Music for Drifters

Music for Drifters is the official release of the soundtrack to the 1929 documentary Drifters, credited for kickstarting the "documentary" film genre.[1][2][3][4] The soundtrack, commissioned in 2013 by the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival,[5] 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[6]), and then digitally in July 2015.

Music for Drifters
Soundtrack album by Field Music
Released	18 April 2015 (Record Store Day vinyl release) 24 July 2015 (wide digital release)
Recorded	2014
Genre	Indie pop, progressive rock, soundtrack
Length	40:40
Label	Memphis Industries
Field Music chronology
Field Music Play... (2012) Music for Drifters (2015) Commontime (2016)

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Drowned In Sound	[9]
The Guardian	[10]
NME	[11]

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".[12] The Scotsman praised the touring performance of the soundtrack, giving it 4 stars 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."[13]

Track listing

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

1. "Introduction" – 0:46
2. "Village" – 2:37
3. "Engine" – 0:46
4. "Out of the Harbour" – 0:44
5. "Headland" – 1:34
6. "The Log-Line Tells the Miles" – 0:50
7. "Casting Out (Part 1)" – 0:40
8. "While Down Below" – 1:26
9. "Casting Out (Parts 2 & 3)" – 3:55
10. "Night-Time" – 0:43
11. "Destroyers of the Deep" – 2:58
12. "Dawn Breaks" – 1:26
13. "Wake Up" – 0:56
14. "Hauling" – 2:40
15. "The Storm Gathers" – 3:57
16. "Full Speed" – 0:32
17. "Batten Down" – 3:33
18. "The Ship Rides Through / Quayside (Part 1) – 2:26
19. "Quayside (Part 2)" – 4:54
20. "Ends of the Earth" – 1:43

Personnel

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

References

1. http://www.griersontrust.org/assets/files/articles/john-grierson-s-foxon.pdf
2. http://grunes.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/drifters-john-grierson-1929/
3. http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/makinghistory/film/films/rm1_drifters.shtm%5B%5D Tate Gallery – Liverpool- Making History: Art and Documentary in Britain from 1929 to now Exhibition: 3 February–23 April 2006 (Accessed July 2015)
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-07-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2015-07-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. http://www.discogs.com/Field-Music-Music-For-Drifters/release/6913473
7. "Music for Drifters by Field Music - Metacritic".
8. Sendra, Tim. "Plumb - Music for Drifters | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
9. Brown, Paul (22 July 2015). "Review: Field Music – Music For Drifters". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
10. Gisbone, Harriet (23 July 2015). "Review: Field Music – Music For Drifters". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
11. "Music For Drifters - Review". NME. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
12. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/23/field-music-music-for-drifters-review/
13. http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/gig-review-field-music-drifters-glasgow-1-3794356