K-Pax
The tender musical heart of this enchanted take onThe Man Who Fell to Earthbelongs to composer Edward Shearmur, who turns in a largely synthesized score where spare, delicate piano melodies often recallThomas Newman's deft sense of space and dynamics. While the general musical ethos seems a throwback to the mid-'80s heyday of pioneering electronic scores byVangelisandTangerine Dream, contemporary technical advances have allowed Shearmur to impart an ethereal and distinctly organic aural patina to these cues. Though informed by his atmospheric session work with Pink Floyd (The Division Bell), Shearmur'sK-PAXscore stands apart: quiet, mystically introspective music that seems as uncomplicated--and yet innately profound--as an autumn breeze.--Jerry McCulley