CD REVIEW - SCENES OF THE CRIME/A CHILD'S GAME


Scenes of the Crime/A Child's Game
Music by Christopher Young
BSX Records BSXCD 8837 (US)
12 Tracks 60:07 mins

In the recent past, the guys at BSX Records have been involved in a number of promotional releases by Christopher Young, but this interesting release by the composer is on their own label.
Scenes of the Crime (2001) reunited Young with director Dominique Forma, who, as music supervisor on the film, gave the composer his first big break away from the horror/thriller fare he had been known for, on the courtroom drama Murder in the First. Unfortunately however, Young was tied up on another film when he got the call for Scenes of the Crime, so was only able to come up with the thematic material, calling upton Gernot Wolfgang to actually fashion the score.
Here, he presents much of that material in a continuous suite of just under 18 minutes, which might be a little hard for film music fans to stay with, their being used to listening to shorter pieces, but I am sure Young's many fans will be delighted to have it in whatever form he chooses to present it and in fact, the nature of the score actually suits this treatment. It opens with a sleazy electric guitars and drums theme and, indeed, guitars are the principal voice throughout in what is a mostly atmospheric piece with very little to get excited about.
Again, a clash of interests prevented Young from finishing his score for A Child's Game but, in his introductory notes in the accompanying booklet, he confesses that he chose to preserve what he wrote because "I like a few of the themes I came up with and I'd hate to lose them." What remains are not finished tracks, but rather synth demos, culminating in a number of cues designed for music box, something he admits he has always had a "soft spot" for.
The opening 11-minute "Hide Me," features variations on a floaty, mysterious mover, with Tiff Jimber adding almost childlike, wordless vocals at the start and end. In between, it turns more pianistic and then is taken up in music box fashion. This is followed by the much darker, threatening "Vanish You," though this does eventually lighten up and turn more mysterious. Ms Jimber returns for "Seek Thee," reprising the opening theme, with variations thereon. There's a return to more threatening fare with the creepy "Wishing To," with its dark piano rumblings and intense strings. Again the main theme returns, along with Ms Jimber's vocals for the final cue "Be Found."
All of these tracks are quite lengthy, giving plenty of room for development, and with the music box cues closing the album, it is certainly an interesting score and particularly worthy of preservation. Order your copy from www.buysoundtrax.com.