After an extended lull in weekly recommendations we are back and here’s a round-up of recommended scores that caught my attention over the week ending, 7th October 2022 (remember back then?)
Point B (2013) – Leeland Campana (Records DK)
Point B (dir. Conor Long) is a low budget science fiction movie about a group of friends who discover that their clean energy machine works as a teleportation device. Campana take advantage of the movie’s subject to create a wonderfully retro-sounding score that I would describe as a mix of the usual names used for this kind of score (John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, etc.) with a dash of Super Mario Galaxy (Koji Kondo & Mahito Yokota). The album moves between the dramatic, comedic, and source-styled muzak so there’s not really any dramatic flow over the course of the 40 minute running time: each track works best as a stand-alone example of 80s-style electronica. That being said, it’s a great example of the genre and is well work a listen.
The Plague Doctor of Wippra (2022) – Titus Drissen (Records DK)
Titus Drissen, a young composer from The Netherlands, has created a sombre and poignant score for a short point-and-click independent adventure game set in late medieval Europe where the player is a doctor trying to help the people of the small German town of Wippra. The game is surprisingly blocky in appearance but that visual limitation is soon forgotten when Drissen’s gorgeous score envelopes the player. It’s a sparse score, featuring piano and string trio (a cello and two violas), but the score exudes a level of poignancy and despair that I could expect to hear in any similarly emotional Hollywood score. The nature of the score adds immensely to the gameplay (as seen in YouTube videos) and, although not the lightest listening experience you are likely to listen to, it’s a little gem of a score.
Overwhelm the Sky (2019) – Costas Dafnis (La-La Land Records)
One of the things about having an interest in film and TV scoring are the moments, every now and again, when something arrives that is completely new to me. And label La-La Land Records’ limited edition CD release of Costas Dafnis’ score for the 2019 “neo-noir” drama Overwhelm the Sky (dir. Daniel Kremer) was is one of those moments. Described as “hauntingly melodic and unnervingly atmospheric” by the label, the composer’s use of the small orchestra results in an almost hallucinatory sonic experience. Overwhelm the Sky is not an easy listen but is a rewarding one. The album also features a 20-minute orchestral suite from the 2022 thriller Torch (dir. Christopher Coppola).
Reel Music 