SOUNDTRACK REVIEWS

SUNDAY STAR REVIEW BY GRANT SMITHIES, SUNDAY NOV 23, 2003:

I haven't seen the movie, but Marc Chesterman's soundtrack for Florian Habicht's digital flick Woodenhead certainly makes me want to. Dark and quirky, part vaudeville, part fairy tale, with snippets of somewhat disconcerting dialogue shoehorned between short musical tracks, the music alone has me imagining some kind of psychotic soap opera set in the wilds of Northland and directed by David Lynch.

From the doleful cello of "Maidenwood" to the screaming guitar of "Goerdel", from the cruise ship bossa nova of "Horoscope Dance" to the wonderfully weary lullabies "Lucky Star" and "Hospice for Destitute Lovers", it's an ever- changing, constantly surprising and slightly malevolent mood-fest.

This soundtrack was recorded before any visuals were shot, with the actors then invited to improvise their parts to small, scene-sized chunks of sound, which resulted in extremely well-integrated sound and vision but a big problem synching up the dialogue. The cunning solution? The actors deliver their lines without moving their lips, as if they're communicating telepathically. Go and see it, but in the meantime, buy the record, lay back and let your mind make movies of its own.

THE PACKAGE-SEPT '03 By D.C Holmes
Various Artists
Independent

The Woodenhead soundtrack weaves a story all on its own. Its weird and varied sound-scapes amount to a beautiful range of sonic textures. If you are searching for something a little surprising but downbeat, this could be it.

The film score is predominantly written by Marc Chesterman, an established sound technician and composer of film and theatrical audio accompaniment. He is joined by a variety of interesting and experienced performers. Cellist Edward Hanfling plays beautifully throughout, is reminiscent at times of Kim Hiorthay's wonderful album 'Hei', and is complemented by violinist Li Ming Hu on track four.

'Goerdel' gives us an intense drum and bass excursion, which seems to break the continuity a little. It imposes the eerie darker side of the film's soundtrack. In its own way Woodenhead can be considered a genuinely artistic soundtrack- and not merely a compilation of bands collected together to sell the movie- or provide excessive merchandise. The voice samples from the movie were the only extraneous element for me.

My favourite, was a track called 'Trumpet Song' which features a rich meandering melody. But there was also the exceptional 'Plum and Gert Duet' -a sensuous love song- where Mardi Potter's vocals render a delicate melancholy. Older Wellington listeners may recognise Potter's singing from the days of the now defunct pop-band Beaker.

The Woodenhead soundtrack would be lovely to play to your kids, or put on for an evening at home- because after the initial weirdness wears off- the 24 tracks meld into an endearing and beautiful narrative song cycle that provokes the imagination to fit a story to the music.

Various: Woodenhead soundtrack
NZ HERALD 18.09.2003 By GRAHAM REID

Florian Habicht's film Woodenhead is, by all accounts, an ambitious and different piece of work in the landscape of local movies. The soundtrack was created before the visuals - a collaboration between Habicht and composer Marc Chesterman - and in the movie characters "speak" their lines without opening their mouths. Not having seen the film - which was shown at the recent Auckland and Melbourne film festivals - means this paintbox of songs and dialogue (of what sounds like a bent fairytale) must be taken at face value. There's doubtless a strong synchronicity with the images because tracks such as the slightly eerie Maidenwood evoke a dark journey, the mournful cello on Tremolo creates a useful melancholy, and Forest suggests a bizarre circus which the narrative hints at.

The sounds range from quiet folk to disturbing electronica in the manner of early Foetus Productions (Goerdel) but because many of the tracks (such as the minimal percussion of Drums and Bass) obviously only make sense with the pictures, this is not a sonic play-let of the film. The narrative is not discernible but the gloomy, Mervyn Peake-like dialogue and occasional disconcerting pieces of music whet the appetite for what sounds like a slightly unnerving cult flick.

DOMINION MONDAY , 22 SEPTEMBER 2003
Woodenhead Soundtrack - Marc Chesterman
By JOHN KENNEDY

Aucklander Florian Habicht's movie Woodenhead was billed as a "grim musical fairy tale". Its timeless fantasia of a different kind of New Zealand turned heads at this year's film festivals.

The soundtrack is an aural postcard from Habicht's Woodland- "the most sparkling and shining village in the land". You can hear its gleaming fade in Lucky Star, which typifies the sense of mischief and wonder, reminiscent in places of Bjork.
Marc Chesterman's synthetic art pop creations are dotted amongst other sonic ephemera: dialogue from the film, electro-noise, environmental sound and lounge style instrumental contributions from various musicians he assembled. That's cabaret icon Killer Ray tinkling the keys on Hi De Hi De Ho and Auckland underground noise guru Paul Winstanley adding an edgy squall to Goerdel.
Chesterman's editing is spot on, capturing the essence of the film's tragi-comic narrative in a well-paced CD. File under NZ - unique.


RIP IT UP OCT '03
By D.O.B
Marc Chesterman
Woodenhead Soundtrack
Global Routes Music

Reversing the usual order, the soundtrack to Florian Habicht's offbeat NZ-film Woodenhead, including the dialogue, was recorded before the film was shot, and the film made to fit. There's a carnival flavour to the proceedings. Like most soundtracks the question is whether it can exist satisfyingly in its own right without the pictures. The answer is:almost. There are some lovely moments, especially the world-weary, beautiful sing-a-long of Hospice for Destitute Lovers that rounds out the movie. But the overall effect is of an intriguing invitation to experience the full visual and auditory performance.

REAL GROOVE OCT'03
Noisy Neighbours
By Brent Cardy
Film festival movie soundtracks can be some of the most rewarding discoveries, given the nature of the medium they accompany, and Berlin-born Florian Habicht's latest movie, Woodenhead, is no exception. Filmed in Northland, and subtitled, 'A Grimm Musical Fairytale', the movie melds a little of the macabre with a little carnival.

The film's soundtrack, Woodenhead (Independent), includes dialogue sampleswith each musical segment and the result is an artistic, surreal musical experience, which has an earthy acoustic ambience (in the spirit of the film). Primarily created by Marc Chesterman, from the exotic to the sensual, with cello, trumpet and accordion, the album is a world unto itself. Auckland identity Killer Ray, a previous Habicht short film subject, also makes an appearance in the movie and on the soundtrack.