Part of Fire Records reimagined film score series, La Planete Sauvage finds Stealing Sheep and the Radiophonic Workshop teaming up on a live rescoring of Rene Lalouxs cult classic 1973 animated sci-fi movie. Though these kinds of projects have been popular for some time -- Stealing Sheep also performed at a show reinterpreting the music of David Lynchs films in 2014 -- not all of them have the kind of impressive pedigree that this one does. Even though Stealing Sheeps 2019 album Big Wows flirted with mainstream pop, unearthly atmospheres are still a big part of their musical DNA. Dick Mills and Roger Limb were members of the original BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Bob Earland (also of the underrated synth pop group Clor) joined the reunited Radiophonic Workshop in 2013. As they provide the backdrop to Lalouxs tale of the giant blue humanoid aliens called Draags and the Oms (aka humans) on the planet Ygam, all the musicians involved in La Planete Sauvage mesh acoustic and electronic sounds together in organic and otherworldly ways. The score makes the most of the Radiophonic Workshops legacy, and their classic synth tones -- theremin-like wails, starry sparkles, and static that whooshes like a solar wind -- feel more like homage than a lack of imagination on tracks such as "Robot Attack," "The Ritual," and "The Knowledge, Pt. 1," which captures how magic and technology can seem like the same thing in its strobing synths. However, the way that Stealing Sheep incorporate rock elements into the score may be even more distinctive. Emily Lansleys guitar ranges from "The Big Tree"s woozy tremolos to the hybrid of surf and Middle Eastern tones on "Council of Draags, Pt. 1." Theres a prog rock heft to the score on tracks like "The Chase" that harks back to the films early-70s origins, and Limbs narration during key moments like "Theft/Zarek" recall the storytelling albums that also had their heyday during that era. To create the native music of an alien people, La Planete Sauvage trades the psychedelic jazz-funk of Alain Goraguers original score for retrofuturistic and timeless sounds that are just as mesmerizing. Chiming tones that echo gamelan meld with galactic synths on "The Knowledge, Pt. II" and take on a jungly wildness on "Council of Draags, Pt. II." The live performance reinforces just how sauvage this planet is, giving the energy of a rock concert to "The Purge"s hurtling drums and inescapable synth melody and adding extra ferocity to climactic cues like "The Duel" and "The Bird." Its to Stealing Sheeps credit that they almost vanish into the score, only lending their vocals to highlights such as "The Free Oms" and the elegantly spooky "End Titles." With the help of the Radiophonic Workshop, they take listeners on a heady trip on La Planete Sauvage, and its a project that burnishes the legacy of everyone involved. ~ Heather Phares

Rovi