Review by Dawoud Kringle
Artist: Spaghetti Eastern Music Title: Drone Girl – the Soundtrack Sessions Format: Digital Album Label: self-produced Genre: Soundtrack
Spaghetti Eastern Music, the solo project of genre-leaping Hudson Valley/NYC guitarist and MFM member Sal Cataldi, released a new EP. Drone Girl – the Soundtrack Sessions is a collection of music Cataldi produced for the soundtrack of Drone Girl, a new short by filmmaker/choreographer Charles Dennis. The film features dancer/performer Stacey Smith in a duet dance with a flying drone aircraft. Beginning in a Brooklyn basement apartment, her trek takes her to a field near the Catskill Mountains. While dancing through the field, Smith and the drone video each other, while a third camera captures them both.
True to his nature as a fearless and creative musician, Cataldi improvised the score for the film. On this project, he collaborated with bassist Jeff Keithline (a multi-genre 50-plus year musical career) and percussionist Mark Peritz (formerly with Sruti Ram and Wah at the Omega Institute and Kripalu and Peter and Bethany Yarrow), both veterans of the Woodstock music scene. Together, they crafted a multi-layered soundscape with strong melodic themes, one that perfectly complements the film’s dreamy imagery.
This is not Cataldi’s first foray into soundtrack work. He produced the music for the film HEALTH, an 8+ minute film by filmmaker/choreographer Hanna Bass which premiered at the Avant-Garde-Arama Festival at Hudson Valley’s Lace Mill Arts Center.
Charles Dennis is an interdisciplinary artist who creates dance, performance art, and film works. He worked extensively with theater director Robert Wilson, co-founded Performance Space 122, and regularly presented solo and group works there for over 25 years. Dennis has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and Franklin Furnace. In 2023, he received a fellowship from Arts Mid-Hudson for his performance work, Recycle Me, featuring an original Spaghetti Eastern Music score.
The EP opens with “Drone Girl Theme (Take 2).” The crystalline tones of Cataldi’s guitar begin a dreamy exploration of an E minor tonality, as Keithline and Peritz ease into a groove. In the beginning, it had a character that reminded me of Aphrodite’s Child, a 70s prog-rock band from Greece that featured Vangelis before his solo career took off. Peritz started changing the rhythmic motion of his percussion, and Keithline followed with a walking bassline that deconstructed into a free improv before returning to an acknowledgment of the original theme. Above it, Cataldi’s masterful use of guitar and effects painted sonic arabesques, often playing counterpoint parts with himself (and it was not overdubbed).
“Ring Around The Modulator” starts with a driving bluesy pulse almost invoking the Doors’ Five To One (almost, but not quite). Cataldi conjures strange textures using his ring modulator. The piece explores the possibility of a song structure before deciding to fade into oblivion slowly.
Next is “The Itchy Movement.” While I couldn’t determine what was itchy about this, it seemed to experiment with variations of the theme invoked in “Ring Around the Modulator.” It starts in an upbeat mood and soon changes to something more somber. This is without sacrificing its energy or audacious experimentation.
“Drone Girl Theme (Take 3)” revisits the E minor scenario of the opening track. Cataldi’s guitar work seems to be a bit more adventurous on this take. It’s almost aggressive, but not overbearing, nor deviating from the essence of the theme.
This is followed by “High Stepping.” This shows the overall mood of the collection from another tantalizing perspective. This piece could be used in a wide variety of cinematic scenarios; dramatic, tragic, or fearlessly facing an adversary.
The collection closes with “Spinning Wind.” Cataldi’s guitar makes its synthesizer parts while placing delicate melodies on top of the rhythm section. The mood is optimistic, and at the same time, almost painfully contemplative.
Producing music for film is always a collaborative effort. Many people might not realize that the music must blend seamlessly with the imagery it underscores. It serves a specific purpose; augment the story within the visuals and dialogue as a visceral sensation. At the same time, the effect must be subliminal. That said, the best soundtrack music can stand on its own outside its cinematic context. Sal Cataldi and Spaghetti Eastern prove again that their prowess in this sublime art is exemplary.
“MFM Speaks Out” Podcast EP 17 – Sal Cataldi on Surviving and Prospering as an Improvising Musician
