- Composed by Atli Örvarsson
- Varèse Sarabande / 2013 / 38m
A series of recording devices are rather fortuitously left behind at a crime scene in Olatunde Osunsanmi’s Evidence, allowing detectives to piece together the crimes that have been carried out against a group of bus passengers who’ve been knocked off one by one in the middle of the desert. Evidence comes in many forms and I have used my own playback devices to piece together a series of clues as to the musical pedigree of Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson. It’s fair to say that I haven’t been what might be termed his biggest fan to date, with (from what I’ve experienced – there might be hidden gems elsewhere of course) a series of terrible scores behind him including the execrable Hansel and Gretel earlier this year. Therefore my keen reading of the evidence suggested Evidence wasn’t likely to be a masterpiece – but who knows?
Well, it isn’t a masterpiece. Indeed, the French might say – and I might later hear them saying it if a recording device were nearby at the time – ce n’est pas un chef-d’œuvre. Au contraire! In fact, the 38 minutes that pass while this album makes its way through my playback device consist mostly of a series of squeaks and pops. I bought a new pair of headphones recently which had a fault in the right-ear speaker, meaning a distracting crackling noise was emitted whenever I moved my head even slightly. If I hadn’t actually been listening to any music at the time, but just the crackling, it would have sounded much like this album. The little John Powell-style ostinato that recurs irritatingly frequently is the only real evidence of music here at all; essentially, it’s just sound effects. And I can’t particularly say that I want to listen to an album of sound effects. It’s been a while since I heard an album quite this objectionable.
Rating: No stars
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