Powell’s fixation on ethnic percussion seems to draw from Asian, South Asian, African, and Arabic origins, and the harmonics in themes and their desperate incarnations have an overtly middle eastern feel, making Bourne in particular exotic and mournful – appropriate for a story in which an outsider is dumped by the only family’s he’s known, and becomes fueled by a hunger for answers and eventually revenge. Powell’s scores are rooted in patterns or whole themes, and he’s a master at variation, stripping down a theme to its underpinnings, and reconfiguring elements to gentle tones (the eerie vocals in “The Drive to Paris” with Asian chimes and slightly unsteady strings) or pure percussion and bass, as in “The Apartment” with one of the score’s signature motifs – rhythms emerging backwards and triggering a rush of pounding drums or drippy-wet bass lines. Sometimes the digital contents enhance, as in the short cut “Bourne on Land,” whereas other times they’re the dominant sound, drenching the soundscape with high distortion (“Treadstone Assassins”) or fighting like the film’s hero among huge sweeping strings and a crazy array of backbeats, techno clusters, and a sometimes sledgehammer assault of ethnic percussion. The first film in the enduring franchise gave John Powell the perfect opportunity to write what remains both his definitive action sound, and the definitive action score of that decade, blending large orchestral sounds with layers upon layers of electronics. Special Notes: Limited Military Green 180 gram vinyl limited. Tracks / Album Length: 19 tracks / (54:26)
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