CD REVIEW - SURROGATES


Surrogates
Music by Richard Marvin
Costa Communications Advance CD
12 Tracks 38:43 mins

The composer's publicists, Costa Communications, kindly sent me this advance copy of Richard Marvin's score for Jonathan Mostow's sci-fi thriller Surrogates, which stars Bruce Willis. The composer worked on Mostow's previous films, the best known probably being U-571, and here combines 120 musicians plus electronics to create a score that commences with the darkly propulsive "Drive to Club" and continues with murky goings-on in "Cam's Apt/Greer's Apt."
The pacy and dramatic "Warrant/Foot Chase" follows, with some effectively chilling dissonance at its centre.
Other tracks of note include the somewhat poignant piano and strings of "I Want You;" the powerful conclusion of "Stone's Headache," with its growling brass; the fateful "Operation Prophet," with its pounding percussion; a welcome reprise of the opening theme in "Gotta See Your Boss;" and "Shift Enter," where things come to a powerful and dramatic head.
Marvin's music can also be heard on the new CBS series Three Rivers.
Surrogates is available on CD from Lakeshore Records and can also be downloaded from iTunes.