Moore, Kevin - Ghost Book (Soundtrack To The Film Okul)


Year of Release: 2004
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 172/SPV 085 60812 C
Format: CD
Total Time: 45:21:00

Kevin Moore was the first keyboard player for Dream Theater - yet Ghost Book is the polar opposite of that band's music, and there isn't a shred of similarity.

Kevin recently moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where he was commissioned by author and longtime fan Dogu Yucel to do the soundtrack for an upcoming movie. Yucel, who is also a music writer covering rock and metal, had written a horror novel called Ghost Book, or "Hayalet Kitap" in his native tongue, as well as a movie script based on the same story. The flick was re-titled to Okul, a teen-slasher comic edge was added, and the setting was moved from a university to a high school. (Okul means "school".) And best of all - getting his long-time idol to provide the music was a local call!

This CD is understandably subtitled Soundtrack to the Film Okul, and as the background music for a horror flick it is more about mood and atmosphere and ambience, and less about traditional music structures like melody, rhythm or song. Moore experiments with a broad range of textures, and the result is almost all keyboard-based electronica, with just enough movie-derived voice overlays and sound samples to convey the impression that you're immersed in a complicated story. It is slow-moving, creepy and minimalistically sparse with compelling but spare keyboard lines. A drum machine permeates many tracks - although there are some like "Overheard" with no percussion at all. This music is dark and conspiratorial with deep rumbling bass, long sustained chords and simple mid-ranged piano melodies adding tone rather than tune.

Moore wrote and performed almost almost everything, with the exception of "Romantik" and "Erotik". The closest thing to a song, in the traditional sense, is closing tune "Sad Sad Movie" in which Kevin's singing evokes memories of his Chroma Key projects. "Cowbloke" is driven by a guitar line, a rare instrument for this album. The reverb is cranked to 11 and the melody is simple and slow, in keeping with the rest of the music. "Mirrors and Phones" is the most complex track, and with its panting female inserts, "Erotik" is just that. "Roof Access (Day)" and "Roof Access (Night)" are interesting in that they are very different takes on what is essentially the same song. "Night" is lighter, chords are repeated rather than sustained, and it has a more delicate yet excitable feel to it. "Day" is heavier, more solid, each chord is played with more conviction, and it comes across as an altogether simpler piece.

If music-writer Dogu Yucel can do it, then the esteemed writers of ProgressiveWorld.net can do it, too. Watch this space for the upcoming horror story to be co-written by Steph and Bobo and me. (Perhaps the "horror" won't be in the storyline!)

Also released by InsideOut Music America (IOMACD 2085)


Tracklisting:
Rhodes Song / Prayer Call / Piano Theme / Roof Access (Day) / Far Fara / P.S. / Library Noise / Overheard / Romantik / The Hecklers / Mirrors And Phones / Shall We Jump / Cowbloke / Erotik / Roof Access (Night) / Hallways And Light / Afterschool / Sad Sad Movie

Musicians:
Kevin Moore

Discography:
Ghost Book (Soundtrack To The Film Okul) (2004)
Chroma Key - You Go Now (2001)
Chroma Key - Graveyard Mountain Home (2004)

Genre: Ambient

Origin US

Added: February 19th 2005
Reviewer: Duncan N Glenday
Score:
Artist website: www.chromakey.com
Hits: 1776
Language: english

  

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