Bear McCreary...
There are those people of whom you become aware in your lifetime that really hit you below the belt with their creativity and vision. Coming to mind is a composer that I have become reacquainted with only because I have been looking for a version of the song "Watch Tower" which was originally composed by Jimi Hendrix.
His name is Bear McCreary.
A few scant years ago John (my husband) and I became enthralled with the new version of Battlestar Galactica. I remember when they were showing the previews on the Sci-Fi channel, and having grown up in that era, I distinctly remember the original show, most of which is very forgettable. It was the quintessence of 1970's TV: badly written, marginally acted/directed, poorly shot, mediocre special effects - yes, a glittering jewel of the cultural depression and its obsession with "jiggle TV".
John and I had a hearty laugh over it - can you really resurrect something that bad and make it into something worth watching?
Apparently, you can...
While I admit that Sci-Fi is not a genre that everyone can attach themselves to, I can only say that this show hardly classifies itself as sci-fi and then only because it takes place in space on spaceships. The series really was more about the human struggle to survive catastrophic and life-changing events - it was edgy, artsy and had some really unusual sets, concepts and the like. It was a fantastic journey and I was sad to see that it was over so soon.
In order to understand where I am writing from, it's important to understand what about this series made it so great - there were a number of things...but one that stood out above all the rest is the orchestral score. Truly unique. No longer did you hear the sweeping sounds of a large orchestra playing the usual triumphant, tragic score. Rather, it was a combination of vocal melodic chants, bars of music that had a distinct Irish flair to it and all backed up with the aid of African drumbeat rhythms and Indian influences. While putting together such a diverse set of genres is an incredibly tall order, this composer makes you think he's been doing that since the dawn of time - in other words, he's made it "sound" easy. As if "Oh yeah, those things go together like PB & J"
Therein lies the mark of McCreary's genius.
But getting back to my main point of my rediscovered acquaintance with Bear McCreary... I had remembered that an episode (well, a few episodes, actually) had featured the song "Watch Tower" and I thought it was a pretty good tune and only in the last few days did I remember to look it up on iTunes and purchased it.
I was wholly unaware of how wonderful this version of the song is.
It's so fantastic that you wouldn't care if you got lost in it for days on end.
It is created from a complicated set of African rhythms, East Indian instruments (a throw back to the 60's perhaps?), parts of melody from the show's original score and the body of the original song. These things meld together to so seemlessly you simply would never know the song's real origin, and that is not a bad thing for the entire piece, as the original song remains wholly intact, not a "theme and variations" and not what many are calling "sampled" music these days, either. The song itself is so utterly out of its genre you wouldn't think it could be successfully recreated in the environment which the composer put it, and he skillfully molds the piece to do exactly what he wanted it to do. For this contribution to the artistic community I would have to say a heartfelt "thank you" to Bear McCreary!
I listen to a lot of music while I paint, the moodier - the better. I'm not entirely certain why moody works for me when I'm painting, but that's where I want to be when immersed. I think this piece will become a part of my repertoire of music "for painting" Take the opportunity to hear it and I think you won't be disappointed.
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