Screen Sounds
by Jeff Hall

If only every composer was as enterprising as Alan Williams, who for some time now has been putting out CDs of his music, one of the latest being this compilation of his music for the documentaries Parting Lands: An Icelandic Saga and The Green land: Wildlife in the Land of Vikings, both films directed and produced by the award-winning filmmaker Bo Landin and Scandinature Films.

Williams' score is dominated by haunting ethnic flutes, seemingly straight from the mists of time, performed by Joe Stone. Guitars and hand drums feature in the more flowing passages of the score, which is performed by a combination of live musicians and synths. John Barry fans may like The Green Land, a pastoral that could easily have come straight out of Dances With Wolves, and will find it reprised in a traveling variation in Parting Lands. Another peaceful track is Nightfall, a flute and synths nocturne, with guitar joining.

Overall, a largely low-key, but affecting little album.