Saltwater Sounds

Ron & Val Taylor's Inner Space
(Original TV Series Soundtrack)
Sven Libaek
Aztec, 2008 (Votary Disk, 2006)
4 stars

Anchorman may have done its best to take the piss out of ‘jazz flute’, but in the early ‘70s Norwegian-born Sydney-based composer Sven Libaek was making it sound genuinely cool. Originally produced as the soundtrack to Inner Space, a 13-part TV series filmed in 1972-73 by Australia’s original shark-chasing film couple Ron and Valerie Taylor, this set of amazing, watery jazz tracks was dipped into for Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic, generating a whole new swell of interest in Libaek’s already legendary body of work. Brimming with soulful guitars, soft horns, distant keys and gentle percussion, this Votary reissue has been carefully restored from vinyl and is as crystal clear as the waters which – to this day – Ron and Val have call home. It’s an easy listen, but it has to be - when you’re trying to get up close and personal with a Great White, sans cage, you don’t exactly want to be whipping up a frenzy.

Artwork: A+
Votary haven't left a post-'70s mark on the original artwork, accompanying it with some interesting liner notes and undeniably cool file photos of Ron and Val.

Published in mX, Thursday December 4, 2008.