Country : Canada Label : Milan Genres and styles : Classical / Soundtrack Year : 2020
Owen Pallett

Spaceship Earth OST

· by Rupert Bottenberg

T minus three, two, one… Owen Pallett’s score for the recent Netflix documentary Spaceship Earth left the launch pad the same morning as the Toronto artist’s own album Islands, on May 22 (see our review of Islands here). Timeliness is a theme here – Spaceship Earth, a look at the two-year quarantine undertaken by the crew of the self-contained ecosystem Biosphere 2, is particularly resonant in this period of voluntary confinement backdropped by escalating environmental danger.

The woodwinds and popping strings of opener “MountAnalogue” suggest a competent yet fairly conventional film score ahead, and that’s indeed the case for most of it. In fact, some moments are merely pastiches of film-score titans like Danny Elfman (“The Test Module”) or Michael Nyman (“Biosphere 2, IV”). 

However, the melodies and the juxtapositions in the arrangements often bear a signature that’s unmistakably Pallett’s, and there are plenty of interesting deviations from the general guidelines, celestial solo piano passages and such. Overall, it ain’t a canon work for Pallett, and unlikely to attract a second Academy Award nomination (the first was for his work with Win Butler on Spike Jonze’s Her), but certainly not without its charms.

Latest 360 Content

Pressure Pin Live: Surprisingly calculated art punk, but still weird

Pressure Pin Live: Surprisingly calculated art punk, but still weird

Laurence Kayaleh / Bernadene Blaha – Noskowski / Zelenski : Violin Sonatas

Laurence Kayaleh / Bernadene Blaha – Noskowski / Zelenski : Violin Sonatas

Quatuor Molinari – Philip Glass : Complete String Quartets, Nos. 5-7, Volume 2

Quatuor Molinari – Philip Glass : Complete String Quartets, Nos. 5-7, Volume 2

Bach Festival | The Pleasures of the Sonata According to Diderot

Bach Festival | The Pleasures of the Sonata According to Diderot

Le Vivier and Orchestre de l’Agora | A Virtuoso Celebration of Contemporary Music

Le Vivier and Orchestre de l’Agora | A Virtuoso Celebration of Contemporary Music

Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur

Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur

Gnaw Their Tongues – The Cessation of Suffering

Gnaw Their Tongues – The Cessation of Suffering

Nicole Rampersaud – Saudade

Nicole Rampersaud – Saudade

I Gemelli in Montreal: Simply One of the Year’s Great Concerts

I Gemelli in Montreal: Simply One of the Year’s Great Concerts

Sudden Voices – I Knew You At Once

Sudden Voices – I Knew You At Once

Hot Garbage – Mystery

Hot Garbage – Mystery

Le Vivier and Ensemble SuperMusique | The Undeniable Talent and Attention to Detail of Ensemble Super

Le Vivier and Ensemble SuperMusique | The Undeniable Talent and Attention to Detail of Ensemble Super

Bach Festival | Beyond Bach, the Signum Signature

Bach Festival | Beyond Bach, the Signum Signature

Sarah Aristidou – Enigma

Sarah Aristidou – Enigma

On the Record with ROM1

On the Record with ROM1

OSM’s South American Voyage| Breaking Down Barriers

OSM’s South American Voyage| Breaking Down Barriers

Le Vivier and Quasar | Selective Fluidity

Le Vivier and Quasar | Selective Fluidity

Michel Faubert – La Chapelle Ardente

Michel Faubert – La Chapelle Ardente

Orianne Lacaille – iViV

Orianne Lacaille – iViV

Slow Pulp Live is Sad Music for Happy People, or vice versa

Slow Pulp Live is Sad Music for Happy People, or vice versa

Autogramm – Music That Humans Can Play

Autogramm – Music That Humans Can Play

Blue-ji – Blue-ji

Blue-ji – Blue-ji

Rachel Drew – Blaze For You

Rachel Drew – Blaze For You

Mark Steiner & His Problems – Hang On (Twin Flames)

Mark Steiner & His Problems – Hang On (Twin Flames)

Subscribe to our newsletter