{"id":4726,"date":"2012-04-23T08:16:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-23T12:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4726"},"modified":"2012-04-23T08:16:46","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T12:16:46","slug":"cd-spellbinder-1988","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4726","title":{"rendered":"CD: Spellbinder (1988)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>S<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: August 23, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 15 tracks \/ (56:13)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 16-page colour booklet with liner notes by Randall D. Larson \/ Limited to 1200 copies..<\/p>\n

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Composer: Basil Poledouris<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Announced about 20 years ago as an upcoming CD release by Intrada, Basil Poledouris\u2019 electronic score finally makes its debut via La-La Land, mastered from what\u2019s billed as the only surviving recording from the composer\u2019s archives at USC.<\/p>\n

Poledouris was extremely adept at writing for large orchestras, pure electronics, and a variable blending of both mediums, but what makes Spellbinder<\/strong> such a special score among his canon is the virtual reliance on electronics for rhythm, mood, romance, suspicion, and outright horror. Poledouris had chosen a similar palette for his rock-styled No Man\u2019s Land<\/strong> (1987), but aside from a steady pop-rock beat and backbeats on synthetic bass drums, most of Spellbinder<\/strong> sticks to a sense of unease and distrust \u2013 central themes to the story about a husband who fears his hot new wife may become the victim of a weird cult.<\/p>\n

During the eighties, MGM produced a handful of B-movies which had better success attracting small cult followings on cable TV and home video than theatres. Spellbinder<\/strong>, however, was recut prior to its release, and LLL\u2019s CD features some material not used in the film \u2013 in particular, an opening that was accompanied by Poledouris’ step-like, 6-note motif, around which he builds thick synth chords and adds the obligatory (and then voguish) bass hits foreshadowing Big Danger. Also in the cue are elements of the love theme (later heard in \u201cLove Montage\u201d) which, in classic Poledouris fashion, is lengthy in its buildup, thereby ensuring the music captures the full spectrum of the couple\u2019s passion, and gives the audience more depth in what\u2019s an otherwise clich\u00e9d love interlude.<\/p>\n

As the composer\u2019s only foray into horror, Spellbinder<\/strong> is a really<\/em> fun work, filled with rich tones and punchy rhythmic patterns, particularly the pulsing \u201cEnd Credits\u201d which, as with the love theme, is introduced earlier in the score. \u201cPursuit\u201d begins with an odd variation before it kicks into gear with bass drones, and has backbeats resembling animal growls and a highly addictive ostinato. It\u2019s the film\u2019s most memorable suspense track, and like many of the sounds within the score, Spellbinder<\/strong> is a time capsule of then-cutting edge electronic sounds which quickly became horror clich\u00e9s in lower budgeted horror and action films. (Interestingly, Poledouris makes use of sampled male chorus in \u201cAldys Follows\u201d which was integral to Jack Nietzsche\u2019s score for the theological thriller The Seventh Sign<\/strong>, composed that same year.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pity Poledouris didn\u2019t wander into another horror project, because it would\u2019ve been interesting to hear how he would\u2019ve blended orchestral and synth elements. Perhaps the closest he ever came to such a thriller was Breakdown<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1997), one of his best and most gripping works.<\/p>\n

La-La Land\u2019s source tapes are okay; they\u2019re in stereo and offer reasonable fidelity, but there is a slight muddiness which the engineers tried to lessen without losing the thick bass inherent to Poledouris\u2019 synth chords. The lack of high end detail is disappointing, but it\u2019s a treat to have this long-delayed gem on CD, and re-experience vintage synthetic sounds.<\/p>\n

The CD also includes a remix of the \u201cEnd Credits\u201d that opens the CD (not a bad idea, given it\u2019s the score\u2019s most addictive cue), a source cue from a junked dance club scene, and an alternate version of \u201cThe Ritual\u201d prior to further studio meddling.<\/p>\n

A big thanks to the label for their persistence!<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0S<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ S . Rating: Very Good Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: August 23, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 15 tracks \/ (56:13) . Special Notes: 16-page colour booklet with liner notes by Randall D. Larson \/ Limited to 1200 copies.. . Composer: Basil Poledouris . . Review: Announced about 20 years […]<\/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":[622],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1ee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726"}],"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=4726"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4753,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726\/revisions\/4753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}