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THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Eclectic
space opera A review by JAMES SOUTHALL One of the few successful science fiction comedies, the late Douglas Adams's The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has appeared in numerous guises since it
first appeared, including both radio and television serials. Each one has
a very different spin than the one before, and the new movie, starring Martin
Freeman and Sam Rockwell, is no exception. Fortunately the unmistakably
British humour remains, and the casting of Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin
the robot is perhaps the most inspired of the year. The choice of composer
was always going to be an interesting one - this is not a straightforward film,
and there was always a suspicion that a mainstream film composer just might not
"get" it - a little unfair, perhaps, but it was difficult to feel
anything else. It was no surprise, therefore, that it was a relative unknown - Joby Talbot -
who got the gig. I say relatively unknown, though that's only really true
in the world of film music - he's written several classical pieces and
contributed arrangements to the orchestra-heavy Divine Comedy songs. Not
being at all familiar with his work, somehow I still knew what to expect from
this score - an eclectic mix of obvious comedy music and über-drama. This
is pretty evident from the first three tracks. Following a brief
introduction narrated by Stephen Fry comes the wonderful song "So Long and
Thanks for All the Fish", which is genuinely memorable and genuinely
funny. In fact, it's such a memorable tune that it's really quite
disappointing it doesn't crop up more frequently within the score. While the comedy music within the score proper is decent enough and perfect
for the film, it is so eclectic that it can be quite difficult to listen
to. Far more interesting to me is the "straight" dramatic
music. It's over the top, but excellent. The full orchestral power
of "Destruction of Earth", "Capture of Trillian", "Vogcity"
and others is really very impressive. There's lighter music, too, in two
forms - the sweet, romantic "Love" (which impresses once more) or
"The Whale" and spaced-out synth sounds of "Inside the Vogon
Ship" or "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster", which are quite amusing
but which I can't imagine too many people will ever want to sit and listen
to. I have to say, though, that by far the most impressive burst of music
within the score itself are the few bars of the original tv series theme (by
Bernie Leadon) at the end of "Journey of the Sorcerer". Dotted around the album are various songs which, as ever, may or may not
appeal depending on your taste, but which certainly don't fit in with the score
and interrupt its flow. Neil Hannon's version of "So Long and Thanks
for All the Fish" presents the song in a different, though no less
impressive, light, with him crooning like the best of them, but the placed,
stock music by the likes of Al Green and Perry Como don't really belong.
With those gone and some of the more schizophrenic bits of score pruned a little
this would be a great album; as it is, it's certainly a good one anyway, and
leads me to want to hear more from the composer. Buy
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