Soundtrax
by Randall D. Larson
Columnist
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS
Bear McCreary’s music for the second season of the sci fi channel’s hit series, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, has found its way onto a new soundtrack release from La-La Land. Their release of the show’s first season music was one of my Top 20 soundtracks of 2005; the second season follows in similar style although with less immediate appeal – the music here seems much more understated; still McCreary emphasizes an extravagant and compelling array of musical modes and textures throughout the season’s music. The depth of instrumentation and the cultural sensibilities the world-beat textures derive render the scores uniquely interesting and affecting. Far more than simple science fiction music, McCreary crafts environmental landscapes that seethe with ethnicities and living, breathing personalities. The music integrates orchestra, synthesizer, ethnic vocals, and prevalent percussion in individual episodes that find their own musical sensibility with little musical cohesion between episode lines beyond McCreary’s stylistic musical textures.
“Allegro” is an extended cue for reflective violin figures; “Martial Law” is an effecting cue for horns over dramatically-pounded drums, emphasizing the human cost of government oppression; “Lords of Kobol” features an intriguing interplay between understated electric guitar and a sultry, Lisa Gerrard-like vocalism from Raya Yarbrough; “Scar” is a potent mix of percussion and synth, morphing into a poignant and melancholic meandering of solo violin; “Gina Escapes” is a potent cue for gangling electric guitar, subtle synth riffing, and driving percussion rumbles; “Prelude to War” is a compelling, classically-styled ostinato of resolute, massed violins playing over a rumbling battlefield of percussion; “Reuniting the Fleet” is given a profound poignancy through echoes from uillean pipes; “Worthy of Survival” is a gorgeous atmospheric cue for female voice, high above riffing synths and ethnic winds.
Oingo Boingo member and Danny Elfman collaborator (see AMAZING STORIES: “Mummy, Daddy” above) Steve Bartek plays featured guitar on one of the tracks (“Black Market”). Stu Phillip’s splendid original theme for the 1970s BATTLESTAR is reprised nicely in the “Colonial Anthem” for the episode “Final Cut,” and Richard Gibbs’ vocalistic main theme for the new show’s pilot and second episode is included as well, nicely capping this collection of the season’s best musical moments.
