Ah, Space Station 76 – I hadn’t even thought about this movie in years when the soundtrack popped up out of nowhere in 2020, six years after the movie itself met with some minor film festival buzz before becoming a creature of the streaming media ecosystem. Filmed on a bunch of gorgeously retro-futuristic sets – evoking that ’70s sci-fi vision of what the future might be – Space Station 76 was a joy to look at, but there wasn’t much to actually watch. It was as much a retro sci-fi parody as it was a parody of the entire decade whose sci-fi it was spoofing, poking fun at the “I’m OK, you’re OK” vibe of the 1970s. It’s a pity it just wasn’t that funny, especially since it was billed as a comedy. The score, however, serves as a pleasant reminder that the movie’s music may have been even more successful than its look in evoking that decade.
While there are bits that sound like they’re reaching, in a tongue-in-cheek way, to meet the vibe of a serious sci-fi score of that era, much of the score takes on a laid-back, mellow, ’70s pop vibe, a sound carefully constructed to sit comfortably alongside several vintage slices of Todd Rundgren and Ambrosia that punctuate the proceedings. The blend of new score and older songs is reasonably successful, helping the movie to conjure a lot of its retro vibe. (The Rundgren and Ambrosia selections are not included here, and that’s okay; they’re readily available elsewhere.)
It’s perhaps not the best plaudit for a movie that its most memorable elements are its score and its production design (shame about the story and the characters, though), but the score’s release is a nice reminder that the movie was an audiovisual feast, even if it forgot to stick the landing with a satisfying story.
- Introduction (0:55)
- Title Sequence (Alien Ship) (1:55)
- Roller Skating (1:43)
- Irregularities (0:33)
- Stressing Me (0:35)
- Here Comes The Delivery Man (0:42)
- 70’s Joy’nt (0:53)
- World Of Fantasy (0:47)
- Hello (0:38)
- Sunshine, No (0:45)
- Asteroidal Pocket (2:18)
- Sex and Death (1:09)
- Never Been To Earth (1:09)
- Romantic Joy’nt (0:51)
- Last Gerbil (1:25)
- Mail’s Here (0:29)
- Home Movies (1:08)
- Mom In Pod (1:07)
- Budding Romance (1:19)
- Logan Is Coming (0:16)
- Asteroid Hits (2:25)
- Asteroid Misses (2:15)
- Sunshine Floats (0:51)
Released by: Madison Gate Records
Release date: April 3, 2020
Total running time: 26:06
