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DANNY ELFMAN

Standard Operating Procedure

Varese Sarabande

****

After recent lacklustre scores (Meet The Robinsons, Charlotte's Web, Nacho Libre), maverick composer Danny Elfman is little by little getting his mojo back. If last year's The Kingdom and this year's Wanted mark strong returns to form (two driving and densely textured action scores), then his idiosyncratic new score to Standard Operating Procedure, Errol Morris's provocative Abu Ghraib documentary, offers something different. Layering sinuously pulsing strings and short piano arpeggios with brooding electronica and jittery polyrhythms, Elfman takes a very post-minimalist turn (in homage to Morris's previous collaborators, Caleb Sampson and Philip Glass) and creates a surprisingly original and dynamic score. Mischievous, lyrical and moving in unexpected ways, Standard Operating Procedure is Elfman in his prime. JOCELYN CLARKE

Download tracks:S.O.P., Theme #1: Standard Operating Procedure, Dogs