Apparently better known as a DJ, house music composer and electronica experimentalist, this 10-year retrospective showcases some of Herbert’s work from his sideline as a film score composer. While it is perhaps unfair to try and review soundtrack music outside the context of the film for which it was written, it is interesting to find out whether such music stands up in its own right.
Some of the music certainly is worthy of a closer listen. Tracks such as “Funeral”, “End” and “Blood and Hair” work as late-night comedown music, with their blend of minimal electronic beats, overlaid with lush strings and acoustic guitar being in the vein of Thievery Corporation or a DJ Kicks album. Others, such as “Nicotine” veer towards a softer trip-hop sound, and would not be out of place on the Ninja Tune roster.
The centrepiece is “Rendezvous”, a 10-minutes epic of choral, almost operatic vocals and gentle electronica, created as part of a collaboration with The Bonachela Dance Company. It is an expansive and challenging piece of music, and while not to everyone’s taste, is deserving of praise.
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There are pieces where the lack of a visual and narrative context begins to be missed. “Forest Montage” and Broken Piano” are both short pieces of around 1-minute in length. While they provide a stirring soundscape, they could be regarded as interludes, too short to make much of a lasting impression.
The film “Le Deli” is represented by four tracks, and the sound here is of a swing or jazz band from the 1920s. You can almost see it sound-tracking an episode of Jeeves & Wooster. Similarly, “Tristesse” and “Running From The Credits” sound like lounge-jazz, and at times come close to sounding like the theme to a French sitcom.
Overall, “Score” is a hit-and-miss affair. When the music on this collection works, it is well worth listening to, but often it becomes mere background music which is I suppose, the original purpose of many of these compositions.
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