The Flashcards: Jay Gambit and Tanya Byrne - The Last Hillbilly: Original Motion Picture Score (2022)

60+/100

Genre: dark ambient/experimental, soundtrack

Even though I rarely watch movies anymore because nowadays I only end up focusing on the music, I do have my own specific preferences when it comes to cinema. One indicator I rely on is whether a film has received official accolades or awards. So, it's not just about viral factors or box-office hype, let alone ratings guaranteeing quality. A prime example here is the documentary film, The Last Hillbilly (2020).

The film captures life in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky, where members of a free, self-reliant, and seemingly rustic rural white American community have weathered the coal crisis alongside the economic and industrial decline of their region. They are the "Hillbillies." Brian Ritchie is one of them, and he befriended French directors Diane Sara Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe after a chance meeting at a roadside diner back in 2013. The two directors dedicated their first feature-length documentary to him—an inspiring, beautifully filmed piece that reveals the unexpected charm and poetic beauty of its main subject.

What a damn long introduction!

With the film clocking in at 80 minutes, the soundtrack is split into nine tracks, featuring two pieces that stretch past the ten-minute mark: "Theme for Piano" and "Requiem (Dark)". The sensations I gathered were almost faint. Nothing feels truly gripping, noisy, dark, or freezing cold. Well, it stands at a decent enough level, considering this is a documentary and not a horror flick. The use of slightly high, sharp, or characterful tones can be found in the second half of "Theme for Piano", alongside the repetitive pulses on "Death of the Mountains", "The Great Storm", then "Breathless" and "Theme for Guitar". The rest mostly consists of low-pitched noise, drone, and dark ambient textures.

Overall, it still succeeds in creating an atmosphere of isolation, crisis, and the sheer chill of that region.

Link: Bandcamp

Tracklist:

1. Theme for Piano

2. Death of the Mountains

3. On the Tracks

4. The Great Storm

5. Burning High (Fog Mix)

6. Requiem (Dark)

7. Breathless

8. Theme for Guitar

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