San Francisco, CA (AA MINTAKA PRESS/MAGIC ANGRY MOUSE MUSIC) - Tomorrow's Man, the veteran producer of a score of effective, nightmarish sonic landscapes since 1995, finally got the opportunity to apply his skill to the darkly minimalistic and predominantly claustrophobic score required of the 2005
Dustin Alexander film "Sleep."
"Sleep" is the latest entry in the ongoing love affair American film-makers are having with what has become a Japanese horror-movie tradition of vengeful ghosts, close quarters, and the effective build of unbearable suspense at the expense of the well being of a small cast of antagonists who often haven't a clue why they are being punished before the final reel. But that is where the similarities between "Sleep" and the remakes of "The Ring" and "The Grudge" end, as "Sleep" has been lauded for being an original story (not a remake) that honorably captures the mood and style of some of the founding fathers of the genre (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, Koji Shiraishi).
"Sleep: Music written for and inspired by the Dustin Alexander movie" is the first double-disc release from the veteran artist Tomorrow's Man (https://www.tomorrowsman.com [Tomorrow's Man Website]; https://www.lulu.com/tomorrowsman [Online Store]), who has compiled an extensive 11-year body of work as a musician, performer, and writer.
The soundtrack boasts 27 tracks, several of them pieces that extend beyond the film's score. The music ranges from stunningly accurate, moving pieces written expressly for scenes from the movie (like the tense death-march of "Risen," or the horrific crecendo of "Her Viridical Nightmare"), to the protracted scores that comprise an intensity befitting their own horror story, as they build and mutate far beyond the director's expectation (like the 13-minute, genre-defying opus "Bloodless," which begins with what could have been an almost soothing guitar melody if not for the disturbing effect of the sound rushing by in the speakers; by the end of the track, most would be cowering under the bed, unsure if the sound was rushing malevolently toward them, or worse - fleeing something else).
"Sleep" is the first full-length album from Tomorrow's Man since a busy 2002, when he released the critically acclaimed four-track epic "Palimpsest," and the widely popular "The Trial & Asylum of Peppery Penguin," which boasted the furiously controversial hit "EKF Sleep Repeat" and the industrial-dance club hit "Drama Magnet."
A DVD of the movie "Sleep" is scheduled for release in 2006.