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Having reviewed the music from nearly the entire prequel trilogy “sight unseen” (i.e. without seeing the movie first), I thought I could get away with it again here, with the soundtrack to the CG-animated movie The Clone Wars. It may turn out that this wasn’t a good idea, because the soundtrack is as much a departure from everything that has gone before it as the film itself.

What sets The Clone Wars apart from the prequel and original trilogies is that it was done entirely in the computer. One could argue that no camera ever rolled on large chunks of Episode II and Episode III as well, but with Clone Wars there’s not even a pretense of photorealism - the characters are now seen in a stylized, animé-inspired light, and the only actors involved are voice actors. It would seem that the entirely-computer-generated scenes of the prequel trilogy were just a stepping stone.

The music marks a significant departure from the rest of the saga as well. For one of the very few times in the Star Wars franchise’s history, it has been decided to go with a composer other than John Williams, although of course the new maestro may make use of Williams’ themes from time to time. In this case, the new musical voice of Star Wars is provided by Kevin Kiner, who has scored several films and TV shows on his own (such as the Leprechaun movies and Stargate SG-1), and served a vital role in the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise when the show’s budget cuts forced its composers to fall back on synths and samples instead of real orchestral instruments; Kiner teamed up with longtime Trek composer Dennis McCarthy and fleshed out McCarthy’s music into synth-orchestral life. The best example of this available on record may be on McCarthy’s privately-released Star Trek: Borg soundtrack, whose last three tracks are explosive, memorable stuff that you’d swear was performed by a huge ensemble. Kiner is, in fact, that good.

But from the first moments of music on the Clone Wars soundtrack, it’s clear that the musical vocabulary of Star Wars is changing along with the visual vocabulary. The music is a complete departure from the traditional opening of a Star Wars film, and though Williams’ immortal theme tune is quoted, it’s quoted in an unfamiliar context. For those of us who are rushing toward (or past) the age of 40 like the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run, it could be seen as a sign that this isn’t our Star Wars anymore - this is Star Wars for our kids.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the early track “Obi-Wan To The Rescue”, which breaks right out of the romantic-orchestral mode into a staccato barrage of electric guitar. To be fair, screaming guitars could be heard woven into the orchestral textures of Episode II’s wild chase through the “streets” of Coruscant, but here, it’s front and center, and instead of being an exotic flavoring, it’s rock ‘n’ roll. Similarly, tracks such as “Ziro’s Nightclub Band” and “Seedy City Swing” don’t attempt to view earthly music through a somewhat alien prism (a la Williams’ “Cantina Band” cues) - they’re on-the-nose earthly music with no pretensions of being anything but. Given that this installment of the franchise - and it subsequent TV incarnation, which will also be scored by Kiner - seems to be aimed at a younger audience, I’m not saying that these more traditional, not-so-otherworldly treatments are bad. They server their purpose as a kind musical shorthand for the action they accompany.

And yet, with cues like “Destroying The Shield”, you’d swear Williams was at the conductor’s podium - Kiner’s original pieces, for the most part, do not sound out of place next to the rest of the saga. This is partly why I listened to the soundtrack before seeing the movie: I wanted to see if the music would work just fine if there were real actors on the screen in costume. It’s not like this is John Williams meets Carl Stalling. There’s nothing I can think of that stands out as “cartoon music.” Slightly cliched bits of source music? Sure. Maybe all of a couple of minutes’ worth. This is why we have “next track” buttons.

Those expecting wholesale use of Williams’ themes all over the place, however, may be surprised - Kiner develops his own themes across the board, and while there are occasionally hints of the musical signatures originated by Williams, you don’t get big, obvious quotations of the original Star Wars themes until the very end, when some really neat variations on “The Imperial March” and the Ben Kenobi/Force theme roll out. By this time, you’ve grown so accustomed to not hearing a lot of the Williams material that their appearance comes as a shock, which is a neat effect.

Fans of Star Wars music will probably square off along a love/hate battle line to which no skirmish between clones and battle droids can compare when it comes to this album. With its orchestral-plus-occasional-rock-and-techno-beats style, this is post-Matrix Star Wars music. Oddly enough, fans who have already had their palates cleansed in advance by some of the better Star Wars game music of the past 10 years, from Force Commander’s rockin’ remixes to Empire At War’s stew of original material and Williams quotations, will be primed for this approach; those who have stuck to nothing but the original six film scores may be shocked.

The story of Star Wars, and its music, are under new management (though with George Lucas standing over everyone’s shoulder, clearly with the approval of the old guard), making new Star Wars stories for a new audience. And going by this first installment, there really isn’t anything necessarily wrong with that. It’s cracking good adventure movie music with a few nods back to some old favorites. Star Wars was such a boon to my generation when we were in our single digits - it single-handedly got me fascinated with the visual medium, orchestral music, and the concept of space as a whole, all of which have stayed with me my entire life. So even if this is the sound of Star Wars for our kids…that’s cool. They should be so lucky to have that same kind of inspiration.

1. A Galaxy Divided (1:13)
2. Admiral Yularen (0:56)
3. Battle Of Christophsis (3:19)
4. Meet Ahsoka (2:44)
5. Obi-Wan To The Rescue (1:24)
6. Sneaking Under The Shield (4:24)
7. Jabba’s Palace (0:46)
8. Anakin Vs. Dooku (2:18)
9. Landing On Teth (1:43)
10. Destroying The Shield (3:08)
11. B’omarr Monastery (3:10)
12. Battle Strategy (3:07)
13. The Shield (1:36)
14. Battle Of Teth (2:45)
15. Jedi Don’t Run! (1:22)
16. Obi-Wan’s Negotiation (2:07)
17. The Jedi Council (2:04)
18. Ahsoka (3:39)
19. Jabba’s Chamber Dance (0:42)
20. Ziro Surrounded (2:20)
21. Scaling The Cliff (0:46)
22. Ziro’s Nightclub Band (0:53)
23. Seedy City Swing (0:34)
24. Escape From The Monastery (3:12)
25. Infiltrating Ziro’s Lair (2:21)
26. Courtyard Fight (2:41)
27. Dunes Of Tatooine (2:00)
28. Rough Landing (3:03)
29. Padme Imprisoned (0:50)
30. Dooku Speaks With Jabba (1:28)
31. Fight To The End (3:59)
32. End Credits (0:51)

Released by: Sony Classical
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 67:23

Another project from the trio that brought us the bizarre soundtrack-to-a-nonexistent-movie Logan’s Sanctuary, TV Eyes is nothing less than an ’80s revival band that’s playing brand new songs instead of new wave covers. If anything, it’s more of a stylistic tribute to the early ’80s than anything - in some of the songs, you catch a hint of Duran Duran here, a snippet of Kajagoogoo there, and so on. TV Eyes doesn’t use those bands’ songs, but it does appropriate some of their stylistic maneuvers.

The result is a delirious trip right back to the ’80s - I’d almost swear that this is just some 25-year-old album that I’ve never heard before. Standouts include the unabashed ’80s flashback that is the Falkner-penned “She’s A Study”, whose synth arpeggios bring vintage synth-heavy acts such as Level 42 and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark immediately to mind. Falkner’s also responsible for “Mission: Submission”, a throwback to some of the style of Gary Numan, with lyrics that are pure ’80s material, predicting a world run by computers, and the least synth-oriented song on the entire album, “The Party’s Over”, a Clash-esque rocker with political overtones that are vague enough to be from any era and yet directly address the 2000s.

“Over The City” and “Need To Love” shamelessly sound more like the Duran Duran that everyone remembers than Duran Duran itself does these days. My first impression was that it was a little too “drum ‘n’ bass” modern to fit the stylistic parameters of the album, but the rapid-fire keyboard work and funky bassline seals the deal even before the startlingly LeBon-esque vocals kick in. “She Gets Around” is a dance number with a hypnotic synth loop, while “What She Said” is an ode to that oddity of the ’80s, a non-rap song with spoken lyrics.

All of it adds up to one of the most repeat-listen-worthy CDs I’ve come across in years. This stuff is just impossible to get out of your head - it’s that catchy. It’s got a knack for sounding so familiar that you’d think that you’ve been hearing these songs on countless ’80s compilations down through the years, and yet the album - and the songs - are only a couple of years old as of this writing.

TV Eyes’ debut album is a dandy, and it’s a testament to the sad state of musical tastemaking on this side of the world that this group could only find a label in Japan. (Two of its members, Jellyfish alumni Roger Manning and Jason Falkner, have also released music in Japan that’s unavailable here except as wallet-stranglingly expensive imports.) Someone in America, anyone: pick these guys up, pronto. They really “get” what was so good about some of the music of the 1980s.

1. Fade Away (4:33)
2. She’s A Study (4:55)
3. Fascinating (5:20)
4. Love To Need (4:05)
5. The Party’s Over (4:42)
6. What She Said (4:14)
7. Over The City (5:00)
8. Mission: Submission (4:30)
9. She Gets Around (5:22)
10. Time’s Up (4:45)

Released by: Phantom
Release date: 2006
Total running time: 48:26

Another EP-sized collection of tunes from indie singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway, Joined Like Notes brings us a few numbers that either came after his last releases, Summer Storm and Heading For Country, or didn’t quite meet those two collections’ stylistic parameters. With no such limits placed on it (i.e. a “country” feel or every song involving ukelele), Joined Like Notes is a bit more free-form.

Songs such as “Mail Order Catalogue” and “A Babe In My Mama’s Arms” hearken back to his earlier works - sparse and yet atmospheric and moody - while “Hurricane Proof (Katrina)” and “Save Trestles (Sediment Flow)” take the opportunity to get topical. “Save Trestles” graced the artist’s MySpace page for quite a while before finally getting this release, and it’s aways been a catchy, toe-tapping number; getting the opportunity to hear it more clearly reveals it to be this CD’s standout. “A Slip In The Grey” and the title track are also stripped-down marvels of mood, with the former sporting some really interesting vocal work in the chorus. “Joined Like Notes” is more uplifting and mesmerizing in its own way.

Despite a thematic or stylistic angle to the songs on Joined Like Notes, it’s a nice breath of fresh air and a relaxing listen - even with the slightly soft-pedaled protest songs in (though they join a long tradition of folk protest songs in that regard). Highly recommended.

1. A Babe In My Mama’s Arms (3:08)
2. Hurricane Proof (Katrina) (4:09)
3. Save Trestles (Sediment Flow) (3:09)
4. Mail Order Catalogue (3:57)
5. A Sip In The Grey (4:08)
6. Joined Like Notes (4:09)

Released by: Daniel Gannaway
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 22:40

Released in 1985, and carefully crafted to fit in snugly with the post-new-wave synth-rock sound of the day, I’ll confess up front that the Alan Parsons Project’s Stereotomy, after all these years, remains my least favorite of the group’s string of albums from the 1970s and ’80s. Of all the Project albums, Stereotomy has almost no discernable theme, breaking a long string of nicely-thought-out concept albums, and at least two of its songs - the title track and the rambling instrumental “Where’s The Walrus?” (a title reportedly coined by an associate of the band complaining that the album didn’t sport anything as instantly catchy as “I Am The Walrus”, and you know, he was right!) - just waffle on too long for the sake of being too long, and long after the band had shed most of its prog rock credibility in exchange for short, catchy singles too.

So does Stereotomy reveal anything new in remastered form? Maybe. I’m still a bit underwhelmed by the original album program, and this time around, even the bonus features are a bit thin, with the liner notes booklet pointing out that Parsons had gone to all-digital recording by this time, which made it easier - and, due to the expensive nature of the equipment and recording media, necessarily more economical - to just roll back over outtakes rather than hanging on to them. As a result, most of what we get here are the same songs we already know, except either with no vocals or with an early guide vocal long since mixed out of the released version. There’s one legitimately new song here, “Rumour Goin’ Round”, which is an interesting rock number not too far from the sound of “In The Real World”. It has no lyrics, so it’s presented here as a bit of a rough-hewn instrumental, and one wonders what the finished product would have been like. The liner notes point out that Parsons and songwriter Eric Woolfson felt that the album was full and ready to deliver to the label without finishing out this song, and I’m not entirely sure I agree with that. In any case, as it appears here, it’s not exactly the undiscovered gem that “No Answers Only Questions” was.

I was hoping for some mention of the infamous unreleased ’80s instrumental album The Sicilian Defense, and the controversy which surrounded it as Parsons and Woolfson tried to get out from under their demanding Arista contract, but the liner notes of these releases have steadfastly stayed away from that topic, despite this being a perfect opportunity to separate fact from rumor (were the Sicilian songs mined as material for later albums, or is there really an entire Project album we’ve never heard?), and that whole vetted-by-the-label safe approach has left me disappointed. The liner notes booklets in the Project remasters play it very safe, and even recycle the same liner notes about the post-Project careers of Parsons and Woolfson, word for word. It’s not like Sony’s ELO remaster series opened the vaults and told all in its accompanying literature, but at least one didn’t get the sense that those essays were being phoned in; here, one gets precisely that impression.

Stereotomy, even in shiny remastered form, doesn’t get out from under the position of being my least favorite Alan Parsons Project album, and truth be told, it’s one of the weakest remasters from a standpoint of bonus material too, making it a completists-only item.

1. Stereotomy (7:16)
2. Beaujolais (4:28)
3. Urbania (5:00)
4. Limelight (4:38)
5. The Real World (4:21)
6. Where’s The Walrus? (7:33)
7. Light Of The World (6:17)
8. Chinese Whispers (1:01)
9. Stereotomy II (1:23)
10. Light Of The World (instrumental backing track only) (6:14)
11. Rumour Goin’ Round (5:01)
12. Stereotomy (rough mix with Eric’s guide vocal) (6:39)
13. Stereotomy II (rough mix) (1:22)

Released by: Sony / Legacy
Release date: 2008 (original album released in 1985)
Total running time: 61:13