The Dish

The Dish tells the part Australia played in the Moon landing during the Apollo 11 flight. Well, they weren't exactly part of the mission, but had the task of relaying one of the iconic moments of the 20th Century, the moment when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the Moon. The dish in question was that used to receive and re-broadcast those images to an expectant world. The film is made by the same team who made the amusing, quirky and utterly charming The Castle and as a result of the success of that have been able to splash out a little and this time feature Sam Neill in the lead role. They were also able to afford an original score; The Castle was only given a 'proper' score, also by Choi when it was to be released in America, the original budget couldn't have afforded one.

Varese's album is mainly half songs and half score, but the choices are ones made during the early stages by the production crew and intended to be part of the film as producer Jane Kennedy remarks in her brief, but enthusiastic liner notes. A movie producer with a heart and soul, it couldn't possibly be American... They aren't the typical 60's songs you'd expect, but all have the unmistakable sound of the era. There are a few even more offbeat choices, the funky Classical Gas which you might recognise even if you don't know the name. Also there is the hugely enjoyable A Taste of Honey and the beautiful Lorsque Vous N'Aurez Rien A Faire composed by Jules Massenet and with a delicate performance by Soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Edmund Choi's score is, in fairness, somewhat derivative of Horner's Apollo 13. A natural antecedent, admittedly and Choi takes the bare bones of the score and makes it a little more intimate and gentle. Most of the tracks are very short and before you know it you've moved from the Main Title through a few gentle, uplifting orchestral passages and you're on the bouncing The World Waits. The Horner resemblance becomes quite strong in some of the later tracks with Blackout similar to the latter half of the launch cue and the final three tracks similar to Horner's solo vocal, choir and orchestra end titles. Tina Arena and the Australian Boys Choir add an extra dimension to the more lengthy The Day the World Stood Still and start bringing Choi's music to a more impressive close.

Not a ground breaking album by any means, but an enjoyable listen, unless you're particularly put off by the similarity to James Horner's score. I suppose it's almost a mirror sequel to Apollo 13, telling the space race story from a totally different perspective. The enjoyable collection of songs are an above average collection and added together with Choi's endearing music and undemanding, but charming album.