{"id":3039,"date":"2011-06-11T13:41:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-11T17:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3039"},"modified":"2011-06-11T13:41:12","modified_gmt":"2011-06-11T17:41:12","slug":"cd-alien-terrain-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3039","title":{"rendered":"CD: Alien Terrain (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>A<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Phantom Records\/ Released: 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 10 tracks \/ (40:00)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: CDR release with colour booklet \/ Available from\u00a0Phantom Soundtracks<\/a> (\u201cReal Music | Fake Films\u201d)<\/p>\n

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Composer: Darren Callahan<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Darren Callahan\u2019s second score for another non-existent film evokes a mid- to late-eighties sci-fi shocker where pint-sized aliens in white hoodies and masks infiltrate a newly-minted small community with modernist architecture, and their attempt to assimilate into human society..<\/p>\n

The only suggestions of the fake film\u2019s story are the track titles, and a series of stills in the booklet, but fans of odd eighties sci-fi shockers (Wavelength<\/strong>, with its Tangerine Dream score, easily comes to mind) will imagine their own set of visions, largely because Callahan\u2019s score is so good.<\/p>\n

Sticking to simple theme construction on keyboards, he creates soft establishing mood music for the aliens\u2019 arrival, a really lovely theme for heroine Katherine, and fuzzy, watery drones for what\u2019s presumably a sonic flashback to the world abandoned by the aliens (the lengthy \u201cHome Planet Suite\u201d).<\/p>\n

Vintage, eighties synth scores tended to be limited by gear and imagination, and the more astute composers (or those well aware of the limited emulations of whatever gear they could afford) worked out their themes, variations, and what specific sounds would create empathy, horror, and a middle ground of sounds suitable for mood shifts.<\/p>\n

Callahan\u2019s album offers a journey through vintage musical and genre tropes, but unlike Spikes <\/strong>(2010), his first effort, Alien Terrain<\/strong> seems to instinctively induce a trance state in the listener. The tones are weirdly soothing, the tempo of most cues are deliberately slow, and tension is often created by the gradual addition of rising soundscapes, peripheral sound mobiles, and playing off fixed rhythms, such as the constant chord hits in \u201cHumanization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bass pulses and arising tones evoke some of Cliff Martinez\u2019 hypnotic writing (as in Traffic<\/strong>), and the sparing use of sound effects are equally retro, such as a flittering effects at the end of \u201cHome Planet Suite,\u201d recalling the death ray tones in the pre-credit sequence of Queen of Outer Space<\/strong> (1958).<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool\u201d and \u201cBullies\u201d introduces a full theme for the aliens (presumably attempting to integrate into their new society), and it\u2019s also a small tribute to Tangerine Dream\u2019s balance of rather sweet-laced themes placed within scores better-known for percussion and atmospheric textures. After major theme iterations in the prior cue, \u201cFake Skin\u201d just drizzles across the soundscape with electrified chord progressions and warm, analogue-styled bass tones, and after a short intro bit on flute, Callahan switches to a mechanized rhythm in \u201cSisters,\u201d with theme fragments performed on the soothing keyboards heard in \u201cKatherine\u2019s Theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Spikes<\/strong>, the instrumental palette is much broader, incorporating synth and organic sounds (flute, piano, and acoustic guitar), but there\u2019s also a more concentrated effort to create cues with overt narrative qualities. \u201cGary Attacks Diane \/ Aftermath\u201d is a complete cue with a progression of dramatic events leading towards an end point, and illustrates the point that a score\u2019s success lies in the composer\u2019s imagination: there\u2019s more dramatic meat in this low-budget endeavor than some of the expensive, large-scale orchestral \/ electronic hybrids concocted by major Hollywood composers from the Media Ventures school. Callahan\u2019s crafted a score that hooks the listener \u2013 and the movie doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s finale is a bit too abrupt \u2013 there\u2019s no big percussion battle or epic theme statement \u2013 but it\u2019s still an impressive production, making Phantom Soundtracks a unique source for genre fans looking for a hidden gem among the steady wave of monthly soundtrack releases.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related links:<\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Spikes<\/strong> <\/a>(2010)<\/p>\n

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Related External links (MAIN SITE):<\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: Queen of Outer Space<\/a><\/strong> (1958)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>\u2014\u00a0Composer Website<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ A . Rating: Very Good Label: Phantom Records\/ Released: 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 10 tracks \/ (40:00) . Special Notes: CDR release with colour booklet \/ Available from\u00a0Phantom Soundtracks (\u201cReal Music | Fake Films\u201d) . Composer: Darren Callahan . . Review: Darren Callahan\u2019s second score for another non-existent film […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[528,196,527],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-N1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3042,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions\/3042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}