Kerry Muzzey's score for Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry is released through Lakeshore Records. In 1965, Wendell Berry bought a small farm house in Henry County and began a life of farming, writing and teaching. A half century later Henry County, like many rural communities across America, has become a place of quiet ideological struggle. In the span of a generation, the agrarian virtues of simplicity, land stewardship, sustainable farming, local economies and rootedness to place have been replaced by a capital-intensive model of industrial agriculture characterized by machine labour, chemical fertilizers, soil erosion and debt - all of which have frayed the fabric of rural communities. Writing from a long wooden desk beneath a forty-paned window, Berry has watched this struggle unfold, becoming one of its most passionate and eloquent voices in defence of agrarian life...

Kerry Muzzey delivers a sweet, moving score for Look & See. He perfectly captures the essence of country life amongst the encroaching mass adoption of industrial agriculture. The score contains 18 tracks (1 hr, 12 min, 39 sec).

This is a score that grows as the album progresses, with the penultimate track, 'Light at the End of the Tunnel', being the main highlight for me. The final track, 'When I Am Old and Gray (Cinematic Joy Mix)' is also of note.

This is a mellow, relaxing album that will wash over you and put a smile on your face.

8

Darren Rea