Moderators: lazyben, static14, texasvinyl

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By bansel
#75806
Ok folks, for my deep cut I decided to stray a bit and go with a documentary score, and a recent one at that. But since it was a small budget indie flick with the score being released by a relatively unknown artist and label, I believe it probably flew under a lot of radars.

The film is Detropia and the score is by Detroit based electronic artist Blair French, previously going under the moniker of DIAL.81, as credited on the score. The music falls into the ambient electronic category which is generally out of my wheelhouse, however I found myself enjoying this quite a bit as a stand-alone piece.

The film itself documents Detroit’s economic collapse and the subsequent exodus of a great portion of its residents; leaving behind a largely abandoned, somewhat desolate city. What makes the score work so well in my opinion is that the film itself not narrated, which is fairly unusual for a documentary. Instead, you are given a very moody, haunting score composed with keyboards, nature/city sounds, sparse drum machine and digital effects. Set as the backdrop to a visual canvas of abandoned manufacturing plants, high rises and even entire city blocks that can look post-apocalyptic at times. It creates an atmosphere of what I can only describe as a “calming eeriness”.

So, as I am no good at reviewing or describing music, I will let the below clips speak for themselves and hopefully some of you can find enjoyment in them. I will say, for me this is definitely a “lights out, headphones on” type of soundtrack. I should mention that it was released by my favorite local record shop UHF Records in a pressing of 500 (300 red/200 black). It was also awarded Best Film Score by Cinema Eye Honor in NY, for what that’s worth.










Sky Garden

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2yuR6kBNLc[/video]

Detropia Theme

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsBId7R2wJY[/video]

Rebuild

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f3s62GC-DM[/video]

Middle Of End

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDVM5APGYrU[/video]

Primitive Shapes

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWn0fK7-R8Q[/video]

The entire score can be heard here...

Detropia
User avatar
By freshoj
#75808
def. flew under my radar - great stuff. will seek out the doc for sure!