it could lead to a flood of dreck – part of the compelling appeal of chiptunes artists is that they are, in fact, using this old computer and game hardware to make these sounds. Sequencing and sampling one’s way to a new chiptune opus almost seems like cheating. Of course, there’s probably some string quartet out there staring me down for all those string samples I mess around with in Cubase, so it’s all down to your point of view.) They’re still on top of their game (literally!) with Electric High – I just wish they’d belt out some words more often. (Seriously, guys, if you need help with lyrics, if that’d get some more songs with vocals out there, just call me.)

1. Closer (Bitpop Mix) (2:52)
2. Kiss My Bits (Computeher Mashup Mix) (2:05)
3. Chip On Your Shoulder (3:24)
4. FUNDanalogue (2:22)
5. Chiptune Attack 2600 AD (3:16)
6. Macro Disko (Minimal Mix) (3:38)

Released by: 8 Bit Weapon
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 17:37

Included as a bonus feature of the long-delayed (and long, long overdue) compelte series DVD set of the 1980s BBC SF series The Tripods, and also available as a download for those with no interest in the DVDs, the Pool Of Fire Suite is an interesting experiment: original Tripods TV composer Ken Freeman, a master of synthetic textures, composed new music for key story points in the season of the show that was never made. Despite the fact that over 20 years have passed, Freeman makes an effort to make it sound as though this music is coming out of his synth rig circa 1986/87 – with minimal hints of the massive advances that have been made in synthesizers and/or sampling in the intervening two decades.

“A Plan Of Action” immediately sets the tone with an extended, minor-key statement of the Tripods theme, but this time slowed down to a dirge: it’s easy to imagine this music covering the scenes picking up from the second season’s cliffhanger, in which Will and his friends discover that the base from which their resistance movement has been fighting the Earth-dominating Tripods has been laid to waste. As easy as it is to picture these things, Freeman is free to explore the material without the timing constraints of composing to picture.

Freeman delves into a surprisingly bluesy, guitar-centered sound with a percolating ’80s-style synth backing in “A Drink With Ruki”, an a similarly upbeat brass riff lightens things up in “The Pool Of Fire” itself. “Summer Wind” also keeps things light for a portion of the story involving the view from a hot air balloon.

After the triumphant strains of “Freedom”, “The Conference Of Man” brings the Tripods theme back to the fore, this time in a much more confident (and less mournful) interpretation, but there’s still dissonant unease waiting in the wings: without the Tripods to unit humanity in a fight against a common cause, the newly freed human race risks splintering into factions fighting over its own resources. Where this storyline could have gone is anyone’s guess: there were no further books carrying the story forward, and of course there were no further TV adventures. So we’re still treated to an unresolved cliffhanger – albeit a purely musical one.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the original Tripods music, so the very notion that the BBC would commission Ken Freeman to provide music for adventures never filmed is a huge hit with me. The music is sensational – and I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking that it’s the BBC’s (and the audience’s) loss that a third season wasn’t made that could have featured music like this.

1. A Plan Of Action (3:46)
2. The Green Man (6:40)
3. A Drink With Ruki (7:32)
4. The Pool Of Fire (6:31)
5. Summer Wind (4:40)
6. Freedom (5:30)
7. The Conference Of Man (5:33)

Released by: BBC Video (as part of The Tripods: The Complete Series DVD box set)
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 40:12

This is going to sound like a completely goofy reason to go and buy an album, but I went to get Regina Spektor’s Far purely because of one of the producers she worked with on the album. Seriously. Now, when you take into account that the producer in question is the reclusive former ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne, it makes a bit more sense – not only am I a lifelong fan of his, but any appearance by him on record is a rare and precious thing indeed.

That said, Far is, in places, a much better album than I expected, regardless of who’s manning the mixing console on a given track. My first exposure to Regina Spektor was – perhaps unfortunately – her duet with Ben Folds, “You Don’t Know Me”, from Folds’ last studio album. I thought she had a fairly distinctive voice, enough that I was intrigued, but when I went to Amazon to check out clips of her solo work, her back catalog just didn’t register as being “my thing”. Where Far succeeds, it succeeds spectacularly, and where it misfires, it does so equally spectacularly.

If I have a problem, stylistically speaking, with Ms. Spektor, it’s with her tendency to try to be a bit too “cute” both lyrically and in her vocal delivery, with a habit of over-enunciating words for effect. Once in a while, it’s okay, but it seems like every third song shows that tendency, which is a pity, because it distracts from the sheer beauty of some of the songs where she isn’t trying to hard to be clever. It’s jarring to veer from “Human Of The Year” or “The Genius Next Door” to something like “Dance Anthem Of The ’80s”, which literally revolves around her funny-pronunciation gimmick.

Where she does a straightforward delivery, Spektor’s work is just breathtaking – “The Calculation”, “Blue Lips” and “Laughing With” are repeat listening favorites. Where she only does a little bit of gimmicky delivery, such as “Machine” or “Folding Chair”, it doesn’t distract from her outstanding songwriting. These songs display a great command of crafting a song and, in places, surprisingly mature lyrics.

Where she loses me is with the stacatto, machine-gun syllables of
“Dance Anthem Of The 80s”; which really epitomizes the facet of Far that I greatly dislike, with lines like “You-oo-oo-oo-oo are-are-are so swee-ee-ee-ee-eet”…it’s like listening to a singing Dalek. I don’t mind a bit of musical comedy here and there, but when it becomes grating to listen to, I draw the line. There are a couple of “skippers” on Far – i.e. songs I quickly decided I could do without after the first couple of listens. Maybe there’s something I’m missing from not having seen her live, but the appeal of these songs evades me – it’s a true love/hate relationship.

Fortunately, Far has far more great songs than it does annoying novelty tunes, and on that merit I can recommend it. As for the Jeff Lynne-produced material, “Folding Chair” is one of the catchiest, most addictive songs I’ve heard all year (and Spektor’s humorous delivery actually works here as she delivers a short passage of the music in vocal “dolphin barks”). “Genius Of The Year” and “Wallet” are unusually stripped-down productions for Lynne, where “Blue Lips” is almost a little too Lynne-y. The download bonus track “The Sword & The Pen” is a bit jarring, with its sudden dramatic build-ups to the chorus. Still, it’s good to hear the man’s doing something other than endlessly covering “Mr. Blue Sky”. (Spektor was apparently compeltely unaware of Lynne’s ELO pedigree, knowing his work only via Tom Petty’s Highway Companion!)

With repeat listening, though, I really stopped caring who was producing what and just found myself enjoying the album – with a few exceptions.

1. The Calculation (3:09)
2. Eet (3:49)
3. Blue Lips (3:32)
4. Folding Chair (3:35)
5. Machine (3:52)
6. Laughing With (3:13)
7. Human Of The Year (4:05)
8. Two Birds (3:15)
9. Dance Anthem Of The 80s (3:43)
10. Genius Next Door (5:04)
11. Wallet (2:26)
12. One More Time With Feeling (3:56)
13. Man Of A Thousand Faces (3:07)
14. Time Is All Around (3:05)
15. The Sword & The Pen (3:46)

Released by: Sire
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 53:39

For the truncated (five episodes airing on consecutive nights in a single week) third season of Torchwood, the series delved into some very dark territory, and composer Ben Foster, already entrenched as the de facto maestro of Torchwood’s quirky earthbound adventures, seems to have relished the opportunity. The music of the five-episode Children Of Earth event has no problem going dark. Foster sets up several themes early on (including one for Ianto), while also building on some of the themes established in previous seasons (particularly the Captain Jack theme).

The early tracks seem like business as usual, but “We Are Coming” is a discordant, snarling wake-up call that accompanies one of the creepiest scenes in the entire five-hour cycle. It’s not a piece of music you need to be listening to in a dark room at two in the morning. The tension quickly ratchets up from there; the climax of the first episode leads into several tense action cues from the second episode, punctuated by the slightly-out-of-sequence cue “Gwen’s Baby”. A very brief “Ianto Jones” theme is established here as well, which is developed more fully later in “The Ballad Of Ianto Jones”.

Much of the soundtrack is taken up by the show’s musical action set pieces, with slower moments only occasionally getting the spotlight if they’re major scenes, including a lovely operatic theme that appears in the fourth and fifth episodes. For the most part, the music is sequenced in order of appearance, from the beginning of Day One to the end of Day Five, but there are a few out-of-sequence tracks (at least in the digital download edition of the album).

If I have one nit to pick with Children Of Earth from a musical standpoint, it’s actually a nit that I have to pick with the music of both Torchwood and Doctor Who: the reliance on the orchestra-playing-to-a-rock-beat sound has been stretched about as far as it can possibly go on either show. As the orchestrator for Murray Gold on Doctor Who, Ben Foster has a strong influence on both shows’ sounds, but whoever the architect of the “Who universe rock orchestra” sound is, they should know that the sound has reached its peak…and isn’t too far from reaching its nadir.

Children Of Earth is a fine soundtrack, and damned unnerving in places. In rewatching the episodes, it becomes obvious how much of the story’s impact is down to the music, and quite a bit of the music stands alone nicely as well. If there’s any more story to tell with Torchwood (the ending of the season leaves the notion of picking up the story more than a little ambiguous), it’d be nice if both the storytelling and the music could stay at this level.

1. The First Sacrifice (1:25)
2. What’s Occurring? (2:10)
3. Jack’s Daughter (1:28)
4. Diplomatic Cars (1:20)
5. We Are Coming (1:12)
6. Thames House (1:53)
7. Double Crossed (1:26)
8. Countdown To Destruction (1:52)
9. The Crater (1:00)
10. Torchwood Hunter (1:42)
11. Gwen’s Baby (1:03)
12. On The Run (1:13)
13. Jack In A Box (1:34)
14. Ianto Jones (0:50)
15. Tractor Attack (2:21)
16. Resurrection (1:11)
17. Clement MacDonald (2:05)
18. Something’s Coming (1:35)
19. Eye Spy (1:20)
20. Trust Nobody (1:46)
21. The World Looks To The Skies (2:10)
22. Jack’s Secret (1:36)
23. Clem Remembers (1:34)
24. Judgement Day (4:05)
25. Requiem For The Fallen (1:23)
26. The Ballad Of Ianto Jones (4:36)
27. The Final Day (0:40)
28. Calm Before The Storm (3:22)
29. Phase Two Has Begun (1:50)
30. Requisition 31 (2:38)
31. He Was A Good Man (1:39)
32. The Children Of Earth (3:27)
33. Breaking The Connection (2:25)
34. Fighting Back (2:02)
35. Run For Your Lives (1:13)
36. Sacrifice And Salvation (1:39)
37. Redemption (3:13)
38. I Can Run Forever (3:28)
39. Here Comes Torchwood (2:24)
40. Next Time On Torchwood (0:31)

Released by: Silva Screen
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 77:21

Note that the above tracklist reflects the digital download edition of the album, and the running order may be different for the CD.

Thank goodness Lost found its way. After an occasionally painful-to-watch third season that filled us in on the backstory of the Others and the Dharma Initiative (not always the same entity, coincidentally), the decision was made by the show’s own producers and writers to shorten the three remaining seasons to something only slightly longer than a UK television season, setting a finite end point in the process. And yet somehow, with that limitation set, the show’s storytelling has become anything but finite, as it messes around with time and space with reckless abandon. The fourth season was an eye-opener that made good use of the renewed focus that was made necessary by the shorter season length; the fifth season then proceeded to be a jaw-dropper.

This CD of music from the fourth season of Lost also benefits from the show’s sharper focus, collecting the absolute cream of the musical crop from the fourth year. Many themes from prior seasons are rehashed and expanded upon, but for the most part, the fourth season’s soundtrack doesn’t feel like a musical flashback to something we’ve already heard. The early tracks seem to have a more intimate feel, a bit less epic, as the show’s core characters – ostensibly the only six survivors of the Oceanic 815 crash so far as the general public knows – work out their own internal dilemmas. Even these cues tend to take a right turn into melancholy or menace, as the fourth season’s early episodes developed a knack for revealing that the survivors’ apparently triumphant return wasn’t as it seemed.

There are moments of uncharacteristic-for-Lost whimsy (“Maternity Hell”), deceptive calm (“The Constant”), and flat-out mayhem (“Keamy Away From Him”). Many of the tracks clock in at a pleasing length – actually, a few of them at surprising lengths for television scoring. The disc is chock full – and yet never quite achieves the slightly top-heavy feeling that I got from the two-disc season 3 soundtrack (even though it was marvelous to have the complete score from Through The Looking Glass in that collection). This is a good specimen of a compilation soundtrack with just the right cues, and at just the right length.

1. Giving Up The Ghost (2:40)
2. Locke’ing Horns (1:51)
3. Lost Away – Or Is It? (1:41)
4. Backgammon Gambit (1:17)
5. Time And Time Again (2:43)
6. The Constant (3:52)
7. Maternity Hell (2:31)
8. Karma Jin-itiative (1:24)
9. Ji Yeon (3:07)
10. Michael’s Right To Remain Wrong (1:55)
11. Bodies And Bungalows (1:25)
12. Benundrum (3:24)
13. Hostile Negotiations (2:19)
14. Locke-About (6:04)
15. There’s No Place Like Home (2:35)
16. Nadia On Your Life (1:41)
17. C4-titude (1:59)
18. Of Mice And Ben (2:19)
19. Keamy Away From Him (4:58)
20. Timecrunch (2:06)
21. Can’t Kill Keamy (1:48)
22. Bobbing For Freighters (5:20)
23. Locke Of The Island (7:07)
24. Lying For The Island (4:52)
25. Landing Party (3:22)
26. Hoffs-Drawlar (3:58)

Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 78:18

The first solo album released by actor Leonard Nimoy after the original Star Trek began riding a wave of publicity in the 1960s, Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space is a curious creation, consisting in roughly equal parts of Nimoy singing, Nimoy performing spoken word pieces in character as Mr. Spock, and instrumental renditions of songs related to two television shows with which he would become closely identified: Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. (The inclusion of a cover version of Lalo Schifrin’s Mission: Impossible theme might seem to be a bizarre happenstance – Nimoy didn’t become a regular on that show until after Star Trek had run its course in the summer of 1969, two years after this album was released – but the entire album project was bankrolled and guided by Dot Records and Desilu Studios executives. As unlikely as it is that Nimoy even got a recording contract, it was all a carefully coordinated move to exploit Nimoy’s high visibility as the “real star” of Star Trek.)

Musically speaking, if all of this sounds like an utterly surreal combination, trust me – it is. The Star Trek theme appears in two forms, a lounge-music-style rendition of the entire theme, and a piece called “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, which seems to be a variation/improvisation on the Enterprise fanfare which always served as the opening notes of the Trek theme. The Mission: Impossible theme tune, also a different arrangement from what was originally recorded for the television show, lacks some of the “official” rendition’s punch. Also appearing is “Beyond Antares”, a piece attributed to Star Trek writer Gene Coon and Wilbur Hatch, the man behind the theme tune from I Love Lucy who also happened to be the music director at Desilu Studios, the originators of Star Trek.

And then…there’s the actual “Spock music.” Nimoy performs spoken-word pieces in character as Spock on three numbers, “Alien”, “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Earth” and “A Visit To A Sad Planet”. “Twinkle Twinkle” is the lesser of this trio, being just plain silly, while “Sad Planet” is an interesting peek into the year and decade from which the album sprang; it takes the form of a short monologue, complete with stardate and log entry, in which Spock beams down to find a once-civilized planet reduced to radioactive rubble. He finds only one survivor, who poetically bemoans the fate of his world and then tells Spock that this sad planet is called Earth. It’s rather predictable, sure, but a fascinating (if you’ll pardon the pun) glimpse into the Cold War mindset through the lens of utterly disposable pop culture.

How seriously can you possibly take Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space? All I’m going to say here is that you know you’re in trouble when you go from a Spock soliloquoy to Nimoy rumbling his way through “Where Is Love” from Oliver!. I have no doubt that these represent earnest, well-intentioned, heartfelt performances on Mr. Nimoy’s part, but the album also inadvertently serves as a reminder that pre-fabricated releases designed to cash in on the performer’s already-existing celebrity are nothing new. Once upon a time, it could even happen to Spock.

1. Theme From Star Trek (2:07)
2. Alien (2:04)
3. Where Is Love (2:03)
4. Music to Watch Space Girls By (2:22)
5. Beyond Antares (1:58)
6. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Earth (2:21)
7. Mission: Impossible (2:03)
8. Lost In The Stars (2:32)
9. Where No Man Has Gone Before (2:30)
10. You Are Not Alone (2:07)
11. A Visit To A Sad Planet (3:02)

Released by: Dot Records
Release date: 1967
Total running time: 25:09

The moment that it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be taking the helm of the Enterprise for its next big-screen voyage, the first thought that entered my head wasn’t a question of loving or hating the movie over a year in advance; rather, it was “I hope Michael Giacchino is doing the music.” It actually would’ve been a massive surprise – bigger than any on-screen plot twist imaginable – if that hadn’t turned out to be the case: Giacchino’s music has accompanied Alias and Lost on TV, and Mission: Impossible III on film, all projects headed up by Abrams. Furthermore, with non-Abrams films like Speed Racer, Ratatouille and The Incredibles (whose music earned an Oscar nomination), Giacchino has proven himself to be at the forefront of a new generation of composers, and certainly a dependable one.

The question is: can he handle the final frontier? The Star Trek franchise has seen – and heard – some of the very best works of talents such as Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, and some of the TV music hasn’t been bad either. Star Trek has established themes aplenty and a rich musical legacy – a lot for even an A-list composer take on. From the opening notes of his score album for the new Star Trek film, Giacchino makes it clear that he’s trying to forge his own path. The score does incorporate the immortal Alexander Courage theme, but not right at the beginning. A rather low-key, somber theme opens the movie, says its piece and gets off the stage very quickly. It’s not entirely unlike – but also not madly similar to – the unusual opening numbers of Star Trek VI and Star Trek Nemesis, and it certainly sets a different tone, shortly before doing the musical equivalent of crashing into something abruptly.

This theme recurs throughout the selections presented here, and though its first statement is somewhat downbeat, it’s driven through major keys and triumphant arrangements as well. “Nailin’ The Kelvin”, a cue accompanying a chaotic early scene in the film in which James T. Kirk is literally born in battle, features this theme in a bittersweet rendition, while “Enterprising Young Men” turns the motif into a bold anthem. A simple but menacing theme for Nero, the movie’s villain, surfaces in “Nero Sighted”, which also brings some of Giacchino’s trademark dissonant action music to the fore (one of the few places where I honestly listened to the soundtrack and thought, “Hey, that sounds a bit like Lost”). More Giacchino action music signatures can be found in “Run And Shoot Offense”, which also introduces a vaguely Eastern motif, and “Nero Death Experience”, which features a rare (for a Star Trek film score) choral interlude or two and resolves to a triumphant statement of the main theme before layering it into a boisterous action cue.

But there really aren’t many places where the Star Trek score is a dead ringer for Lost. Whether it’s a larger orchestral ensemble at Giacchino’s disposal, or a different approach to orchestration, the score is very, very traditional Hollywood blockbuster – at times, it reminds me more of John Williams than anything. Electronics seem to be kept under a tight rein, and the most exotic the selections on the album really get is a lonely ehru motif for Spock’s alien heritage. (Science fiction TV and film scores may be the ehru’s best friend in western music – see/hear also the new Battlestar Galactica and Earth: Final Conflict.)

And the original series theme as composed by Alexander Courage? Its opening fanfare makes a triumphant comeback in “To Boldly Go”, and the end credit suite then takes up a glorious full statement of the entire theme from start to finish, with a very pleasing arrangement that balances the French horns just right – sounding very much like Courage’s original orchestration, except with a full choir standing in for the soprano solo of the original theme. Over the considerable length of the end credit suite, Giacchino weaves Courage’s theme into his own material repeatedly, including one incredibly clever section where he demonstrates that the new movie’s theme can fit inside the original series theme as a running counterpoint composition, melding with the Courage theme and not straining against it. Gorgeous and very well thought-out.

Some fans may be a little displeased that the entire score isn’t constantly calling back the themes of the original series and movies, but why should it? It’s clear from the outset that this is a different Star Trek, with fundamental changes made to select parts of the underlying premise. It’s still about James T. Kirk and Spock and the Enterprise and her gallant crew, but the movie spins these basic conceits into a different direction – and yet not not a drastically different one, just a way to open up new stories in a universe whose cat’s cradle of continuity had, by the time the last TV series ended, become almost too tangled for its own good. And if there is room for new Star Trek stories, then there’s room for new Star Trek music – and one gets the hint, during the end credits, that the next movie’s music might have a slightly more familiar feel to it. Judging by this album, hopefully Michael Giacchino will be giving the next movie its sound too. Star Trek probably isn’t what most Trek soundtrack fans are expecting – but maybe that’s not a bad thing.

1. Star Trek (1:03)
2. Nailin’ The Kelvin (2:09)
3. Labor Of Love (2:51)
4. Hella Bar Talk (1:55)
5. Enterprising Young Men (2:39)
6. Nero Sighted (3:23)
7. Nice To Meld You (3:13)
8. Run And Shoot Offense (2:04)
9. Does It Still McFly? (2:03)
10. Nero Death Experience (5:38)
11. Nero Fiddles, Narada Burns (2:34)
12. Back From Black (:59)
13. That New Car Smell (4:46)
14. To Boldly Go (:26)
15. End Credits (9:11)

Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: 2009
Total running time: 44:52

A collection of short, punchy instrumental pieces composed for Nokia’s Reset Generation game – which itself pays tribute to numerous games of yesteryear – 8-Bit Weapon’s soundtrack has a lot in common with the old video games that I like: the tunes are addictive, make me want to come back for more, and don’t hang around long enough to get old. Not a bad combination, really.

One thing that may throw listeners off, however, is the brevity I’m talking about above: many of the tracks barely clock in at over one minute, and many of them begin and end very abruptly. The latter is no accident: the tracks are meant to “loop” repeatedly during specific scenes and levels of Reset Generation itself. Fortunately, the tracks are timed out in such a way that one tune’s end leads directly into the next track almost seamlessly. Any one track by itself might seem to be an abrupt listening experience, but the entire soundtrack is a fun listen.

Highlights include “Power Up Pumpin'”, “Micro Anthem 2a03” (named after the NES’ sound chip), “64 Rocker”, “Rock Music Entry 6581” and the Leviathan mix of the Reset Generation theme – to name just a few. Those are just my favorites, but to an extent, all of the Reset Generation tracks are earworms that will prove difficult to dislodge from your head after you’ve heard them.

Included as a bonus track is “2D Died”, a riff on Don McLean’s “American Pie” (as in “the day 2D [gaming] died”) which does a great job of updating the original song into a chiptune extravaganza with vocoder-ized vocals. My one issue with “2D Died” is the same issue I have with “American Pie” itself (or, for that matter, “Sweet Home Alabama”: the first three minutes or so are okay, and after that I start looking at track time remaining because the same melody/chord structure is just repeating. I don’t know if that’s even something to dock points for: 8-Bit Weapon is only paying homage to the 7+ minute original. And in any case, I like it better than Madonna’s update of the same song, but it’s just not something I feel compelled to listen to repeatedly, though its lyrics are pretty clever. But the rest of the album – which, by the way, can be downloaded free via the link below – is 8-Bit Weapon gold: repeat listening is compulsory (and with the loop-ready nature of the tracks, it’s even repeat-button-friendly!).

1. Reset Generation Anthem (3:42)
2. Aphex Tweek (1:26)
3. Dungeon Derivative (0:54)
4. Blip Bwop (1:16)
5. Little Lost Lazer Boy (1:01)
6. Lethargic Menace (1:16)
7. Bubble Twin Bonanza (1:04)
8. Where Fools Tread (1:01)
9. Chiptune Chump (1:19)
10. Commodore Base (1:20)
11. Micro Anthem 2a03 (1:35)
12. 64 Rocker (1:12)
13. Krafty Noob (1:16)
14. Tricky Game (1:04)
15. Reset Generation Anthem – Leviathan Mix (1:22)
16. Nin10do Raver (0:59)
17. Breakin’ Bits (1:20)
18. Macro Boogie (0:57)
19. Power Up Pumpin’ (1:20)
20. BootySoft Inc. (0:57)
21. Corrupt Conscript Festival (1:25)
22. SID Vicious (1:55)
23. Rock Music Entry 6581 (1:04)
24. Reset Generation Anthem – Sinister Mix (1:13)
25. 2D Died (7:43)

Released by: 8-Bit Weapon / Nokia
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 39:41