Departure From Royal
"Kill The Robot" CD
RedBox
Recprds
Genres: film music, experimental
Dec 15 - 21 2003 |
The
Departure from Royal formula is a bizarre one. Blending
electronica with acoustic piano, guitar, and drum instrumentation, the
band creates pleasant, relaxing background music that is quite
beautiful and yet not eventful enough to focus too much attention
on. Kill The Robot is DFR's first album, and
it is the soundtrack to a film of the same name. Minimal in
nature, the disc's best moments revolve around recurring melodic
motifs and frequently meandering piano doodling.
The album's best moments are its most climactic. The opener is a fine example of a Kill The Robot
highlight. Its simple melody and subtly funky flow are just what
the doctor ordered. This carries over to the second track, but
then eventually fades out by the third, when the album starts to lose
momentum as the melodies become less and less apparent. As a score, it's
clear that the music is best suited to being played with the actual
film. It's very moody, and boasts a cinematic, dark sound that
would likely work best in its original context.
Despite its shortcomings, however, Departure From Royal's Kill
The Robot is actually a terrific selection of music from a mood
perspective. The musicians have done a great job creating a
dark, almost claustrophobic sound sculpture that makes you want to go
and check out the film it belongs to. Though often not as
melodic as I would have liked, this is still a success as a film
score.
80%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
