Robert Don Hunter Dougan () is an Australian composer, known for his genre-blending music. Mixing elements of orchestral music, trip hop, and bluesy vocals, his work is tangentially relatable to electronic music. He is 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 2002, seven years after its initial release, as well as providing several variations of the song, most notably the Kurayamino variation; he has also provided a variation of the Moby song "Porcelain". In 1995, he teamed up with Rollo Armstrong to remix the U2 song "Numb"; the remix was titled "Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix)".

Early life, family and education

Dougan was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1969 to Don and Margaret,

"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. "Furious Angels" also featured as the musical score accompanying the introduction sequence for the 2000 racing simulation game Grand Prix 3.

In 1999, his exposure increased dramatically when his "Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation)" was featured on the soundtrack of The Matrix. He contributed two more tracks to the soundtrack of 2003's The Matrix Reloaded, "Château" and "Kung Fu" (a shortened version of "Furious Angels" made for The Matrix Reloaded). Some of the orchestral material for these tracks was recorded at 20th Century Fox Newman Scoring Stage where Star Wars had been scored. "I'm Not Driving Anymore (instrumental)" was also used for the trailer of the film and as background music for the DVD menu. The song was also featured in the 2001 racing movie Driven with vocals. He credits this career breakthrough to support of American DJ Jason Bentley. 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.

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

In May 2015, Dougan released The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sessions on his official site. The EP, recorded at London's Air Lyndhurst Studios with a 84-piece orchestra and 50-voice choir, consists of five instrumental songs and a 20-minute film of the sessions. Though placed in the camp of dance and techno, in an interview with the Guardian early in his career, Dougan distanced himself from the genre, identifying more strongly with Classical music:<blockquote>"I'm associated with dance music, with electronica, which makes me feel ill. I only learnt all the boring computer crap as a means to an end. Virtually all musicians these days use computers, but if you write a book on a computer, nobody calls it electronic writing... I know it's not a fashionable attitude, but there is a musical hierarchy, and writing a song is not the same as writing a symphony. Classical music is a lot harder to do: it's richer, and it will leave you with more." in the Terrasses du Larzac region of France.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart<br />positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:85%" |AUS<br>

|-

! scope="row" |Furious Angels

|

  • Released: July 2002
  • Formats: CD, digital download, LP

| 174

|-

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of albums, with selected details

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Release details

|-

! scope="row" | Films: Past and Future - An Instrumental Anthology

|

  • Released: 9 December 2018
  • Formats: CD, digital download, LP

|-

! scope="row" | The Opening Trilogy

|

  • Released: 2019
  • Formats: CD, digital download, LP

|}

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of albums, with selected details

! scope="col" style="width:10em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Release details

|-

! scope="row" | The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sessions

|

  • Released: 9 May 2015
  • Formats: Digital download

|-

! scope="row" | Misc. Sessions

|

  • Released: 23 October 2016
  • Formats: Digital download

|-

! scope="row" | The Life of the World to Come

|

  • Released: 21 February 2019
  • Formats: Digital download

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

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

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year

! scope="col" colspan="3" | Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album

|-

!style="width:3em; font-size:90%"|AUS<br />

!style="width:3em; font-size:90%"|UK<br />

|-

!scope="row"|"Hard Times"

|rowspan="2"|1995

| —

| —

| —

|Non-album single

|-

!scope="row"|"Clubbed to Death"

| 92

| 27

| 24

|The Matrix: Music from the<br />Motion Picture and Furious Angels

|-

!scope="row"|"Furious Angels"

| 1998

| 125

| 45

| 42

|The Matrix Reloaded: The Album and Furious Angels

|-

|colspan="6" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.

|}

Miscellaneous

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of miscellaneous, with selected details

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Release details

|-

! scope="row" | Clubbed to Death 2

|

  • Released: 1999
  • Formats: 12″

|-

! scope="row" | Rehearsals (Dec 2018)

|

  • Released: 2018
  • Formats: CD-R, digital download

|}

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.<!--

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  • B "Clubbed to Death" only charted in the UK and Ireland after being re-released in 2002.

See also

  • The Matrix (franchise)
  • The Matrix
  • The Matrix Reloaded
  • The Matrix Revolutions

References

  • &nbsp;— Rob Dougan fan site
  • IGN's 2003 interview&nbsp;— All about his involvement with The Matrix franchise's soundtracks.