March 13, 2014

  • La-La Land Brings the Final Matrix Score to Full Realization

    La-La Land completes their expanded editions from The Matrix trilogy with their new 2-disc set limited edition of the score for the final film, Matrix Revolutions.  The Wachowski Brothers’ epic sci-fi phenomenon was a touchstone for a generation of film fans and pushed us into a new era of special effects technology along the way.  The original score release features a mix of the techno and hard rock performances of Pale 3 and Juno Reactor that lent the film some of its edge.  Don Davis’ score received an ample amount of space, unlike that for The Matrix Reloaded, though there was a tendency to focus on the more electronica-laced tracks.   It was the latter that really kept me from enjoying the final film's score release as it seemed just a bit too odd for my tastes.

    Of course, the best part of the new release is the opportunity to hear the music sequenced in film order allowing it to grow and build over the course of its near 2-hour playing time.  From the “Logos/Main Title” one is instantly drawn into the musical universe of this score and reminded just how stunning this post-minimalist thematic work was from its inception.  A number of previously unreleased tracks stand out. “AK, Cold, and Mauser” and “Our Lit Ovens” (edited together in track 2) include a striking vocalise followed by some dense low clusters and textures that move into the following “Oracle Debacle”.  Actually, it makes “Rama-Kandra/The Trainman Cometh”, the first track that features work with Juno Reactor, make a lot more sense than it did in the original score release.  The other segments that follow now have better context for this layer of electronics and percussion.  Some additional new-to-disc standouts include the amorphous elements and intense aleatoric writing and clusters in “The First Goodbye/The All-Knowing Oracle”; the moment of pause and reflection from all the surrounding kinetic energy in “The Logos Location/It’s Crazy Zee”; a fascinating blend of the score’s styles for “The Smith Within Us”; big action cues like “Niobe’s Run/The Breach/Boom Hilda” and the even more intense “Die Brunette Walkure/Mjolnir Mastication/Charra Broiled” setting the stage for the bigger sequence to come.  The climax of the score and film make for a rather exhilarating ride starting with one of the score’s highlights, “Trinity Definitely”.   Moving into “Deus Ex Machina” (with a rather blatant Wagnerian reference to the “Tristan chord”) the score continues to build until it hits its Wagnerian proportions for the appropriately named “Neodammerung”.  (One of the few moments where one also hears how Davis’ style approaches Goldenthal’s in this period).  Hearing some of the motifs and thematic ideas explored more fully now in the previously unreleased tracks and sequences makes for a fascinating glimpse at how well integrated they are in this score.

    Again, La-La Land’s presentation equals their release of The Matrix Reloaded.  Tracks are clearly marked with material that was left out of the final film as well as the majority of musical selections that are previously unreleased.  As with their last release, this one does edit together some sequences for better listening.  The great accompanying booklet helps provide a better appreciation for what was required and how Davis pulled this music together as well.  As with the second film’s use of popular electronica influences, placed back into the proper order they seem to make more sense now as they did with the resequencing of the previous release.  The disc includes four bonus tracks that includes the performance by Pale 3 (“In My Head”), the original version of “The Trainman Cometh”, and alternate for “Die Brunett Walkure, and an extended ending in “For Neo.”  All said the two-plus hours of music will be a welcome addition to fans of great sci-fi scoring and another of the great trilogy scores in film that does what any great score does, it makes you want to revisit the film all over again.