Rob Dougan

Rob Dougan
Furious Angels album cover
Background information
Born	1969 Sydney, Australia
Genres	Trip hop Classical Ambient
Labels	Sony, BMG, Reprise, Warner Bros.

Rob Dougan, also known as Rob D (born 1969 Sydney, Australia), is a genre-blending music composer. Mixing elements of orchestral music, trip hop, and bluesy vocals, his work is tangentially relatable to electronic music. He was known primarily for his breakthrough 1995 single "Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation)", further popularised by 1999's The Matrix soundtrack. "Clubbed to Death" was re-released on his debut album Furious Angels in 2001, seven years after its initial release.

History

In 1990, Rob Dougan's friend Rollo brought him from Australia to London. From 1991 to 1995, "Rob D" was a Producer and remix artist. In 1994 his remixes started charting in the UK. He also released his first single, "Hard Times".

In 1995, his hit single Clubbed to Death gave him a recognised name in the UK dance club scene. He produced half a dozen remixes of it, including the "Kurayamino Variation". His label Mo'Wax Records was pleased and commissioned the follow-up, "Clubbed to Death 2" (later the bonus track on the album). CTD2 was never released as a single, but appeared on the James Lavelle disc of the 1996 DJ mix compilation album, Cream Live 2.

"Furious Angels" was not released on Mo'Wax but Dougan eventually released it as a single in 1998 on Rollo's label Cheeky Records. Dougan worked for the following six years, doing remixes and licensing his tracks, in order to self-produce the album which was backed by a full orchestra and a full choir.

In 1999, his exposure increased dramatically when his "Clubbed To Death (Kurayamino Variation)" was featured on the soundtrack of The Matrix. He has also provided remixes of songs by U2, Moby and Kylie Minogue, and contributed two more tracks to the soundtrack of 2003's Matrix sequel The Matrix Reloaded, Château and Kung Fu (A shortened version of "Furious Angels" made for "The Matrix Reloaded"). Also on The Matrix Reloaded DVD the background movie has the I'm Not Driving Anymore Instrumental soundtrack.

In 2002 in the UK, and 2003 in the rest of the world, Dougan released his debut album Furious Angels to critical acclaim and some surprise from the new tone of his work, as well as from his own Leonard Cohen-esque gravel-voiced vocals.^{[citation needed]} Later in 2003, a two-disc re-release of Furious Angels featured all-instrumental versions on the second disc.

In 2006, Dougan was reportedly writing "a couple of songs" for Sugababes (for whom he produced the single "Too Lost in You"), and working on two albums of his own — one original, one classical.

As of April 2008, Dougan is mentioned in a wine blog as an owner of a wine vineyard La Peira en Damaisela, leaving questions about the supposed two albums he had been working on.

A short film made for jewellery designer Solange Azagury-Patridge, "The Letter", directed by Laurence Dunmore and starring Thandie Newton and Jason Isaacs features new music by Rob Dougan; the short film, however, does not mention the title of the song.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected details

Title	Album details
Furious Angels	Released: July 2002 Label: Cheeky Records, BMG Formats: CD, digital download, LP

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		IRE	UK
"Hard Times"	1995	—	—	Non-album single
"Clubbed to Death"		27	24	The Matrix: Music from the Motion Picture and Furious Angels
"Furious Angels"	1998	—	42	Furious Angels
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.

Notes

• A ^ Furious Angels was not released in the United States until May 2003, where it was released on the record labels Warner Bros. Records and Reprise Records.
• B ^ "Clubbed to Death" only charted in the UK and Ireland after being re-released in 2002.

Selected songs showcasing style

"Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino variation)" 

The classic featuring big beats and orchestral themes. Used in The Matrix "Woman in the Red Dress" scene. The strings at the beginning of the "Kurayamino Variation" mix are adapted from Enigma Variations, a popular piece by British composer Edward Elgar. The opening string figure of the Jupiter movement from Gustav Holst's The Planets is also sampled throughout this song. Both these examples demonstrate a strong 20th century classical influence.

"I'm Not Driving Anymore" 

Instrumental and vocal versions. From Furious Angels album. This song originally appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Driven in 2001. The instrumental version was used as the theme for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order in the UK until season 12. It was also used in the trailers and DVD menu of The Matrix Reloaded, and the opening video montage of the New York Knicks for the 2006-2007 NBA season.

"Furious Angels" 

Features big beats, strings and other orchestral overtones. From The Matrix Reloaded initial fight scene between Neo against several agents, to buy time for the other Zion captains and crew (such as Morpheus and Niobe) to escape. The instrumental version of 'Furious Angels' also appears in the opening FMV sequence of Grand Prix 3. It was also used in a commercial for the Post Office Service in the United Kingdom. A remixed version is used as the theme for Law & Order in the UK from season 13 onwards.

"Château" 

Features beats, strings and brass. From The Matrix Reloaded fight scene of Neo against the Merovingian's henchmen. Also used as an unofficial song to introduce the highlights of the 2008 Summer Olympics in the UK. Fast pace, atmospheric, modern instrumental.

"Born Yesterday" 

Also from Furious Angels. Vocal version offers plaintive, powerful lyrics.

"Left Me for Dead" 

Again, from Furious Angels. Vocal version poses some angry lyrics alongside strings and deep bass beats.

"Clubbed to Death 2" 

Furious Angels exclusive track. A more driving version than the 1 counterpart. It uses samples from Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in E Minor.

"Will You Follow Me" and Instrumental 

From Furious Angels. Virtually all orchestral elements creating some romantic modern orchestra music. Used in the new Motorola Z8 advert. UK's ITV used it in a video with highlights of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship.

"There's Only Me" 

Instrumental and vocal versions. From "Furious Angels". Used as the theme for Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the UK.

See also

• Matrix trilogy: The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions

External links

• IGN's 2003 interview - All about his involvement with the Matrix series' soundtracks.
• Rob Dougan at the Internet Movie Database