October 8, 2005
Matt has reviewed The Proposition, the new Australian Western from John Hillcoat and Nick Cave. The verdict? It sounds very good. Very good indeed.
I finally picked up Bjork's score to Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9. The traits of both artists are imminently, immediately recongizable in the music, and indeed, they seem a match made in heaven. Bjork's voice is an instrument in much of the score, of course; the first track, Gratitude, performed by Will Oldham (with lyrics based on letters written by Japanese citizens to Douglas MacArthur) sounds extremely similar to the songs from Cremaster 3, except with Ms. Guomundsodottir's familiar instrumental flourishes taking the place of Jonathan Bepler's more precarious elevator harp. My favorite track is the vocal-free Hunter Vessel: an anciet and ominous sounding brass and woodwinds arrangement that is as majetic and epic as it is simple (especially if you have a good subwoofer to pipe it through). The album, on the whole, is about as accessible as Barney's films; it'll be extremely offputing to most people (and to many Bjork fans, I imagine, who may be expecting another collection of songs, a la her soundtrack to Dancer In The Dark); but to fans of either artist, it's an indespensible piece of work.
Posted by David Lowery at October 8, 2005 1:49 PM