Music For Film : cults classics curios
The 52nd Sydney Film Festival companion CD

FULLTRACKLISTING

artist	track	film
01 don meers	nevermind	opening credits
02 david lindup	testing time	the box
03 david thrussell	end theme	the hard word
04 jigsaw	sky high	man from hong kong
05 tooth	dreamland	angst
06 the new pollutants	the muse	hills hoist
07 decoder ring	heidi's theme	somersault
08 inga liljestršm	all of this	left ear
09 paul healy	new flat	dirty deeds
10 philip brophy	swoon	intermission
11 jarrod factor	opening	lightly baked
12 john barry / city of prague ..... philharmonic orchestra	the final dance	walkabout
13 jarrod factor	last chance	lightly baked
14 ben frost	rays theme	everything goes
15 brian may	flight from the evil toecutter	mad max
16 orisha	a week is too long	the king of hearts
17 kazumichi grime	3_m10_thick.aiff	two thirds sky
18 severed heads	pour chiens moyens	illustrated family doctor
19 david bridie / john phillips	pool	hungry heart
20 pretty boy crossover	artificial snow	blink
21 ens	tropic of cancer	nanaon no senritsu

 

The MEDIA RELEASE
Sonic Arcana presents
A Groovescooter Production
in Association with the 52nd Sydney Film Festival

Compiled, produced and mixed by
Paris Pompor and Georgie Zuzak from Groovescooter in collaboration with the Sonic Arcana label, comes the first ever companion release for the Sydney Film Festival - now in it's 52nd year. This is unlike any soundtrack compendium you've heard before. A seamless journey through various moods and styles, it's more like the eclectic 'Back To Mine' series, than those heavily orchestrated, emotionally manipulative soundtrack collections of yesteryear.

Subtitled 'cults classics curios',
the album traverses almost four decades of Australian film music; from the most up-to-date post-rock and electronic producers (Decoder Ring and Severed Heads) to the long overlooked vice-funk of cult-classic 'The Box' as well as masters like the late Brian May ('Mad Max'). As for curios, there are plenty, but how about the soundtrack that was originally commissioned for pioneering gritty Aus-Hellinic film 'Head On' starring Alex Dimitriades and Paul Capsis. The version here didn't end up being used in the final cut after Melbourne shlock-horror filmmaker, composer and author Philip Brophy was replaced by Ollie Olsen of Max Q fame.

So sit back in your director's chair and let your mind take a windscreen journey through funk, jazz, post-rock, psychedlia, electronics and classic cinematic moods, with the 52nd Sydney Film Festival Music For Film companion CD.

From the producers: With this 2nd volume
of our 'Music For Film' series, the intention again was to collect evocative sounds from innovative Australian composers, and couple them in one seamless mix with masters of the trade - thereby highlighting their talents and also providing a non-linear, jump-cut journey through almost four decades of local cinema. For us, music and sound design is an integral part of the movie experience. Most artists featured here however, also consistently release music outside of celluloid circles; work that excites and captures the imagination. Their output often encourages the inventing of plots which play out on the widescreens of our minds. Their work for film is special then, because it works both in the theatre where the images are provided, and as unaccompanied, listening music. Besides hearing a few classics and discovering some rarities, hopefully for film directors, music supervisors and collectors alike, this CD provides some introductions to a new generation of music makers. Unlike many of the precarious TV/soundtrack compiles of decades past, we've aimed to make it a cohesively enjoyable journey from start through to closing credits.

Although nearly all contributions come from Australian artists, the obvious exceptions are luminary John Barry and British band Jigsaw. Most famous as the creator of the unforgettable James Bond theme, it's a lesser known fact that Barry scored the 1971 Aussie "arthouse" film Walkabout, where two urban siblings escape their father's murderous intentions only to wander the desert. From kung-fu action flick The Man From Hong Kong (an Oz/Hong Kong co-production) we also couldn't go past a classic fave from Jigsaw. Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, trainspotters will have noticed scenes from the film in a video-clip for Sydney beat-boffin Katalyst. For us Sky High represents one of those rarer moments when pop melds magnificently with celluloid. If you've seen the choreographed hang-gliding title-sequence over Hong Kong harbour, you'll probably agree. That the film also stars (uncle) George Lazenby - the only Aussie to play James Bond - is an added bonus, especially as the song melds perfectly with the upbeat vice of David Thrussell's (Soma/Snog) fantastic retro-inspired theme for crook-drama The Hard Word. Another underworld film of the time was Dirty Deeds. Set in the notorious Cross, the heartland of Sydney's gansterville, Paul Healy's score offers us a reprieve from the punchy mood, with a brief moment of tenderness. Now is a good time to introduce our only TV-theme inclusion for saucy, Number 96-era soap, The Box. This one's groovy '70s cop-style score, is an overlooked classic. Few remember that the telly soap spawned a cinema version in 1975 starring Graham Kennedy and blonde-bombshell Belinda Giblin! We also deviated slightly by including a Japanese film produced by Yusuke Hayamizu. A musician himself, Hayamizu initially began collaborating with Brisbane artist Ens on an album track, later using his track Tropic Of Cancer twice in the intriguing short film Nanaon No Senritsu (Seven Scales).

No Australian soundtrack compendium would be complete without the late Brian May, represented here with a chilling cut from cult-classic Mad Max. Later, well known film-composers David Bridie and John Phillips, from pioneering Proof scoring troupe, Not Drowning Waving also appear. Together they've amassed a large body of work for cinema/TV, alongside Melbourne filmmaker-lecturer-author- composer and Sound Punch chief, Philip Brophy. Brophy's track is particularly curious because it was commissioned for the gritty Head On. The job of composer however was later passed to renowned Psy-harmonics head, Ollie Olsen (Max-Q). Ironically we weren't given permission to include Olsen's End Theme, which would have highlighted the similarities between both composers' work. Although Olsen did a great job, it's obvious Head On would have been equally powerful with Brophy's score. Tom Ellard's Severed Heads is also a well known, though mysterious, entity. His ambient electronics for The Illustrated Family Doctor represent the most up-to-date inclusion here. Intriguingly, for the film's own soundtrack album, Ellard included a bonus DVD of reworked film images. Decoder Ring's gorgeous and celebrated score for Somersault is another recent one. It represents a band collaboration approach to scoring - something we highlighted on volume 1 of this series with groups like The Necks and Paul Kelly. A similarly delicate and alluring piece comes from director/music supervisor Andrew Kotatko's Everything Goes, which shares an icy affinity with Somersault's soundtrack. It goes beyond musical similarities; Kotatko's film also stars Abbie Cornish ('Heidi' from Somersault), whilst the music comes from rising star Ben Frost - who has recently remixed Iceland's Bjork. And from Bjšrk it's a short skate to Australian singer/composer Inga Liljestršm, who shares more than just an umlaut with the Nordic ice-queen. Often compared to Bjšrk, Liljestršm (whose visuals are an integral part of her live shows) contributes the stripped back All Of This from album Elk, which Sydney filmmaker Andrew Wholley used in his yet to be released feature Left Ear. Although the move to using pre-recorded music in films has become an easy option (and a marketing tool for large record companies), there's no doubt that a perfectly placed album track can work magic in cinema. Tooth's Dreamland (from debut LP No Strings) is a case in point, with the "Sunday morning" hook working a treat during Angst. Unfortunately only a small portion from Dreamland was used in the final cut, so here it is in all it's glory. Having recently premiered their re-scoring of Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis at the Adelaide Film Festival plus invites to do the same in Edinburgh, Adelaide group The New Pollutants offer up a rather spy-themed/spagetti wester piece from the unlikely named film, Hills Hoist. Though this series generally shies away from vocal tracks (preferring music to tell the story), Orisha's aching tune from The King Of Hearts works as wonderfully here as it does on screen. In contrast, is the machine-like, cyclic sound-art of Pretty Boy Crossover's piece for Blink, which shares executional similarities with Kazumichi Grime. Kazumichi's sounds capture the vastness of the locations, and the connection to land explored in Sean O'Brien's Two Thirds Sky doco on five indigenous and non-indigenous painters. Of course for us, no cinematic album could be complete without our own label's celluloid moodstar Don Meers on set. Working in both audio and visual arts, former TV composer Meers returns for Volume 2 and provides an opener that is yet to have the visual created, whilst similarly talented filmmaker/composer Jarrod Factor provides two early, yet gripping pieces from his own short, Lightly Baked. Enjoy!