Intrada announces a unique score from composer Charles Fox for the Paramount sci-fi horror film Bug. While Fox is often known for his melodic and effervescent style of scoring, this project offered an opportunity to provide a stark contrast to his usual trademark sound. The score is entirely performed on the Moog synthesizer, the only one in the composer's output. Fox was among the first composers to purchase a Moog directly from its creator. “It was so new that there was no instruction manual yet. It came with 13 oscillators for sounds, and you just had to figure it out!” he remarked. The result is a score that is unmistakably computer-like with percussive motifs that vividly convey 1970s state-of-the-art blinking buttons, whirling tapes and screen displays spinning out information. Except in this film the thinking machines working and evolving in tandem are the roaches. It’s this cutting-edge sound (at the time) that puts Bug in worthy experimental company along side Gil Mellé’s high-tech synth approach to his score for The Andromeda Strain.
The atonality of the score is profound, leading Fox to recommend to Intrada that "there should be an advisory with the score that it not be played at a dinner party." But check it out for yourself in this trailer. The album was produced by Dan Goldwasser, mastered by Doug Schwartz, and features liner notes by Daniel Schweiger.
In the film, a series of earthquakes releases a species of ancient cockroaches from deep underground. These insects have an unusual ability to ignite fires through a chemical reaction in their bodies. As the bugs multiply and begin causing deadly fires, a college entomologist, Dr. James Parmiter, studies them and discovers they may be evolving rapidly and developing a form of intelligence. His obsession with understanding and controlling the creatures ultimately leads to dangerous consequences as the situation spirals out of control.
