The Wake

Clever lyrics, engaging motifs and acoustic sound are just three elements that Jake Dilley’s The Color Pharmacy has to offer. The one-man-band incorporates as many as 101 instruments in one song, and never fewer than 20 throughout the CD, according to Anna Wiegenstein, reporter for The Daily.

Iowan. The CD is just one half of Dilley’s creation. The music was made to complement the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” to which Dilley performs live in front of three large screens that broadcast scenes from the movie. Each note specifically enhances the actions that occur in the movie, from the plucking of hair to the bursting of bubbles. The music is heavily reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” to which Dilley attributes most of his inspiration.

The Color Pharmacy is dark, moody and often predictable, since its motifs are repetitive. Nothing is original except for the whole thing itself— the music is representative of the tone of the book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” written by Roald Dahl. Dahl had a notoriously uncanny talent for bringing out the dark side of both children and adults; personality flaws that are not represented in the 1970s-era film. Dilley’s soundtrack does Dahl’s original story justice by creating a dark lullaby full of terrifying melodies partly because Dilley introduces Eastern instruments to the confines of Western music. The resulting sound provokes an almost trance-like state and remains stable throughout, almost as if it is one song.