Music for Drifters

{{Infobox album

| name = Music for Drifters

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Field Music

| cover = Music For Drifters (album cover).jpeg

| alt =

| released = 18 April 2015 (Record Store Day vinyl release)
24 July 2015 (wide digital release)

| recorded = 2014

| studio =

| genre = Indie pop, progressive rock, soundtrack

| length = 40:40

| label = Memphis Industries

| producer =

| prev_title = Field Music Play...

| prev_year = 2012

| next_title = Commontime

| next_year = 2016

}}

Music for Drifters is the official release of the soundtrack to the 1929 documentary Drifters, credited for kickstarting the "documentary" film genre.{{cite web|url=http://www.griersontrust.org/assets/files/articles/john-grierson-s-foxon.pdf|title=John Grierson 1898 – 1972|website=Griersontrust.org|access-date=13 March 2022}}{{Cite web|url=http://grunes.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/drifters-john-grierson-1929/|title = DRIFTERS (John Grierson, 1929)|website=Grunes.wordpress.com|date = 11 September 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/makinghistory/film/films/rm1_drifters.shtm |title=Tate Liverpool | Past Exhibitions | Making History |website=www.tate.org.uk |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621201142/http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/makinghistory/film/films/rm1_drifters.shtm |archive-date=21 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.montagefilmreviews.com/Drifters(1929).html |title=Montage Film Reviews - Written Reviews Section: 'Drifters' 1929 (Dir. John Grierson) "Dramatising the Mundane: The Working Man Hero in John Grierson's 'Drifters' " |accessdate=2011-07-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327220013/http://www.montagefilmreviews.com/Drifters(1929).html |archivedate=2012-03-27 }} The soundtrack, commissioned in 2013 by the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival,{{Cite web |url=http://www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com/news/161/announcing-a-new-commission-field-music-drifters |title=Announcing a new commission: Field Music "Drifters" |access-date=2015-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915151505/http://www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com/news/161/announcing-a-new-commission-field-music-drifters |archive-date=2015-09-15 |url-status=dead }} was composed by the Sunderland band Field Music. The composition is the first of their works to feature pianist Andrew Moore since 2007's Tones of Town. After touring the film accompanied by the band playing the soundtrack live around the UK, the composition was recorded and released firstly on vinyl for Record Store Day 2015 (limited to 750 copies{{Cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Field-Music-Music-For-Drifters/release/6913473|title=Field Music – Music for Drifters (2015, Silver, Vinyl)|website=Discogs|date=18 April 2015 }}), and then digitally in July 2015.

Reception

{{Album ratings

| MC = 75/100{{cite web| url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-for-drifters/field-music |title=Music for Drifters by Field Music - Metacritic|website=Metacritic}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|first=Tim |last=Sendra |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-for-drifters-mw0002857732 |title=Plumb - Music for Drifters {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic}}

| rev2 = Drowned In Sound

| rev2score = {{rating|7|10}}{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Brown |title=Review: Field Music – Music For Drifters |website=Drowned In Sound |url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/18913/reviews/4149215 |date=22 July 2015 |accessdate=30 July 2015 |archive-date=1 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801134441/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/18913/reviews/4149215 |url-status=dead }}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web |first=Harriet |last=Gisbone |title=Review: Field Music – Music For Drifters |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/23/field-music-music-for-drifters-review/ |date=23 July 2015 |accessdate=30 July 2015}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = {{rating|8|10}}{{cite web |title=Music For Drifters - Review

|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/field-music/16166/ |work=NME |date=13 July 2015 |accessdate=30 July 2015}}

}}

Though a niche release commercially, the soundtrack was well received by some critics, with several praising the band's ability to evoke "...an oddly aquatic ambience...the percussive delicacy evocative of the lapping tide, the idiosyncratic shifting of pace signalling the unease of the environment".{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/23/field-music-music-for-drifters-review/|title=Field Music: Music for Drifters review – shoals of silver daring|website=TheGuardian.com|date=23 July 2015}} The Scotsman praised the touring performance of the soundtrack, giving it four stars (out of five) and again noting the "complementary score of plangent guitar, electro jazz keyboards and a slow martial beat to match the hypnotic footage of bobbing buoys and silvery shoals caught in the nets."{{cite web| url = http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/gig-review-field-music-drifters-glasgow-1-3794356| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150724163950/http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/gig-review-field-music-drifters-glasgow-1-3794356| archive-date = 2015-07-24| title = Gig review: Field Music: Drifters, Glasgow - The Scotsman}}

Track listing

All songs written and composed by David and Peter Brewis and Andrew Moore.

"Introduction" – 0:46
"Village" – 2:37
"Engine" – 0:46
"Out of the Harbour" – 0:44
"Headland" – 1:34
"The Log-Line Tells the Miles" – 0:50
"Casting Out (Part 1)" – 0:40
"While Down Below" – 1:26
"Casting Out (Parts 2 & 3)" – 3:55
"Night-Time" – 0:43
"Destroyers of the Deep" – 2:58
"Dawn Breaks" – 1:26
"Wake Up" – 0:56
"Hauling" – 2:40
"The Storm Gathers" – 3:57
"Full Speed" – 0:32
"Batten Down" – 3:33
"The Ship Rides Through / Quayside (Part 1) – 2:26
"Quayside (Part 2)" – 4:54
"Ends of the Earth" – 1:43

Personnel

Peter Brewis – Field Music
David Brewis – Field Music
Andrew Moore – Field Music

References

Category:2015 albums

Category:Field Music albums

Category:Memphis Industries albums