Rob Dougan

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Australian composer Rob Dougan’s music combines rich, dramatic orchestral arrangements with gruff, bluesy vocals. His epic, breakbeat-driven instrumental “Clubbed to Death,” originally issued by Mo Wax in 1995, was popularized after it was featured in the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix, and remains a pop culture staple. He expanded on the song’s cinematic sound with his 2002 debut full-length, Furious Angels. More than a decade after the album’s release, Dougan returned to music with a trio of independently issued EPs, later compiled as the 2019 release The Opening Trilogy. He also released the instrumental collection Films: Past and Future. Active in music since the early 90s, Dougan released “Clubbed to Death,” an electronic single inspired by Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, on trip-hop label Mo Wax in 1995. One of several remixes of the song, the “Kurayamino Variation,” was memorably used in The Matrix in 1999, and included on its platinum-certified soundtrack. Another single, 1998′s “Furious Angels,” was later featured in 2003′s The Matrix Reloaded and its gold-certified soundtrack, along with original music by Dougan. He released his long-in-the-making debut album, Furious Angels, in 2002, showcasing his rugged vocals, reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits, and lavish orchestral arrangements. The album’s 2003 American issue, by Reprise Records, included a disc containing instrumental versions and music videos, and received a 2004 Grammy nomination for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Dougan stepped away from music and founded a vineyard in Southern France. He returned in 2015 with The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sessons, a self-released EP recorded at London-based Air Lyndhurst Studios with a 75-piece orchestra and 40-piece choir. Misc. Sessions, recorded at Abbey Road Studios with a chamber string section and a larger orchestra, appeared in 2016. The instrumental collection Films: Past and Future appeared near the end of 2018. The Life of the World to Come, an EP including original compositions and covers of songs written by Leslie Bricusse and Dave Mason (the Reels), was released in early 2019. Like the previous two EPs, it was accompanied by instrumental versions and films of the recording sessions. The three EPs were compiled as the double-CD The Opening Trilogy. ~ Paul Simpson