Furious Angels

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Furious Angels
Studio album by Rob Dougan
Released	1-disc: July 2002 2-disc: June 2003
Recorded	1995, 1998–2002
Genre	Trip-hop, ambient, classical
Length	CD1: 71:10 CD2: 53:43
Label	UK: BMG, Cheeky USA: Warner Bros. Records, Reprise
Producer	Rob Dougan
Professional reviews
Q magazine (8/10) 2003 meta-link Uncut (8/10) 2003 meta-link Kludge mag (7/10) 2003 link DVD Fever (7/10) 2003 link PlayLouder (negative) 2002 link
Rob Dougan chronology
(N/A) Furious Angels (2003) New album expected 2008

Furious Angels is the debut album by Rob Dougan, released in June 2002 in the United Kingdom and in July 2003 in the United States and Europe. It was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.

Contents 1 Release 1.1 "Clubbed to Death" 2 Track listing 2.1 Disc one 2.2 Disc two (instrumental versions) 3 Song usage 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Release

Furious Angels was originally released as a single-disc album (14 tracks for its world edition, 15 for its home UK edition) dominated by vocal tracks. It was then rereleased as a two-disc album, disc one featuring all 15 songs and disc two featuring 10 instrumental versions of the vocal songs from the first disc, as well as two music videos; there's also been a special-edition set adding a booklet of lyrics and photographs.^[1] The album was written, produced and mainly financed by Rob Dougan himself, rather than a studio, with funds generally raised through the licensing of tracks from the album to film and television.

This album has been described as "semi-dark, yet fresh and witty", but its appeal is far from universal, as summarised by the opening paragraph of a 2003 article in The Guardian:

“

Rob Dougan is a rather odd musician. He says he's not particularly interested in music, for a start. His most famous track, Clubbed to Death, is dance music that you could never dance to. He has written for both Matrix films, but doesn't seem to think much of what he did for those either. He spent six years working on his orchestral solo album, Furious Angels, which could either be an epic work of panoramic genius or a gargantuan monument to his ego, with strings — it's hard to tell. And he has just been asked to remix some Frank Sinatra tracks, even though he thinks remixes are a waste of time.[2]

”

It's been noted how the overall tonality of both music and lyrics is essentially dark — in a similar way to some blues or folk music. While not a concept album, it seems structured as a descent into darkness followed by an ascension towards light (a comedy in the traditional theatrical sense).

[edit] "Clubbed to Death"

Dougan frequently attempts different variations of the same track, which usually find their way onto single releases. However the "Kurayamino variation" of this "Clubbed to Death" is significantly better known than the first one due to its appearance in the film The Matrix. Therefore, this version is now known simply as "Clubbed to Death", and the first one as the "First Mix".

The subtitle "Kurayamino variation" is Japanese for "darkness's variation" (暗闇（くらやみ） kurayami means darkness, and の no is the genitive suffix). It denotes Dougan's own mix in a tragic style, as well as his stated inspirations from Japanese 'dark' writers such as Yukio Mishima or Yasunari Kawabata.^[3]

The "Abyssal Mix" version was remixed by independent mixer "Abyssal Seraphim" and is strange in that the song is first reversed before any other editing is done, giving it a quite unique sound.

The short strings intro is an excerpt from the first movement of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations. On the other hand, and contrary to a widespread rumour, the piano parts are not "samples of Elgar's Enigma Variations", and you wouldn't find them on Elgar's score: they are Dougan's own composition, played by himself; but this composition is indeed derived from the Enigma Variations (especially the visible Theme and variations 1 and 12), and could be considered either as an apocryphal 15th variation, or as Dougan's attempt at solving said enigma, which is the fabled second, hidden theme Elgar said he based his 14 variations on, but never revealed; see details in Enigma Variations's history.

"Clubbed to Death 2"'s classical part is built around Chopin's "Prelude No.4 in E-minor" (from Preludes, opus 28). The piece was played in the classic film "The Amazing Mr. X" (1948).

A mix of Clubbed to Death titled 'Peshay Mix' was present on The Big Brother soundtrack, following the first season of Big Brother in the UK. This version features only minimal string, piano and synthesizer parts and light percussion with a breakbeat section in the middle of the song.

A sample of Clubbed to Death is used in commercials for the NCAAW basketball tournament commercial

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Disc one

1. "Prelude" (0:43)
2. "Furious Angels" (5:56)
3. "Will You Follow Me?" (3:50)
4. "Left Me for Dead" (4:34)
5. "I'm Not Driving Anymore" (4:34)
6. "Clubbed to Death" (Kurayamino variation) (7:29)
7. "There's Only Me" (5:37)
8. "Instrumental" (4:28)
9. "Nothing at All" (6:32)
10. "Born Yesterday" (5:20)
11. "Speed Me towards Death" (4:33)
12. "Drinking Song" (3:59)
13. "Pause" (0:33)
14. "One and the Same (Coda)" (5:46)
15. "Clubbed to Death 2" (7:07)

[edit] Disc two (instrumental versions)

1. "Will You Follow Me? [instrumental]" (4:34)
2. "Furious Angels [instrumental]" (6:04)
3. "Left Me for Dead [instrumental]" (4:42)
4. "I'm Not Driving Anymore [instrumental]" (4:34)
5. "There's Only Me [instrumental]" (5:36)
6. "Instrumental" (4:30)
7. "Nothing at All [instrumental]" (5:54)
8. "Born Yesterday [instrumental]" (7:33)
9. "Speed Me Towards Death [instrumental]" (4:30)
10. "One and the Same (Coda) [instrumental]" (5:46)

[edit] Song usage

Many of the tracks from the album have been licensed for use in feature films, advertising, or on television.^[4] It is most memorable for its songs being in The Matrix series and on Top Gear.

Films

• "Clubbed to Death" in Clubbed to Death (Lola) (1996),
• in The Matrix (1999),
• The trailer for Beyond Borders (2003)
• The trailer for Blade Trinity (2004)
• The trailer for Ultraviolet (2006)
• The trailer for Catch A Fire (2006).
• "I'm Not Driving Anymore" in Driven (2001)
• "I'm Not Driving Anymore [instrumental version]" in The Matrix Reloaded trailer
• "Furious Angels [instrumental version]" and "Château" in The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• "One and the Same" in One Perfect Day (2004).
• "World Industries: Round 2: Rodney Mullen versus Daewon Song" (1999)
• "Kung Fu" in Spider-Man (2001)

Television

• "I'm Not Driving Anymore" as theme for the UK-aired versions of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and also during S4C's Y Clwb Rygbi
• "There's Only Me" as theme for the UK-aired version of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
• "Born Yesterday" in episode #216 of CSI
• "Will You Follow Me?" was also used for slow-motion replay footage from the Australian Rugby League State of Origin
• "Clubbed to Death" was used in an episode of Doctor Who Confidential in the UK
• "Left Me For Dead" has been used in Ski Sunday for BBC Sports in 2007
• "Clubbed to Death" (the first drum-beat section) has also been used on Match of the Day, again for BBC Sport.
• "Speed Me Towards Death (Instrumental)" in several episodes of Top Gear; once in a race between climbers (Leo Houlding and Tim Emmet) and an Audi RS4 and again in a race to Monte Carlo using an Aston Martin DB9. "Will You Follow Me?" was also used in the climbing episode and in the initial review of the Ford GT.
• Top Gear has also used "Clubbed to Death", "I'm Not Driving Anymore (Instrumental)", "Left Me For Dead", "Born Yesterday", and "Château".
• "Clubbed to Death" is frequently used by Channel Ten during their broadcast of the Australian Football League Finals Series, most prominently in 2002 and 2003.
• "Clubbed to Death" has become effectively a stock piece used on countless British TV programmes. Indeed, it is so often used that it could now be considered a cliché where it is used to introduce a powerful and/or menacing figure (As pointed out in a 2007 episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe).
• "Will You Follow Me?" was used in a promotional advert for the release of Motorola's RIZR Z8.
• Members of the BBC Points of View Messageboard ("Done to Death" Thread) have been complaining about the overuse of "Clubbed to Death" long before Charlie Brooker's comments.
• "Clubbed to Death" was used as a music bed by ITV's The X Factor in 2007.^{[citation needed]}
• "Clubbed to Death - Kurayamino Mix" was also frequently used throughout teenage sitcom Renford Rejects from 1998 to 2001.

Advertisements

• Caffrey's stout ale
• Audi ("Clubbed to Death 2" for the Audi A8)
• Mitsubishi ("Clubbed to Death" for the '98 Mitsubishi Eclipse)
• Sky Movies
• Furious Angels for Royal Mail
• Nissan Maxima
• Lincoln LS "Surprising Journey" View ad (modified version of "Clubbed to Death 2", unreleased)
• Nike ("Clubbed to Death")

Sports

• Played in the BankAtlantic Center, home of the Florida Panthers, just before every game starts
• Played in Edinburgh Academy Rugby changing rooms most saturdays before the game

Games

• Grand Prix 3 by Geoff Crammond ("Furious Angels" Instrumental version)
• F1 2000 by EA Sports ("Clubbed to Death 2")
• Assassin's Creed by Ubisoft ("Clubbed to Death") was used in the launch trailer.
• Clubbed to Death (Hybrid Remix) is used in the revolving restaurant level of Enter the Matrix.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Japanese inspirations for Furious Angels (Archive.org copy, original dead or under reconstruction)
• MP3 "Clubbed To Death (unofficial piano solo remix by Hobbes)" (1.7 MB) comprising only the piano parts.
• Piano adaptation of Elgar's Enigma Variations in MIDI file format (104 kB) Close to "Clubbed to Death" are parts 0:00–2:00 and 16:00–16:30.