Sean Lennon
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead OST
(Chimera, 2009)

Perhaps more than any other peripheral characters from the world of Shakespeare, Hamlet courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have the dubious honor of starring in the most Shakespeare parodies. W.S. Gilbert (the librettist half of Gilbert and Sullivan) took a shot at them with the late-19th century play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: A Tragic Episode, in Three Tabloids, and in 1966, Tom Stoppard debuted his absurdist take on the characters with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Now, with all America enraptured by vampires, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead demands a soundtrack that is both macabre and playful to underscore their exploits.

Sean Lennon delivers with songs that are eerie and childlike, befitting wakes as well as naptime. This distinction is clear from the beginning of the record, when Lennon layers sheets of devilish piano tritones before resolving into major chords and finally picking up steam with tuba oomph and pizzicato strings. The title theme evokes the scores that Danny Elfman has contributed to Tim Burton films; fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas will be especially pleased.

Lennon doesn’t settle for any single style, however. “Elsinore Revisited” is a creepy music-box number. “Bobby’s Bedroom” is a sweet 6/8 ballad, alternating between happy arpeggios and a beautifully brooding B section. “‘S Blood” and “The Interview” are sustained soundscapes that evoke Brian Eno’s ambient sphere.

“Elsinore Reprise” and “Finale” have some soaring rock moments. The latter concludes with pulsing brass and bass, and a blast of cacophony is truly reminiscent of the mid-period Beatles tracks “Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much.” (I’d make the same comparison regardless of the artist’s last name.)

The record was composed on Lennon’s bedroom computer, and while this indicates that there’s a large amount of MIDI synth in use, the overall sound is surprisingly organic. “Fortenbras” comes close to a too-synthetic sound, but the rhythm is pinned down by a watery scratch on guitar strings that balances everything out. Only “Charlotte’s Theme”, with its militant video game bombast, slips too far into the MIDI hole.

The record is primarily instrumental, save for a few “ahhs”; but there’s nothing wrong with a little free association rap from the man that invented and destroyed the sub-genre: Kool Keith. Keith swings by on “Desire”, and, as he is a masterful actor in his own right, he reprises his intergalactic pimp persona: “We protrude the ozone layer / I’m a ozone player, club night / I’m a broad chaser with a silver blazer.”

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead, the movie, has been circulating around film festivals and garnering positive reviews for its dark comedy, but as of yet, it doesn’t seem to have a full-fledged distribution deal. So you’ll have to get the album and use your imagination, watch the actors and vampires chew and suck the life out of each other on the insides of your eyelids. The soundtrack is direction enough.

Listen: Various Tracks [at chimeramusic.com]