Taken out of context, plenty of film scores and soundtracks can act as stand-alone experimental records, especially if sounds from the film are actually included in the mix. Sacred Bones proves this true with the thousand-copy vinyl release of the OST of Partir to Live, a darkly curious non-narrative film by Domingo Garcia-Huidobro (of fellow signees Föllakzoid). The film is a disorienting sequence of images flickering from black and white to color, wide frame landscape shots, of both the natural and the unnatural, to incredibly intimate close-ups, encapsulating transcendental impressions and delivering them in graspable terminologies.
Jozef van Wissem’s score is an atmospheric echo of the film’s surrealist imagery (and operates quite well on its own as an LP), with encompassing electronic tones and fluctuating, sometimes tremolo-heavy guitar, the sound flickering like a faulty lightbulb or a blinking eye. The inclusion of actual sounds from the film adds texture and brilliance to the record; rain drops act as quiet percussion, running water a constant strumming—a cleverly subtle innovation. It’s a unique release for Sacred Bones, and an even more illusory listen.
