Buy it... only if you enjoyed the mostly somber and conservative piano and acoustic guitar music having heard it in the film itself.

Avoid it... if you have no interest in harmonic, but stagnant ambient music that doesn't necessarily fit the film it was meant for.

Bee Season: (Peter Nashel) The greatest irony about the film adaptation of Bee Season is that most of the people who watch the trailers for the film and are unfamiliar with Myla Goldberg's 2000 best-selling novel on which it is based will have no idea what they're getting into when they watch it. Seemingly a story about how a family copes with its internal demons while its daughter becomes a spelling bee champion, Bee Season only uses these concrete story elements to tell a larger tale about religion. The film involves the Jewish concept of the Chosen People, capable of reaching the ear of God through letters via the ancient mystical practices of Kabbalah. Subplots in the film involve acts that are done in the name of Tikkun Olam (a Hebrew phrase that means "to repair the world") and spiritual journeys at a Hare Krishna temple. It is a dreary tale of self-exploration, almost in a documentary style, and even its scenes at the spelling bees, with hundreds of young hopefuls in attendance, are portrayed with a dull lack of enthusiasm compared to some outstanding documentaries depicting those events on film in recent years. Poor critical response to Bee Season not only indicates that Goldberg's novel is simply not built for film adaptation, but that the two parents at the center of the story were badly miscast. On the whole, a promising film has slipped into obscurity through its own plethora of faults, and it could be argued that Peter Nashel's score is one of them. Nashel has only been composing for a few short years, mostly involving documentaries and television works, and debuted in full while working on The Deep End in 2001 with the same directors of Bee Season. One would have to be immediately intrigued by the opportunity to write music for mystical journeys, and to hear a character drama that draws from the rich historical sounds of Jewish faith. Interestingly, Nashel seems to score the basic drama and sadly miss the mysticism.

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Part of the criticism about Bee Season as a film has involved the lack of charisma or motivation in the performances and technical aspects of the production. For a spiritual journey, the film lacks any spirit, and to some degree, Nashel's score is guilty of compounding that problem. Built upon a base of acoustic guitar and small string ensemble, the score is complimented by a sensitive piano, tingling percussion, electric bass, and various sound design elements. Occasional ethnic usages, such as the wood flute in "I Start Out Hearing It in My Head" infuse some momentary life into the score. Opening well, the score features a few cues of hopeful rhythmic activity with the string section, light drums, harp, and bass, highlighted by the "Spelling Suite" that acts as not only the most lively cue on album, but the highlight as well. Perhaps out of necessity, the remainder of the score is typically devoid of such spunk, relying upon the heavily ambient droning of an electronic wash with alternating instrumental solo uses overhead. Fortunately, Nashel maintains harmony for much of this time, so while the score won't get your pulse moving at a substantial pace, it is a piece that will easily lull you to sleep. Of particular standout interest are cues such as "Abulafia's Path" and "Origami," which feature a strong violin rhythm, and "Orange Street," which beats with rapid and heavy percussion worthy of any good jungle hunt. The lack of a clearly developed theme for any of the character is a fault that needs mentioned; a series of chord progressions that forms a theme does exist, but the often slow pace of the score inhibits their statements. Thus, you have a score for a mystical character drama that has minimal thematic development for the characters and minimal expression of religious exploration in its instrumentation. Overall, Bee Season is a pleasant score that will play well enough on album, but seems like an odd fit given the nature of the story. A much-hyped song performed by the New York group Ivy opens the album with a somber tone. One significant complaint about the album must be made: absolutely nowhere on the package does the product indicate that the music was written by someone named Peter Nashel. That must be a first for a score album... **   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download