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“Given the cyber-punk origins of the franchise the
use of chill-out, break-beat, industrial or trance sub-genres remain
a natural fit. While musically providing an isolated,
fabricated, man-made environment for most of the shorts to be told
in, not all of the selections make for entertaining listens outside
of films themselves. ”
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Back-beat Story
Review by Christopher
Coleman
Like few other
films or film
franchises, The
Matrix projects
are equally
defined by the
source music
implemented as
much as they are
by original score.
Each film contains
hefty helpings
both edgy
electronica as
well as
scintillating
orchestra pieces.
Even two of the
games of the
franchise: ENTER
THE MATRIX and THE
MATRIX ONLINE
contain this
musical highbred.
Along with THE
MATRIX RELOADED,
THE MATRIX
REVOLUTIONS and
ENTER THE MATRIX,
a special
collection of
anime shorts
straight from this
unique world of
The Matrix.
THE ANIMATRIX
contains 9
uniquely
envisioned shorts
directed by some
of Japans most
renown anime
directors:
Yoshiaki Kawajiri,
Takeshi Koike,
Mahiro Maeda, Koji
Morimoto, and
Shinichiro
Watanabe, as well
as other notable
directors like
Peter Chung and
Andy Jones.
This soundtrack
release is primary
comprised of
electronica source
cues from the
likes of Peace
Orchestra, Meat
Beat Manifesto,
and Juno Reactor.
The final two
tracks are remixes
not heard or used
anywhere within
the shorts.
Suffice it to say
most of the cues
included feel like
a natural fit for
the Matrix
franchise.
Given the
cyber-punk origins
of the franchise
the use of
chill-out,
break-beat,
industrial or
trance sub-genres
remain a natural
fit. While
musically
providing an
isolated,
fabricated,
man-made
environment for
most of the shorts
to be told in, not
all of the
selections make
for entertaining
listens outside of
films themselves.
Among the more
enjoyable are
found in the first
half of this
release.
"Who am I" (1),
which is found in
the short "Kids
Story," "Blind
Tiger" (2), "Under
the Gun" found in
"Detective Story,"
(3) through "Ren
2" (6) all provide
a head-bobbing
listen, if not an
edgy one.
Ranging from the
ambient "Big
Wednesday" to the
almost acid-jazz
"Blind Tiger" the
first half of the
CD makes for a
nice diversion
from one's average
orchestral diet.
Things change a
bit when hitting
the second half of
the album.
One of the least
enjoyable pieces
is "Hands Around
My Throat" (7),
which features a
quirky,
new-wave-style,
and is perhaps the
most unfitting of
the lot. "Supermoves"
(9), found in "The
Second Renaissance
Part 2," echoes
the frenetic tempo
and rhythm of "Dragula"
(the Hot Rod
Herman remix) from
THE MATRIX
original
soundtrack.
Finishing up the
tracks actually
used in THE ANIMATRIX comes
something from the
familiar,
matrix-name of
Juno Reactor.
"Conga Fury" is a
mediocre piece
that actually
opens THE ANIMATRIX's first
short, "FINAL
FLIGHT OF THE
OSIRIS." A
sparring dual
between two crew
members of the
Osiris is set to
Juno Reactors
hyper-paced
rhythms.
While the piece
doesn't work as
well as the
remixed "Leave You
Far Behind" by
Lunatic Calm used
in the famous
sparring scene
between Neo and
Morpheus, "Conga
Fury" manages to
deliver a similar
overall feel.
Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of
music contained in
these shorts which
have not made it
to this release.
For instance, in "Program" one
of the better
short-films, no
source music is
used at all but
contains several
minutes of score
by Don Davis.
What the producers
chose include on
the release instead
are two, very
long, remixed
tracks to conclude
album.
Both "Red Pill,
Blue Pill" (11)
and "The Real"
(12) contain
dialogue samples
from THE MATRIX
are are layered
over dance rhythms
and break beats.
While the target
audience for this
album will
probably find
these two tracks
worthy of a listen
or two, the
general score fan
will likely prefer
to have had more
of Davis' work
released instead.
THE ANIMATRIX
remains a fairly
bold experiment by
the Wachowski
Brothers and,
though very
different from the
films or games, is
visually
compelling.
The music
selection for
these shorts
remains consistent
with the rest of
the franchise
efforts, but this
album release does
no justice to
composer Don
Davis'
contribution.
What has floated
around is a
single-track promo
of his work on
"Final Flight of
the Osiris" which
features his
patented sound.
For those who are
fans of the likes
of Peace Orchestra
and Junkie XL,
this release will
have plenty to
offer. Those
looking for more
orchestral
wizardry from Don
Davis should
beware.
Rating:
5/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Who Am I?
(Peace
Orchestra) |
5:58 |
*** |
|
2 |
Big
Wednesday
(Free Land) |
4:50 |
*** |
|
3 |
Blind
Tiger
(Layo &
Bushwacka) |
6:19 |
*** |
|
4 |
Under
the
Gun
(Supreme
Beings
of
Leisure) |
3:28 |
*** |
|
5 |
Matinot
Waves
(Meat
Beat
Manifesto) |
7:41 |
** |
| 6 |
Ren 2 (Photex) |
4:06 |
** |
| 7 |
Hands Around My Throat (Death in Vegas) |
5:05 |
** |
| 8 |
Beauty Never Fades (Junkie XL [animatrix edit]) |
6:13 |
*** |
| 9 |
Supermoves (Overseer) |
4:18 |
*** |
| 10 |
Conga Fury (Juno Reactor) |
7:24 |
*** |
| 11 |
Red Pill, Blue Pill (Bonus Track) (Junkie XL/Don Davis) |
8:58 |
** |
| 12 |
The Real (Bonus Track from The Matrix) (Tech Itch/Don Davis) |
8:02 |
* |
| |
Total
Running Time |
72 minutes |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Promo Track - Final Flight of the Osiris by Don Davis (Not included on Soundtrack release) |
6:45 |
*** |
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