The Harvest Soundtrack
(World Domination)
by Valerie Smith
The Harvest‘s promotional material stated “the film has found a rabid cult audience which has necessitated the soundtrack’s release.” That sure piqued my interest so I went out and rented it. Director and writer David Marconi’s style combined the well-written plot twists of Alfred Hitchcock with David Lynch’s surrealism to create a great film on many levels. Just when you think you know what’s going on and who’s who, a single morsel of information is disclosed that shatters all of your previous notions. I love movies like that.
The great thing about writing movie music is that the composers have the opportunity to write in many different styles. The Crash Baptists (Dave Allen and Rick Boston) rose to the occasion. At times, the music has an ethereal quality, almost like a new-age meditation tape – pulsing synthesized sounds with wind blowing in the foreground, and sparsely played guitar melodies with barely whispered words underneath. But they also have a track that sounds like a typical techno dance mix, complete with sequenced drum and bass lines. Then there’s the duet “One By One” between Belinda Carlisle and Rick Boston. It’s a catchy pop “exit the theater” tune with some slightly creepy harmonies to remind you that the movie you just saw was freaky.
Low Pop Suicide‘s contributions include “All In Death Is Sweet,” which reminds me of some of Toto’s score for Dune. The second, “I Want You Alive,” is emotional, danceable industrial pop. Sky Cries Mary‘s “The Elephant Song,” stands out as the most interesting track on the CD. The percussive tribal rhythms with deliberate mechanical and synthesized sounds provide the perfect background for spoken word and Eastern vocal stylings.
The Harvest soundtrack stands alone as an interesting collection of mood music. I can’t say what mood it will set, but it’s unique and interesting. As a soundtrack, the music didn’t quite fit the action or mood at times, but under Marconi’s direction, it’s hard to say whether he didn’t want it that way for effect.
