Mention film scores and most people will probably think of John Williams
and Danny Elfman. Delve a little further, though, and you might also discover
many established bands working alongside movie studios to score motion pictures:
David Bowie’s Labrinth, Queen’s Flash Gordon and more recently even bands
like Daft Punk’s work on the TRON: Legacy
soundtrack or the Chemical Brother’s Hanna.
Continuing this tradition, 65daysofstatic thought they would give it their own
twist by scoring a new soundtrack to accompany Douglas Trumbull’s 1972 classic Silent Running, to be performed live
alongside the movie shown for two nights at 2011’s Glasgow Film Festival.
Following the two night run, word got out and the interest was enough
for 65 to take Silent Running out on
tour. The band then floated the idea of a release through indiegogo hoping
to get enough interest to cover the release of a 250-piece vinyl run alongside
a few special bonuses and digital copies. They ended up with enough pledges to
cover more than four times the original target, and soon turned a side-project
into a full-on release that was officially part of the 65 canon.
This all leads us to the album we have here, 65daysofstatic’s Silent Running: an album I am sad to say
I missed in its full live glory alongside the movie (which I will also admit to
having not yet seen). The soundtrack to a film you have never seen may then
seem like a bit of an odd choice, but if you look to albums like Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy, part of the appeal of them
is that while being a brilliant accompaniment to the film, they also stand
proud as an album in their own right. In many ways, these albums move from a
collection of songs by an artist to a single larger coherent piece, connected
by recurring themes and the ebb and flow of a movie.
On those counts Silent Running
stands with its head held high as part of the 65 discography, an album that should
sound like home ground to any previous fan of 65, just with a new sci-fi twist
and even more epic feel to it (compared to We
Were Exploding Anyway and the rest of the back catalogue). Having not seen
the film I can’t really say either way how it echoes the action on screen
(other than noting the raft of very positive reviews it has gathered), and instead
am left to write my own movie to fit the music. The feeling of grandiose scale
and discovery you get from the beginning of Space
Theme from the slow build of the opening Overture; the build into the chase in Safe Distancing; the mournful echoes of Burial Scene or the confusion of Broken Ship Ruse. Does any of this fit with the actual film? Not a
clue, but it certainly is fun writing it as you listen.
If all else fails and you want to ignore my ramblings, Silent Running still stands as the new
‘alternate’ 65 album: a bit of a change from previous efforts, but still
definitely keeping the hallmarks of 65daysofstatic that I have grown to love. A
worthy addition to any record collection.
Available as a digital download from http://store.65daysofstatic.com
DL
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