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CD Reviews: The Cooler and Fog of War
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| Posted By: Ian D. Thomas, Andrew Granade on February 29, 2004 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: The Cooler and Fog of War
The Cooler ** 1/2
MARK ISHAM/VARIOUS
Commotion/Koch KOC CD 5707
14 tracks - 50:01
The good news is that Mark Isham has a new score out -- the bad news is
it only makes up half of this CD release. While it's hard to completely
dismiss The Cooler, the half
that Isham isn't responsible for has some major disasters.
The Cooler is set in Las
Vegas at an old-school casino called the Shangri-La, and most of the
album reflects that setting. Jazz-influenced instrumentals from Isham
set the mood, but lousy covers of pop standards try their best to
destroy it.
Isham's "Better Life Motel/Tables on Fire" starts with a mellow sax and
trumpet duet that evokes a kind of Chinatown
vibe. That cool moodiness unfortunately vanishes two-thirds
through the track as an up-tempo drum beat kicks in and reminds us that
old Las Vegas is gone and that phony glitz rules the strip today.
Also from Isham is "Look in my Eyes," a wonderful track that features
piano floating beautifully above a mellow synth and string backing.
It's a well written tune and works just as well outside of the film. It
wouldn't surprise me to hear this one on one of those "Smooth Jazz"
radio stations.
It's actually hard to find any fault with Isham's portion of the CD,
but then it's all too easy when it comes to the other tracks. How about
actor Paul Sorvino singing "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me"? It
has its place in the film (in which he plays an aging lounge singer
with a heroin habit), but do you really want to hear his warbling
vibrato more than once, if at all? Sorry, Mr. Sorvino, but keep it in
the karaoke lounge.
N'Sync's Joey Fatone drops a bomb with a horrible cover of "Can I Steal
a Little Love?" When you've heard real singers like Dean Martin or
Sinatra croon this standard, it's really hard to take Fatone's cheesy
mouseketeer version. It's about as rockin' as Britney Spears singing
"Hound Dog."
Of the covers, the only one I actually enjoyed was Nick D'Egidilo's
version of "Almost Like Being in Love." It's got a great band
arrangement and his singing style is so wonderfully smarmy that you'll
probably think back to Bill Murray's lounge singer act from Saturday Night Live. The trumpet
solo is nicely played, but the track is marred from some audible
distortion on peaks.
It could be argued that it's impossible to create an old Vegas mood
without relying on the old standards of the day, but that just isn't
true. Daniel Licht's score to The
Winner evokes all the images of old Las Vegas without a single
cover tune in sight.
Unfortunately, the bad tracks are evenly distributed throughout the
disc, which means you'll have to remember how to program your CD
player. And once you drop the misses, you're only left with about 30
minutes of listenable music. So, if you looking for the sound of old
Las Vegas, you're better off tracking down a copy of The Winner -- it's a sure
bet! -- Ian D. Thomas
The Fog of War *** 1/2
PHILIP GLASS
Orange Mountain Music 0010
34 tracks - 73:22
Philip Glass is on a roll these days. It used to be that any new Glass
score aroused great fan interest, as he composed so few. In the past
two years, however, he seems to be trying to match his prodigious
concert output with film scores. This may turn out to be too much of a
good thing.
The Fog of War finds Glass
reunited with documentarian Errol Morris for the first time since 1991's A Brief History of Time. In the
liner notes Morris notes that Glass "creates a feeling of existential
dread better than anyone else I know of." Former Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara's life certainly demands such a feeling as the man was
responsible for policies that resulted in the firebombing of Tokyo and
67 other cities, the Vietnam War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is
a documentary about the horrors of war, the ethics of power, and the
right and rule of government. Glass' trademark sound usually generates
the oppressive weight this film deserves, but here he has allowed
harmony to undercut minimalism's linear propulsion. The result works,
but lacks some needed tension.
The main theme, presented in "100,000 People," and as a piano solo in
the best cue, "The Fog of War," shows this shift in focus. Halfway
through the melodic line, the harmonies unexpectedly move up, in
something akin to a deceptive cadence. It sounds suspiciously like a
modulation, a tenet of Western music Glass normally rejects. There is
also the strange matter of quotation. In "Target Destruction," the
opening of Mozart's 25th Symphony in G minor appears in the original
instrumentation but with slightly altered pitches. It is endlessly
repeated, of course, but the last time transformed into major. It is an
interesting moment of postmodern pastiche from Glass, a composer who
seems to have finally divorced himself from most of the trappings of
minimalism (but certainly not the most important -- its repetition).
Part of the reason for this must be the unique demands of film scoring.
Minimalist works need significant time to develop in order to achieve
their full impact; film scores often require shorter cues to fit
specific moments. Glass has compromised, placing war movie tropes such
as snare drum rolls over pulsing strings in intricate textures.
There are many aspects to commend The
Fog of War. "The War to End All Wars" has beautiful, delicate
scoring and nimbly shifting meters. "The Light That Failed" is full of
competing cross rhythms that work well against the steady snare drums.
And the recording itself is well produced with a clarity and richness
to the sound. In deciding whether or not to add it to your collection,
I would return to Morris' liner notes: "the apocalypse is not so much
the end of the world but just more of what we've seen before, more of
the same." The Fog of War is
not groundbreaking like Glass'
Koyaanisqatsi, nor is it something new and passionate like Kundun. A solid work, it basically
comes down to more of the same from Philip Glass.
-- Andrew Granade
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
December 6 |
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| Dave Brubeck born (1920) |
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| Hans Zimmer begins recording his score for Broken Arrow (1995) |
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| Lalo Schifrin begins recording the original soundtrack LP to Bullitt (1968) |
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| Lyn Murray born (1909) |
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| Maury Laws born (1923) |
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| Morgan Lewis died (1968) |
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| Mort Glickman born (1898) |
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| Patrick Williams records his score for The Streets of San Francisco episode “Bitter Wine” (1972) |
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| Piero Piccioni born (1921) |
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| Recording sessions begin for Sol Kaplan’s score for Destination Gobi (1952) |
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| Richard Markowitz died (1994) |
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| Roberto Pregadio born (1928) |
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| Willie Hutch born (1944) |
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