Filmmusik

Composed by Nathan Larson

01 - Prozac (Prozac Nation)

02 - Boys (Boys Don't Cry)

03 - Operator (Phone Booth)

04 - Tigerland (Tigerland)

05 - You Can Take What's Left Of Me (Prozac Nation)

06 - Night Basketball (Lilja 4-Ever)

07 - Fiction (Storytelling)

08 - A Softer Night (Boys Don't Cry)

09 - I  Want Someone Badly *Bonus Track

10 - The Fawn (Prozac Nation)

11 - Small Town Jail (Boys Don't Cry)

12 - Mommy, Are Angels Dead? (Lilja 4-Ever)

13 - She Might be Waking Up (High Art)

14 - Le Pont de la Tristesse (The Chateau)

15 - Mom's Mercedes (High Art)

16 - Balcony (Prozac Nation)

17 - Dirty Pretty Thing (Dirty Pretty Things)

18 - Departure Lounge (Dirty Pretty Things)

19 - Last Lines (High Art)

20 - Walter (The Woodsman)

21 - Something Like Love (Prozac Nation)
22 - Rape and a Burning Polaroid (Boys Don't Cry)

Arranged and Performed by Nathan Larson

                                                  (for the most part)

 Produced by Tracy McKnight and Nathan Larson

Released by Commotion Records on April 5th, 2005

Total Running Time: 71:25

     Commotion Records has gotten into the compilation arena with the first release in their new series devoted to scores from groundbreaking independent films. This release, entitled Filmmusik, presents musical selections from composer Nathan Larson. Before turning into a film composer, Larson was a member of the art-punk band Shudder to Think. His list of credits include many works off the typical beaten path such as Boys Don’t Cry, Tigerland, and The Woodsman. Of course, this is a perfect composer to highlight for this new label’s feisty independence in the selection of scores that it chooses to release.

     For this album, a grouping of random cues with the only stipulating desire to be to provide previously unreleased music, form most of the material. As can be expected from a former band member turned film composer, a lot of these cues are synth/acoustic music performed by Larson himself. While a grouping of tracks with no overriding rhyme or reason to their selection would seem to be a death knell for album consistency, Larson’s keen sense of style and unique compositional abilities actually give this music something of a flow between its cues.

     Despite skirting by the edge of compilation hell however, Larson’s music will definitely be for the more eclectic tastes out there. Occasionally his music offers more than the typical dramatic synth music, and in this cues the stylistic flavorings are enough to provide an interesting listen. These cues are few in number though, leaving us to wander through the rest of the material that quickly passes under the auditory radar. There are the occasional songs that can be found, but like most of the score selections, they sometimes provide an interesting moment, but mostly will draw back into the shadows after they’re done.

     Given that I have not seen any of these films it could be that I simply don’t appreciate the whole spectrum of material that is now being made available. But isolated on this album, this isn’t going to be something that appeals to the typical score enthusiast. On the other hand, if you’re interesting in expanded your musical horizons, especially in the arena of film scores, this would be a good place to start.