release date: Oct. 30, 2006
format: digital (11 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Tony Doogan
label: [PIAS] Recordings / Rock Action - nationality: Scotland, UK
Track highlights: 10. "Black Spider 2"
A soundtrack by Scottish post rock band Mogwai - the band's first commisioned work for a film with the subtitle "An Original Soundtrack by Mogwai" to Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno's documentary "Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" from 2006.
The album consists of 10-12 compositions depending on perspective as the album enlists 10 tracks; however, after a more than 3 minute silent part, the album continues with 1 or 2 unlisted [hidden] tracks - perhaps just one with a break into a second part; or they're both extentions to the final listed track "Black Spider 2". Anyway, tracks #1 through #10 are all held between 2:30 and 6:50 minutes, which in the case of Mogwai is a rather narrow time span, whereas the first unlisted track runs for 17:46 minutes (or with the final bit for more than 23 minutes) making the total running time of the album no less than almost 71 minutes long.
Stylewise, the album is the band's so far most quiet release - one could tend to call it an ambient work with dominating piano and dreamy and ambient guitar noise. As is with all soundtrack albums, it's a natural biased work as you only have the music, the sound that is supposed to enlarge the experience of watching the actual film, but since the album has been released as a stand-alone work-of-art, it should somehow be able to work on its own premisses.
Imho, this is not where you would wish to start listening to this band, and frankly, I think of it as one their least impressive works.
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