{"id":7245,"date":"2013-11-13T20:37:42","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T01:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7245"},"modified":"2013-11-13T20:51:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T01:51:20","slug":"cd-smallville-2001-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7245","title":{"rendered":"CD: Smallville (2001-2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>S<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: \u00a0La-La Land Records<\/a> \/ Released: July 29, 2013<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: \u00a0CD1: 21 tracks \/ (74:05) + CD2: 22 tracks \/ (74:35)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 28-page colour booklet with liner notes by Brian Satterwhite \/ Limited to 3000 copies.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Mark Snow, Louis Febre<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Mark Snow may be one of the most prolific composers working almost exclusively in TV, but in each of his series \u2013 spanning cult classics such as The X Files<\/strong> (1993-2002), Millennium<\/strong> (1996-1999), Nowhere Man<\/strong> (1995-1996) \u2013 his writing is always connected to a series\u2019 characters, in addition capturing moments of genuine strangeness and dour darkness.<\/p>\n

Smallville<\/strong> ran for 10 years, and Snow stuck with the show\u2019s first 6, leaving Louis Febre to handle the last 4. It may seem tough to imagine that so much of the show\u2019s qualities could\u2019ve been packed into a 2-disc set when Snow\u2019s prior X Files<\/strong> and Millenium<\/strong> benefitted from multi-disc releases, but it\u2019s perhaps a tribute to the set\u2019s producers that good thematic and mood representations are fitted into the roughly 2.5 hours of disc time.<\/p>\n

Fans of X Files<\/strong> will recognize many synth sounds, as Snow used much of the same gear to emulate strings and assorted percussion, but there\u2019s an unusual level of tenderness that dominates the cues, even when the mood shifts to danger or something a little superhuman, Snow repeatedly goes back to his character material, making sure the scores are grounded to their characters.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a slightly tragic tone to the music: instead of sweeping cues evoking heroism and near-misses, Snow rarely allows for moments of singular joy, and any sections evoking peace or quiet meditation are quite fleeting. The decision seemed to have been made from the beginning that the music would not be a classic celebration of Superman\u2019s heroism, even in its infancy. Snow\u2019s take is to leave things unsettled, have chords infrequently come to a satisfying rest, and have his sounds flow and undulate as though a constant undercurrent of unease and insecurity flows around young adult Clark Kent.<\/p>\n

Febre\u2019s contributions tend to stick with a similar instrumental palette, but his writing benefits from more current electronic gear, and there\u2019s a greater emphasis on covering drama, melancholy, light comedy (\u201cMeet Cat Grant\u201d), and danger in a more traditional orchestral style, which may surprise those familiar with Febre\u2019s work in TV. He\u2019s perhaps better known for handling an assortment of mystery and suspense tales (such as the grim Mr. Murder<\/strong>), and his knack for scoring action come through in a few kinetic cues, like the pulsing orchestral-electronic hybrid \u201cHawkman in the Desert,\u201d with some great string figures and brass that very discretely harken back to John William\u2019s own Superman<\/strong> score.<\/p>\n

Those unfamiliar with the series have a 28-page booklet with stills and Brian Satterwhite\u2019s liner notes to follow the show\u2019s progression, as samples from a decade\u2019s worth of episodes are neatly edited and arranged in this beautifully produced set. The quality of the music \u2013 especially the numerous soft character pieces \u2013 should prick an interest among listeners to seek out the series, and walk away with a deeper interest in the composers\u2019 other work.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB: Mark Snow<\/a> \/ Louis Febre<\/a> — Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmographies: Mark Snow<\/a> \/ Louis Febre<\/a><\/p>\n

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Select Merchants:<\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" —\u00a0BSX<\/a> —\u00a0Intrada<\/a> —\u00a0SAE<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ S . Rating: Excellent Label: \u00a0La-La Land Records \/ Released: July 29, 2013 Tracks & Album Length: \u00a0CD1: 21 tracks \/ (74:05) + CD2: 22 tracks \/ (74:35) . Special Notes: 28-page colour booklet with liner notes by Brian Satterwhite \/ Limited to 3000 copies. . Composer: Mark Snow, Louis […]<\/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":[2341,2340,2339,698],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1SR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7245"}],"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=7245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7258,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7245\/revisions\/7258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}