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His thirteenth award winning solo album, and first full-length movie score, moves computerchemist into a new and exciting domain, previously trodden by only a very select few of his contemporary influences and peers.
Using excerpts from the experimental 2011 release “music for earthquakes” and adding newly commissioned music, the WWII based feature film drama “The Fort” is the first to showcase Dave’s exceptional talent on the big screen.
Synopsis from the IMDb link for the movie “The Fort”: “In the latter stages of World War II, four German soldiers take refuge in an old Napoleonic fort, built on Roman ruins. At first the peace and calm of The Fort appears to be a place to rest, but for Kohl the horror of war, the price he and his family have paid, and the guilt he carries, are all too much.”
AWARDS
- Berlin Indie Film Festival 2022: Best Original Score
- Kiez Berlin Film Festival 2022: Best Music Score Feature Film
Label: Terrainflight TF015
Release Date: January 1, 2021
Track listing:
- impressions of the fort 08:48
- memories of better days 06:00
- music for earthquakes I (excerpt) 15:12
- the drop 11:44
- music for earthquakes II (excerpt) 15:09
- the sky has no meaning 12:18
- Atmospheres Radio Interview with Bruce Gall – The Fort Special (bandcamp bonus download) 57:34
dave pearson: keyboards, bass & lead guitars, sound processing, sequencer & drum programming
artwork: ryan button from photography by don mee
the fort © sawscale films 2020
all composing, mixing and mastering in the digital domain at terrainflight hungary
between mar 2011 and dec 2020
these tracks are the “composer’s cut” of sonic material used in “the fort” and are here presented in their full, uncut, musical form
written & produced ©℗ 2021 by dave pearson
tracks 1,2,4,6 are artistic reinterpretations based upon the traditional folk song “Erika” by Herms Niel (193?)
tracks 3,5 are available in full on the album “Music For Earthquakes” by computerchemist, Terrainflight TF006
thanks: my wife and family, doug, “g”, chris, and everybody else who has helped to encourage and support my music over the years
contacts:
terrainflight: info@terrainflight.com
dave: www.computerchemist.com
the fort movie: fortmovie.com
Reviews
Jerry Kranitz
I am a long time fan of Dave Pearson’s Computerchemist albums and thrilled that he was commissioned to provide the score to the film, The Fort. The quickie synopsis is it’s a psychological drama set in WWII about four German Wermacht soldiers holed up in a deserted old Fort. The film was scheduled for release in April 2020 but due to COVID has been delayed.
Four of the six tracks are artistic reinterpretations based upon the traditional folk song ‘Erika’, by Herms Niel, which Wikipedia describes as a marching song used by the German military. You will not hear that in the music but it was Dave’s inspiration.
‘Impressions Of The Fort’ opens the set, starting off with a keyboard melody that’s like a cross between Berlin school and plinkity Kraftwerk. It plays against a spacey, angelic backdrop that becomes increasingly symphonic, creating a beautiful space-prog instrumental. ‘Memories Of Better Days’ is pure ambient-symphonic, as if it were part of a drifting but, at times, slightly martial dream sequence. ‘The Drop’ is more space-orchestral, feeling like a dreamily intense floating up to the heavens sequence. I feel like I’m in a concert hall under the stars. Beautiful! ‘The Sky Has No Meaning’ is similar, though it creates a somber yet peacefully uplifting sensation, as if leading to resolution. It’s the last track of the set so maybe the film’s finale? ‘Music For Earthquakes’ I & II are excerpts from two lengthier pieces that comprised the 2011 Computerchemist album of the same name. Both consist of very low-key, spooky, atmospheric, incidental music that Dave says is included in some of the “more unnerving parts of the film.” I can imagine.
I can’t wait for the movie to be released so I can see the story and imagery that Dave’s music accompanies! Check out this and loads of other albums at the Computerchemist Bandcamp page.
— Jerry Kranitz, 7 January 2021
Alfred Arnold – EMpulsiv.de (DE)
Für Dave Pearson, der als “Computerchemist” firmiert, ist “The Fort” eine Premiere, nämlich sein erster Film-Soundtrack. Auf CD veröffentlicht, sind Film-Soundtracks ein bisweilen schwer zu handhabendes Material, weil sie passend für die Szenen eines Films komponiert werden. Allzu oft hat man es in der Vergangenheit erlebt, dass die Musik-Schnipsel so, wie sie sind, auf eine CD gepresst werden und ohne die begleitenden Bilder Funktion und Sinn verlieren.
In diese Falle ist man bei “The Fort” erfreulicherweise schon einmal nicht gelaufen: Gerade einmal sechs Tracks füllen die Spieldauer einer CD nahezu komplett aus, und können auch ohne begleitendes Bilder bestehen.
In ‘The Fort’ muss sich eine versprengte Gruppe von Soldaten in einer alten Festung verschanzen und einrichten. Aber auch in dieser Refugium lässt sich die Realität eines Krieges nicht verdrängen. Eröffnet wird ‘The Fort’ von einem melodisch-rhythmischen Track, der mit seinen Gitarren-Parts den rockigen Touch mitbringt, den man schon von einigen Studioalben von Dave kennt. Danach wird es aber extrem atmospärisch: Über weite Strecken hört man nur noch den Wind, der um das Fort weht, nur kurz unterbrochen von Passagen, die etwas mehr ‘Action’ andeuten. Das lässt viel Raum für eigene Vorstellungen, was in diesem Teil des Films in und in dem Fort vor sich geht.
‘The Fort’ sollte eigentlich im Mai 2020 Kino-Premiere haben, diese ist aber wie bei vielen andere Filmen Opfer der Corona-Pandemie geworden. Einstweilen muss das eigene ‘Kopfkino’ als Bühne für diesen Soundtrack herhalten. Und was das gute dabei ist: auf dieser Bühne muss nicht unbedingt ein Kriegsszenario der Hintergrund sein. Situationen, in denen Stille und Abgeschiedenheit Raum zur Selbstreflexion geben, gibt es überall, und der Soundtrack zu “The Fort” funktioniert auch, wenn man sich den Wind in den eigenen vier Wänden um den Kopf pfeifen lässt.
— Alfred Arnold, EMpulsiv.de, 12 Jan 2021
Alfred Arnold – EMpulsiv.de (English translation)
For Dave Pearson, who goes by the name “Computerchemist”, “The Fort” is a first, namely his first film soundtrack. Released on CD, film soundtracks are sometimes difficult material to handle because they are composed to fit the scenes in a film. In the past it has all too often been the case that the music snippets are pressed onto a CD as they are and lose their function and meaning without the accompanying images.
Luckily, “The Fort” hasn’t fallen into this trap: Just six tracks fill the playing time of a CD almost completely, and they can hold their own even without accompanying pictures. In ‘The Fort’, a scattered group of soldiers have to hole up and set up camp in an old fortress. But even in this refuge, the reality of a war cannot be suppressed. ‘The Fort’ opens with a melodic-rhythmic track that brings the rocking touch with its guitar parts that you already know from some of Dave’s studio albums. But after that it gets extremely atmospheric: For long stretches you only hear the wind blowing around the fort, only briefly interrupted by passages that hint at a little more ‘action’. This leaves a lot of room for your own imagination as to what is going on in and around the fort in this part of the film.
‘The Fort’ was supposed to have its cinema premiere in May 2020, but like many other films, it fell victim to the corona pandemic. In the meantime, your own ‘mental cinema’ has to serve as a stage for this soundtrack. And what’s good about it: on this stage, a war scenario doesn’t necessarily have to be the background. Situations in which silence and seclusion give space for self-reflection are everywhere, and the soundtrack to “The Fort” also works when you let the wind whistle around your head in your own four walls.
— Alfred Arnold, EMpulsiv.de, 12 Jan 2021 (English translation by google – any corrections are welcome!)
