Houdini (John Debney)

Synchrotones’ Microtones Review… all of the opinion, less of the words.

HOUDINI

John Debney, 2014, Lakeshore Records
S1V1: 29 tracks, 61:03 | S1V2: 27 tracks, 57:35

What is it? The two-part miniseries “Houdini” follows the tales of Harry Houdini (Adrian Brody) as he emerges as America’s first bona-fide world-renowned superstar. From humble beginnings at circus sideshows to sold-out concert halls, Eastern European immigrant Erich Weiss rose to become a household name across the globe.

What does it sound like? On very few occasions it reminds me of Brian Tyler’s “Now You See Me”, but most of the time it reminds me of large industrial drilling machines. Granulated hits, lots and lots of synths, and beats (most of which come across as preset loops). There are fragments of virtuous violin play, but they are mere snippets and only highlight how harshly electronic this score is. Composer John Debney says: “I would best describe the “Houdini” score as Industrial Rock meets Gypsy rooted mystery.” Yup, that sounds about right to me, and incidentally sums up why me and this score don’t get on. I don’t like Industrial Rock and I don’t like Gypsy music… but if you do, well then you’re in for a two-hour treat!

Is it any good? To each their own… and this one really isn’t for me. I love the synth noises in and by themselves, but those alone don’t make a nice album. I’m missing a theme. I’m missing any emotional content. I’m missing balance. This, to me, is just two hours of noise.

Rating [1,5/5]

Review by Pete Simons, (c) Synchrotones