Disquiet

Score is a new album collecting background music by someone who has recently been pursuing a spot in the foreground. It’s a retrospective compilation by Herbert (born Matthew Herbert and aka Doctor Rockit) of pieces he’s written over the years for film, cues of churning, introspective textures by someone whose modus operandi of late has been decidedly extroverted: using his Plat du Jour album as a bully pulpit against consumerism, moonlighting from electronica to front a big band on Goodbye Swingtime. The music on Score includes segments originally composed for the films Vida y Color, Le Defi and The Intended, among others. One complete track is available for free download at herbert-score.com (you have to provide an email address to gain access, but otherwise it’s free). The piece, a clackety bit of addictively jittery digital momentum, was composed for a short titled Nicotine. One small point of confusion: the info page at herbert-score.com says the album contains 17 tracks, but the track listing contains only 16 and the version currently for sale at emusic.com has only 14.

By Marc Weidenbaum