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Cover Art Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra
Futuremusik
[Scamp]
Rating: 7.0

In the moment just prior to my actually listening to Futuremusik, I had mentally prepared myself to endure that insidious trend, space-age bachelor pad music. You know, the lounge/ jazz hybrid to accompany your martini and cigar in a darkly lit room, as you sit next to a girlie who feigns interest in every single thing you say. I was wrong. There's nothing typical or trendy about Peter Thomas. This impressive composer/ arranger/ musician creates a sound which is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s when Thomas first entered the scene.

The pieces on Futuremuzik reflect the work Thomas did for the German version of "Star Trek" among other television show and movie soundtracks. Each piece was meant to accompany a certain scene-- a few are even punctuated with the scream of a damsel in distress or a gunshot. It all adds to the wonder or mystique of each track.

The compilation makes for an interesting listening, mainly because Thomas only used the finest available instrumentalists in the recording process. If you close your eyes and listen to this record, it feels like an entire sci-fi drama has unfolded and teleported you to a land of phaser and uber- intelligent Vulcans. This is truly quality adventure music, for today and for the future.

-Aparna Mohan

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RATING KEY
10.0: Indispensable, classic
9.5-9.9: Spectacular
9.0-9.4: Amazing
8.5-8.9: Exceptional; will likely rank among writer's top ten albums of the year
8.0-8.4: Very good
7.5-7.9: Above average; enjoyable
7.0-7.4: Not brilliant, but nice enough
6.0-6.9: Has its moments, but isn't strong
5.0-5.9: Mediocre; not good, but not awful
4.0-4.9: Just below average; bad outweighs good by just a little bit
3.0-3.9: Definitely below average, but a few redeeming qualities
2.0-2.9: Heard worse, but still pretty bad
1.0-1.9: Awful; not a single pleasant track
0.0-0.9: Breaks new ground for terrible
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