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| CD Reviews: Milan Silver Screen Series |
| Posted By: Ian D. Thomas on April 5, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: Milan Silver Screen Series
By Ian D. Thomas
Baraka ****
MICHAEL STEARNS, VARIOUS
Milan M2-36109
12 tracks - 53:54
Naked Lunch ****
HOWARD SHORE & ORNETTE COLEMAN
Milan M2-36110
18 tracks - 48:35
Both Baraka and Naked Lunch are part of Milan's new
Silver Screen Series, launched to celebrate 25 years of soundtrack
releases for the label. After taking exception with their recent
remastering of Elmer Bernstein's tribute to Bernard Herrmann (Bernard Herrmann Film Scores: From Citizen
Kane to Taxi Driver), I'm pleased to see Milan get things right
with these two new reissues.
Baraka is director Ron
Fricke's follow-up to his cinematic tone poem Chronos and follows the same form,
with glorious, striking visuals shot on 70mm in locations around the
globe. Like its predecessor, Baraka
features no dialog and has only the soundtrack to help guide the viewer
along a journey which explores Man's place on Earth. Composer Michael
Stearns (who also wrote the score to Chronos),
fuses recordings of indigenous music with his own synth-based
compositions. While it might seem tempting to lump this score with all
the "world music" CDs out there and dismiss it, doing so would prove
foolish.
What sets this soundtrack apart from world music albums is the quality
and variety of the music. It also helps that all the musicians featured
sound genuine in their performances -- this ain't a bunch of hippie
dudes in a drum circle, this is the real deal! Stearns does add his
analog synths to many of the tracks, along with sound location
recordings of people and nature, but it is done so tastefully that it
doesn't distract from the overall presentation.
The remastering has brought out a lot more detail in the recordings,
along with a more robust bottom end. Sure, it's louder than the
original CD, but the dynamics seem to have been unaltered. A single
bonus track restores the opening cut from the film, which had been left
off of the original pressing. Varied and dynamic music with great
recording quality -- what's not to like?
It seems an unlikely teaming, but Ornette Coleman and Howard Shore both
contribute to David Cronenberg's adaptation of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Whether you'll like it
or not really depends on your feelings toward Ornette Coleman: jazz
master or abrasive noise maker? Obviously, you'll have to be able to
dig Coleman's adventurous style (which he refers to as "harmolodic" in
the liner notes); if not, the soundtrack may become a little grating.
Shore lays the groundwork with dark orchestrations for a smaller
ensemble which Coleman often wails on top of. A few tracks also present
Ornette's original compositions and are the wilder cuts on the CD.
Again, the remastering puts a high quality sheen on the original source
material, and easily bests the original issue of the album with more
detail and a sweeter top end.
Both albums are recommended, as long as you know what you're getting
into. Baraka takes you on a musical trip around the world without
leaving your easy chair, while Naked
Lunch will either thrill you or make you run screaming from the
room. Other releases in Milan's new series include A River Runs Through It and Backdraft.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
January 17 |
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| Charles Bernstein begins recording his score for Love at First Bite (1979) |
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| Harry Robinson died (1996) |
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| John Williams begins recording his score to Return of the Jedi (1983) |
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| Rolf Wilhelm died (2013) |
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| Ryuichi Sakamoto born (1952) |
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