Geoff Barrow is a founding member of Portishead and producer/label owner of Invada Records UK. Ben Salisbury is a soundtrack composer with over 200 film and TV credits to his name, including David Attenborough's 'Life of Mammals', 'Life in the Undergrowth' and 'Life in Cold Blood'. DROKK was written in a six month period between Barrow's Portishead world tour and Salisbury's composing jobs for the BBC. Even though it is a soundtrack of sorts, Barrow and Salisbury instinctively felt that music for MC1 should steer clear of the rich orchestration common to many contemporary film scores. Even for electronica the music is often purposefully stark and spare, with the majority of the tracks created exclusively on the Oberheim 2 Voice Synthesizer (a 1975 classic keyboard), and its onboard sequencer used to create rhythm and drums sounds. The only exceptions are a handful of tracks which combine the synth with digitally manipulated and time-stretched performances of acoustic instruments (such as piano, violin, mandolin, ukelele, voice and hammered dulcimer). There is also a brief cameo from Barrow's other band BEAK. Although Mega City One has been brought to life in great detail over many years by the acclaimed work of writers and artists alike, there is still huge scope for readers to have their own vision/soundtrack of the city. DROKK is Barrow and Salisbury's personal, outsider's' interpretation.
R**.
Great
Excellent album. Pure analog brilliance reminiscent of 80's sci-fi: Carpenter, Fiedel, etc. Well done Mr. Barrow. You've inspired me to really get to work on my microbrute.
S**S
Moody, dark, and excellent
Very good retro-ish synth music reminiscent of John Carpenter soundtracks. The only problem is the CD was pressed poorly, so there are many errors when ripped, even with iTunes' error correction turned on. I'll try getting a replacement disc.
P**K
Awesome old-school tech vibe
Fantastic alternative soundtrack to the recent DREDD movie. It's like the collaboration between John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream that never happened. I love the original DREDD soundtrack but this one's been on solid rotation since I bought it.
R**I
Five Stars
Excellent! Thank you!
R**O
One Star
Complete rip off of John Carpenter's Escape From New York Score.
A**U
Helmet Cabbagestone
I waz hearing to Drokk und unbeknownst to me I awoken in der Tangerine Dream. Yeah a wunderful seign I tell to myself.
D**R
Meh. It can drokk off as far as I'm concerned
It calls itself an imaginary soundtrack, but I don't know - it's more like a sequence of synth noodles chucked together on a cd and then named after the fact.From the man who brought you the sludge and drudge of Beak and Portishead's "Third" album, this is supposedly inspired by two things : Judge Dredd. And seventies soundtracks. Not feeling the first one when listening to this; I can hear the influence of much better music by much stronger composers on the second one.If you like John Carpenter, I don't know, go and buy his soundtracks. Hopefully he'll bring out more original music if he gets revenue. If you like comic books, it's hard to fathom what you'll get out of this. If you like old skool analogue synths, there are better places to find music played on them.In short - this doesn't work. It's not terrible but like much of Barrow's latter-day work, it just doesn't feel complete. Or arsed.
A**N
Tech Noir
Futuristic tech noir for fans of cutting edge electronica, this alternate soundtrack to the Dredd film is close to being a masterpiece. Parts remind me of early John Carpenter or Brad Fiedel's score for Terminator. Moody, atmospheric, minimalistic in places but always compelling. The presentation of the vinyl cover looks great too. One negative comment is that the double vinyl does not include download code, which is a real pity because I don't want to also have to buy this on CD. But I'm tempted!
I**D
Cover Design
I bought this album after seeing the film and hearing the soundtrack to Ex_Machine and saw it was by the same people and listened to the previews of the tracks.I received it this morning and the front of the cover is cut short under the band and album name text exposing a small amount of the label side of the disc. The back of the cover appears to be complete with all info. Has anyone else received a copy like that? I will open it and listen to it fully once I know that it's supposed to be like that.
A**R
Thrill Power Overload. Grud damn, it's drokk!
This album is amazing, it should have been the sound track to the recent Dredd movie. Reminiscent of sound tracks like that of the original Terminator movie. 80's synth goodness with more than a dash of John Carpenter. I recommend watching the movie again with the sound turned down and this album on in the background, thanks to Orbital Comics London for this top tip.
M**E
A cool 'alternative' soundtrack to Dredd......
It would be intriguing to hear this music mixed into the Dredd movie. It's quite an effective sci-fi themed work, though I wouldn't mind a bit more variation. Mega-City One in the comics is a crazy place, yet this feels quite somber and emotionless overall - though in a nice cyberbunk sorta way.Having listened to some of the Dredd Audio Adventures, I would like to hear some city-based sound effects and/or voices woven into the electronic soundscapes here.Certainly an interesting companion piece to the official Dredd soundtrack.
