July 26, 2000

Invisible Soundtracks: Macro 3

Warranting investigation, but don't think too hard about the concept.

6 / 10 A crucible of all things avant-garde, The Leaf Label is, typically, fond of The Big Idea. Yet, volume three of, 'Invisible Soundtracks', exclusively commissioned 'pieces' for imaginary films, gets no closer to explaining: why, when cinematically, sound and image enjoy a symbiotic relationship, would you wish to separate them? How can you love a tune when you don't know if you're actually getting the pretty specific mood/images it's meant to convey? Even genre kingpin Barry Adamson's last album turned to words to give his imaginary film scenes a stronger narrative thread.

/img/invisibletracks0700.jpg Ironically, given Leaf's reputation for self-expression, contributors are coaxed into familiar territory. Nifty as they are, offerings from Kieron Phelan/David Sheppard (spy thriller) and Broadway Project (horror) turn on conventional soundtrack sounds and structures. Conversely, Rob Ellis and Bass Communion's forbidding creations cry out for the images to give them some coherence.

Great tracks are here, but, be it Rothko's slate-grey plucking or Freeform's tropical clatter, they're not necessarily filmic.

Warranting investigation, but don't think too hard about the concept.

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