Published
Tue, Feb 13, 2007, 05:00
- House conceptualist Matthew Herbert goes to the movies on his latest album ‘Score’.
House conceptualist Matthew Herbert goes to the movies on his latest album. ‘Score’ will be released in late March.
Herbert has been moonlighting as a film composer for the past little while, and ‘Score’ collects the best of his cinematic efforts onto a single CD comp. The release promises to show a more straightforward and traditional side to the mad experimentalist: no vegetable orchestras here, expect more than a few cuts of big-band jazz in the vein of his 2003 album ‘Goodbye Swingtime’. But Herbert hasn’t quite turned into John Williams yet: “One thing I really find artistically bankrupt is this idea that a 19th century symphony orchestra is the sole appropriate medium for a big budget movie, regardless of the genre”, Herbert says. “The idea that this could work for a futuristic film like Minority Report, which is entirely set in the future, or a film like Troy, which is set thousands of years in the past, is totally absurd. Too often there is no attempt to think about the music in direct relation to the film.”
Herbert’s not likely to be moving to L.A anytime soon either – most of the cuts are from European films, and arty ones at that. “I think there is very much a European tradition of wanting to make film for film’s sake, particularly when it’s not a mainstream film,” Herbert explains. “In Europe there is definitely a love for the craft itself. You don’t see French directors making Police Academy 6.”
Additionally, like his previous efforts, much of the album also adheres to Herbert’s self-imposed musical rulebook, the Personal Contract for the Composition of Music. Devised in 2000, the PCCOM prohibits the use of pre-set keyboard sounds, drum machines, or secondary musical sources. “Whether the director is bothered about it or not, this is very important to me,” says Herbert.
‘Score’ tracklist
01. Funeral (from Vida y Color, 2005)
02. End (from Vida y Color, 2005)
03. Rivoli Shuffle (from Le Défi, 2002)
04. The Apartment (from Le Défi, 2002)
05. Singing in the Rain (from Le Défi, 2002)
06. Cafe de Flore (Trio Reprise) (from Le Défi, 2002)
07. Gang of Boys (from Vida y Color, 2005)
08. Blood and Hair (rejected music from Manolete, 2007)
09. Bull and Cloth (rejected music from Manolete, 2007)
10. Rendezvous (score for "Set Boundaries" by Raphael Bonachela Dance Company, 2006)
11. Indiscretion (alternate version from Indiscretion, short film, 2005)
12. Forest Montage (from The Intended, 2002)
13. Broken Piano (from The Intended, 2002)
14. Tristesse (from La Confiance Règne, 2004)
15. Running From the Credits (from La Confiance Règne, 2004)
16. Nicotine (from Nicotine, short film, 1996)
17. Closing Theme (from The Intended, 2002)
’Score’ by Matthew Herbert will be released on !K7 Records on March 26th, 2007.