Blanck Mass "The Rig (Prime Video Original Series Soundtrack)" (2023)

The Rig (Prime Video Original Series Soundtrack) (soundtrack)

release date: Jan. 6, 2023

format: digital (33 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Blanck Mass

label: Invada Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Rig (Main Titles)" - 5. "Flesh Meets Floor" - 8. "Helideck" - 10. "Body, Rejecting" - 14. "Spiderdeck" - 17. "No Fire Without Flare" - 19. "Survivors, Arriving"

Soundtrack album by Blanck Mass (aka Benjamin John Power) following the release of several interesting releases, including his new-found role as official member of Editors and his first album with the band being EBM (Sep. 2022), and his own most recent soundtrack to Sam Collins' documentary about British football legend Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne released as Gazza (Original Score) (Nov. 2022), which again followed the acclaimed soundtrack Ted K (Original Score) (Mar. 2022), Blanck Mass' musical score to a 2021 Tony Stone historical drama about the so-called 'Unabomber' (the music to the film being released a year later). The most recent studio album credited Blanck Mass is In Ferneaux (Feb. 2021).

"The Rig" is a science fiction thriller television series in 6 episodes created by David Macpherson for Amazon Prime Video directed by John Strickland, and it's the first Amazon Original to be filmed entirely in Scotland. The soundtrack to the series has been issued as a digital album rwith a total running time at more than 72 minutes by Invada Records on its bandcamp profile and as a double vinyl issue.

Normally, soundtracks are a difficult genre - sometimes the animated visuals are a highly missing part, at other times the result is just too varied, and rarely, I think, they work perfectly in their own right, and in this case, it luckily happens to be one of the rare examples. Blanck Mass has made a strong soundtrack that truly makes you want to watch the series - if not only just to experience an audio-visual dimension of this work. Nonetheless, The Rig... is a fine soundtrack.

Blanck Mass "Ted K (Original Score)" (OST) (2022)

Ted K (Original Score) (soundtrack)

release date: Mar. 18, 2022

format: digital (19 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Blanck Mass

label: Sacred Bones Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Montana (Main Theme)" - 5. "Revenge" - 7. "Greyhound"

Soundtrack album by Blanck Mass following the release of the live album Mind Killer (May 2021, transmissioned Apr. 2020 during the COVID19-lockdown) and the studio album In Ferneaux (Feb. 2021). The album (issued via the label's bandcamp profile) shares title with the Tony Scott film about the actual Unabomber (sic) Ted Kaczynski, and it's the second full-length soundtrack album credited Blanck Mass, who first scored Nick Rowland’s acclaimed Calm With Horses (OST) from 2020.

The soundtrack here is yet another fascinating work by Benjamin John Power, who simply seems to continously expand musical barriers whenever he produces a new album - be it as solo artist, as new central member of alt. rock act Editors, or when setting the tone for a full-length feature film. The album doesn't provide us with a long list of single hits, but works as a whole. Blanck Mass displays a nice balance of various intense sensations between good and evil - there's always an underlying current of something intruiging, something luring, and various amounts of... desperation.

Ted K (Original Score) works nicely on its own terms and only makes you interested in seing Tony Scott's film.

Recommended.

Sigur Rós "Odin's Raven Magic" (2020)

Odin's Raven Magic (soundtrack)

release date: Dec. 4, 2020

format: digital (8 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Sigur Rós [?]

label: Krúnk - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 2. "Alföður orkar" - 3. "Dvergmál" - 4. "Stendur æva" - 5. "Áss hinn hvíti" - 7. "Spár eða spakmál" - 8. "Dagrenning"

Soundtrack album, or so it has been described by the band on its bandcamp site. The music here is actually "an orchestral collaboration between Sigur Rós, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Steindór Andersen and Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir which premiered 18 years ago at the Barbican Centre in London [...]" [written in 2020] - it premiered at the Barbican Centre in London, Apr. 21, 2002, which means the band had not yet released its third studio album as the collaboration falls between the second, Ágætus byrjun (Jun. 1999) and [ ] ('the brackets album') (Oct. 2002).

In hindsight, 'cause I didn't know about it until it was released in 2020, it's remarkable album. Near majestic. I understand the term soundtrack, although it's 'only' the music to an ancient Icelandic poem without a visual side to it. It's orchestrated, but nevertheless it also feels like a post-rock, or experimental transgressing piece of art. It's neo-classical and experimental rock - but it works unlike many other such attempts of a fusion between classical music and music from the pop culture.

Odin's Raven Magic is simply a truly wonderful album.

All tracks are credited Jón Þór Birgisson, Georg Hólm, Orri Páll Dýrason, Kjartan Sveinsson, Steindór Andersen, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir.

Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard "Gladiator" (OST) (2000)

Gladiator (soundtrack)

release date: Apr. 25, 2000

format: digital (35 x File, FLAC) (20th Anniversary Edition, 2020 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]

producer: Klaus Badelt, Hans Zimmer, Ridley Scott

label: Universal Music Classics - nationality: Germany / Australia

Track highlights: 3. "The Battle" - 5. "Sorrow" - 6. "To Zuccabar" - 9. "The Might of Rome" - 15. "Elysium" - 17. "Now We Are Free" - *19. "Now We Are Free (Juba's Mix)" - *25. "Rome Is the Light" - *35. "Now We Are Free (Maximus Mix)"

*2020 Anniversary Edition

Soundtrack to a Ridley Scott directed epic drama starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Richard Harris, and Oliver Reed (who passed away 1 year before the film premiered). The soundtrack is like the film an acclaimed work in its own rights, and all music here is credited Zimmer & Gerrard in collaboration and with Gavin Greenaway conducting [The London] Lyndhurst Orchestra.

The original soundtrack runs for just over one hour and counts the first 17 tracks - the remaining 18 tracks have been added to the 20th Anniversary Edition; however already in 2001 the soundtrack was released in this version as a 2-disc CD edition for the European market doubling its running time.

The music is held in a classic (heavily) orchestrated frame. The music is pompous but quite fitting to the likewise dramatic imagery side of the film. At times I notice a strong influence from Morricone and some inspiration from Richard Wagner but then aren't all great composers inspired by others? What really works on a higher level here, is that themes and styles go hand in hand with the images and the story, and yet as a standalone piece of work, this soundtrack still works quite nicely; although, I prefer the more progressive compositions and especially those featuring Gerrard's enigmatic vocal performances.

Gladiator (OST) is one of those rare soundtracks where everything is in sublime synergy. I may prefer more experimental and subtle soundtracks but this is one to cherish.

[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ Hans Zimmer on the making of the soundtrack ]

Mogwai "Atomic" (OST) (2016)

Atomic (soundtrack)

release date: Apr. 1, 2016

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,27]

producer: Tony Doogan

label: Rock Action Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Ether" - 2. "SCRAM" - 4. "U-235" - 8. "Are You a Dancer?"

Original soundtrack by Mogwai to the documentary "Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise" (Aug. 2015), a film about nuclear history by Mark Cousins. The album sees Mogwai exploring a style with strong bonds to 1970s krautrock and electronic music by Kraftwerk and Godspeed You! Black Emperor (e.g. "Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!" from 2000), and by doing so, the album doesn't follow the path of the bands most recent releases.

The album is the band's first in a new line-up (the first in 16 years) after founding member John Cummings left the quintet in 2015 to pursue a solo career, so here the band has been reduced to a quartet of Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Martin Bulloch and Barry Burns. It's 48 minutes of primarily progressive ambient music with a commemorating touch of the aforementioned German styles blended with ambient post-rock.

Atomic is not really great but nor is it of irrelevance. It's thematically narrow and stringent music, which possibly serves its purpose, but as a standalone release it lacks diversity as well as polarity; however, imho, it outshines most of their previous soundtrack albums.

Later this year (Oct. 2016) Mogwai also contributed with four compositions for the soundtrack to the documentary "Before the Flood" by Fisher Stevens.

[ bandcamp ]

[ 👉Pitchfork 7,1 / 10, 👍Drowned in Sound 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd "White Bird in a Blizzard" (OST) (2014)

White Bird in a Blizzard (soundtrack)

release date: Sep. 23, 2014

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Robin Guthrie

label: Lakeshore Records - nationality: Scotland, UK / USA

Track highlights: 1. "Visions of Eve" - 2. "Brock's Theme" - 4. "Curious" - 5. "Forever Changed" - 11. "I'm Here, Kat, I'm Here" - 12. "White Bird"

[ full album ] [ film trailer ]

Soundtrack by Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd for the film of the same name directed by Gregg Araki, who also directed the 2005 film "Mysterious Skin" for which Guthrie and Budd also provided the musical score, which was their first actual exclusive collaboration, released as Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film. Almost two decades earlier, however, they had made their first album together: The Moon and the Melodies (1986) as a collaboration with Elizabeth Fraser and Simon Raymonde - Guthrie's other two partners from The Cocteau Twins.

White Bird in a Blizzard would turn out to be their last recordings together. December 2020 saw the release of the album Another Flower, but the tracks here, like the tracks for White Bird in a Blizzard, were already recorded in 2013. Perhaps the compositions for both albums stem from the same recording session? It consolidates unmistakably the same moods and soundscape, although the soundtrack overall contains more varied music, which is largely due to the fact that the individual tracks are not, like the 2020 album, attributed both artists - only tracks #4 and #8 are credited both, and exactly those two could easily have be included on Another Flower without changing the overall expression. The soundtrack consists of twelve compositions with a total playing time of 41 minutes. Guthrie is credited tracks #1, #2, #5, #7, #11, and #12, while Budd is exclusive composer of tracks #3, #6, #9, and #10. Quite naturally, you'll notice a distinct dream pop style to Guthrie's tracks, with Budd's compositions being far more minimalistic. However, there are no explicit signs indicating that they do not contribute to each other's compositions, but you may note how Budd's instrumentals are without string instrumentation, and in isolation these stand a bit on their own. Compared to their first film score collaboration, the album here stands stronger because it's more varied without being disjointed. Personally, I prefer Guthrie's compositions but the collaboration with Budd is certainly not without quality, even if Budd's own piano and keyboard variations are a little too new age-styled to my liking. Together, they certainly make relevant music, and I feel as this album surpasses their previous collaborations.

Recommended.

Mogwai "Les Revenants" (OST) (2013)

Les Revenants (soundtrack)

release date: Feb. 25, 2013

format: digital (14 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]

producer: Mogwai

label: Rock Action Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Hungry Face" - 5. "This Messiah Needs Watching" - 7. "Special N" - 13. "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?" - 14. "Wizard Motor (4 / 5)

Soundtrack album by Mogwai made for the first season of the French TV series of the same name ('The Returned' in English) by Fabrice Gobert. The album contains 14 tracks including a cover originally composed by Washington Phillips and written by Charles Albert Tindley.

Like the ep, this full-length soundtrack doesn't quite live up to the band's normal studio albums.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10 stars ]

Mogwai "Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" (OST) (2006)

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (soundtrack)

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.

[ bandcamp ]

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, The Mix Tapes 2 / 5, Pitchfork 6,4 / 10 stars]

Cliff Martinez "Drive" (OST) (2011)

Drive (soundtrack)
release date: Sep. 27, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx "Nightcall" - 2. Desire "Under Your Spell" (4 / 5) - 3. College "A Real Hero (feat. Electric Youth)" (4 / 5) - 4. Riz Ortolani "Oh My Love (feat. Katyna Ranieri)" - 5. Chromatics "Tick of the Clock" - 6. Cliff Martinez "Rubber Head" - 7. Cliff Martinez "I Drive" - 14. Cliff Martinez "Hammer" - 19. Cliff Martinez "Bride of Deluxe"

Original Soundtrack album made for the fine full length feature film "Drive" (2011) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. This is a fine soundtrack, only, I wish they would have made it as a 2-disc release, or in two versions. The thing is, Cliff Martinez is a great composer of film music BUT the first 5 tracks are of other artists doing their electronic synth pop as "normal" pop music, and they are fine tracks. The remaining 14 tracks are Martinez' own film score, which are totally different in style, and what makes it a difficult listen. His music is instrumental ambient progressive electronic (no pop) close to modern classical.
[ film trailer ]

Eddie Vedder "Into the Wild" (OST) (2007)

Into the Wild (soundtrack)
release date: Sep. 18, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Adam Kasper, Eddie Vedder
label: J Records - nationality: USA

Studio solo debut album by Eddie Vedder, vocalist and frontman of Pearl Jam, is a soundtrack album for the movie "Into the Wild" (2007) by Sean Penn. The album is not a big revelation but it's nice to hear Vedder who has one of the best voices in modern rock, and here he shows a new side as singer / songwriter and folk singer. The album just lacks the really good and interesting songs.

Tindersticks "Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith" (OST) (2017)

Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith (soundtrack)
release date: Jun. 9, 2017
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Soundtrack album by Tindersticks to a film directed and written by Stuart A. Staples about British film pioneer and photographer Frank Percy Smith. The album is credited 'Tindersticks with Thomas Belhom and Christine Ott', and both French musicians, Belhom and Ott, have previously appeared on Tindersticks releases. Drummer Belhom appeared on both of Staples' first solo releases, the band's 2008 album The Hungry Saw, as well as on several soundtrack albums by Tindersticks. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Christine Ott first played with Tindersticks on the soundtrack to Claire Denis' 35 Rhums (2008) and then also on the soundtrack to Denis's film Les salauds (2013), and she appears here with her 'specialty instrument', Ondes martenot, as pianist, on Fender Rhodes, and as vocalist.

The album consists of 15 mainly instrumentals of varying length from 1:34 to 8:25 minutes and they are all experimental ambient with an electronic touch.

As an album, it relates to other Tinderstick soundtracks in that it may also be seen as neo-classical works, largely created as a supplement to a visual expression.

[ Film-trailer - "The Strangler" / "Percy's Dream" ]

Jon Hopkins "How I Live Now" (OST) (2013)

How I Live Now (soundtrack)

release date: Nov. 4, 2013

format: digital (16 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]

producer: Jon Hopkins

label: Just Music - nationality: England, UK

Soundtrack album by Jon Hopkins to a film by Kevin Mcdonald is Hopkin's second album of the year as it follows the acclaimed fourth album Immunity (Jun. 2013).

The album contains 16 tracks with a total running length of 44 minutes, which implies that the majority of the compositions are relatively short instrumentals. The album feature a few other collaborating artists and it kicks off a bit out of tune with the remainders with an inde rock tune credited Amanda Palmer and performed by Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra. Hopkins cllaborates with Natasha Khan on two tracks and track #9 feature the band Daughters in a remix of their song "Home".

The majority of the compositions are credited Hopkins only and these are nearly all held in an ambient and minimalist tone, which showcase Hopkins as a trained pianist. In that regard, the album stands in its own rights as something quite different when comparing to his discography and especially confronted with his studio album from June.

How I Live Now is a fine and mostly coherent album - especially when subtrackting the two rock tunes by Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra and the Daughters' remix, and I cannot help feeling it falls more in line with soundtracks by Sakamoto and / or Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd.

Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd "Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film" (OST) (2005)

Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film (soundtrack)

release date: May 24, 2005

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Robin Guthrie

label: Rykodisc - nationality: Scotland, UK / USA

Collaboration album by Scottish guitarist Robin Guthrie together with American composer Harold Budd. The album is not an official soundtrack but the actual film score album for "Mysterious Skin" (2004) by Gregg Araki. The soundtrack has also been issued and is somewhat different with music by various artists of dream pop and shoegaze including original compositions by Sigur Rós, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Ride and Curve. Harold Budd is renowned for his contributions as jazz avantgardist and composer of music described as minimalism and / or neo-classical, and here he has composed 15 tracks together with Robin Guthrie.

Musically, it doesn't fall far from Guthrie's solo debut Imperial (2003) as it's first and foremost instrumental and ambient music relying heavily simple music structure based on guitar and piano / keyboards with some occasional drum programming as additional instrumentation.

The album is their first in a series of collaboration works, which came to an abrupt end with Another Flower (2020) as Harold Budd died from COVID-19, Nov. '20. Actually, Guthrie and Budd already met back in 1985 when they worked together on the album The Moon and the Melodies (1986), which is released as a collaboration work between Budd and the Scottish band Cocteau Twins - as Budd's first encounter with popular music - credited all four and to the individuals of the band: Simon Raymonde, Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie. So, Mysterious Skin: Music From the Film is realised some 20 years later; however, the two have made several other albums together, e.g. After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks both released simultaneously Jun. 2007.

This film score may work on a completely different level while accompanied with images and dialogue from the film, but as a stand-alone work, it's a difficult listen.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

"This Is England" (OST) (2007)

This Is England (soundtrack)
release date: 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 7. Al Barry & The Cimarons "Morning Sun" (3,5 / 5) - 9. Toots & The Maytals "Louie Louie" - 10. Toots & The Maytals "Pressure Drop" (4 / 5) - 12. The Specials "Do the Dog" (3,5 / 5) - 15. The Upsetters "Return of Django" (3,5 / 5) - 20. Percy Sledge "The Dark End of the Street"

Original Soundtrack compilation album made for the fine full length British feature film "This Is England" (2006) directed by Shane Meadows. The movie is an interesting and disturbing portrait of working class England in the early 1980s, and the soundtrack is likewise interesting but also very varied. Best tracks are the reggae and ska tracks by Toots & The Maytalls (three tracks), Al Barry & The Cimarons, The Specials, and The Upsetters.
[ film trailer ]

Robbie Robertson "Music for the Native Americans" (OST) (1994)

Music for the Native Americans (soundtrack)
release date: Oct. 4, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Robbie Robertson
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Coyote Dance" - 2. "Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song)" (feat. Ulali) (live) - 3. "Ghost Dance" (4 / 5) - 5. "It Is a Good Day to Die" - 6. "Golden Feather" - 10. "Skinwalker"

3rd studio album by Robbie Robertson released as 'Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble' is a soundtrack album for the TV documentary "The Native Americans" - an American-produced series in three parts and six hours.

Being an actual soundtrack it's quite obvious a rather different album than his two previous studio releases, and the styles represented here are much more shaped towards traditional native Indian music with bits and pieces thrown in from rhythm & blues and the style established on his solo debut from '87. A few compositions are pure instrumentals with strong stylistic bonds to native Indian music, then some sound if leftovers from his debut, and a few points to his 1998 successor with the inclusion of electronica. The lasting impression is a great variety of songs of genuine complexity with some traditional melodic songs scattered all over the album, where the most memorable tracks being the first three.

The reception of the album was quite positive, as I recall it. Together with The Red Road Ensemble, Robertson toured America and Europe playing the music from the documentary much as to celebrate the much forgotten Indian culture. And as a half Indian himself, Robertson was put on a bit of a pedestal of the Indian culture movement with this contribution.

I recall listening to the album with much anticipation when it was all new and also remember my initial confusion as how to digest the whole thing. I think "complex" is a rather neutral kind of term to use when people actually don't fully appreciate something, and from my perspective, the album is generally formed by too many stylistic influences - not that those implications in themselves produce lesser works of art, but here the vast variety of styles point in too many directions; however, the album is far from a lesser work of art as it also contains fine structures and some truly fine compositions. Also, from a personal perspective, I have come to appreciate this much more over the years and today find it much more gratifying because of the album's complexity and despite the many stylistic impressions, you still find that common denominator in the native tone that fills the whole album.

Anyway, Robertson was lauded with this original album, but as a stand alone album, it's... different and somewhat difficult.

[ Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Tindersticks "Ypres" (OST) (2014)

Ypres (soundtrack)
release date: Sep. 20, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Room 1 - Whispering Guns Parts 1, 2 and 3" - 5. "Room 3 - Sunset Glow"

Soundtrack album - or that's how it's often referred to, although it's perhaps more of a 'soundscape'. At least that's what a sticker on the album reads: "Soundscapes From The In Flanders Fields World War I Museum In Ypres, Belgium", i.e. "Soundscapes from the 'In Flanders Fields Museum' in Ypres, Belgium" for its permanent exhibition about World War I. In connection with the 100th memorial of the start of the war, Tindersticks apparently received a request from the museum to create the 'soundscapes' (or a sound collage) for a permanent exhibition. The music is purely instrumental and is credited Stuart Staples and Dan McKinna in collaboration.

The individual compositions may be hard to separate from one another - partly because their function is to act as sound collage for an exhibition space and thus is required to be played in infinite loops. Much in concordance to the music the band has composed for films by Claire Denis, the music differs significantly from the band's regular studio albums, while at the same time it carries a mark of having a close bond to a visual side that is hard to imagine. Still, Ypres is a different dark, insistent and rather gloomy collage, which with its locked-in mood fades out like an unsettling obscurity - something that might precisely underpin an exhibition about the horrors of war. The album appears as a more complete work than other of the band's soundtracks. It's rich in strings and reminiscent of outright Medieval times mixed with elements of post-rock. They are mostly slow compositions that beautifully unfold their wings and almost wraps up the listener in an intense mood saturated with the strongest emotions. In many ways it's a most distinctive work - also for Tindersticks, who shows itself here in a completely new and quite exciting territory.

Mark Knopfler "Cal" (OST) (1984)

Cal (soundtrack)
release date: Aug. 24, 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,35]
producer: Mark Knopfler
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 5. "A Secret Place / Where Will You Go" - 12. "The Long Road"

2nd solo album by Mark Knopfler is another soundtrack album - this time for a movie by Pat O'Connor. Musically, it's in the same style as Local Hero, although, there's less room for electric finger-picking guitar on this, and there's a stronger sense of celtic new age to this.
I really don't like this much. There's too much tin whistle, bagpipes and bold use of keyboards to my liking.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Neil Young "Dead Man" (OST) (1996)

Dead Man (soundtrack)
release date: Feb. 27, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Neil Young, John Hanlon
label: Vapor Records - nationality: Canada

3rd soundtrack album by Neil Young is the official soundtrack to a movie by Jim Jarmusch. The music is instrumental with dialog excerpts from the film. Apparently, Young improvised while watching the movie. I find it difficult, although, it's not entirely bad. It makes me think of Ry Cooder, which may have to do with a certain touch of 'americana'. I think, one really has to be in certain state, and I haven't been close to that yet.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars - Robert Christgau labels it "bad" ]

Angelo Badalamenti "La cité des enfants perdus" (OST) (1995)

La cité des enfants perdus (soundtrack)

release date: May 1995

format: cd (0630-10251-2)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]

producer: Angelo Badalamenti

label: EastWest - nationality:

Track highlights: 1. "Générique (a: Marcello, b: Who Will Take My Dreams Away?, c: Theme de La Cité des Enfants Perdus)" - 2. "L'anniversaire d'Irvin" - 8. "Le Voyage du Rêve" - 9. "Miette" - 10. "L'exécution" - 12. "La foire" - 16. "La Cité des Enfants Perdus"
👉 [ Soundtrack playlist ]

Soundtrack album by Angelo Badalamenti for the French film "La cité des enfants perdus" by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro - a film featuring Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, and Jean-Claude Dreyfus. The total running time of the album just excedes 52 minutes.

The soundtrack has a bit of the same uneasy vibe as you'll find on the "Soundtrack from Twin Peaks" (the TV-series) from 1990 as well as Badalamenti's soundtrack for "Blue Velvet" (OST); however, the style is more orchestrated both displaying elements from a popular French culture as well as more string-based arrangements. The soundtrack works splendid in the film but appears a bit weaker on its own.

Mark Knopfler "Local Hero" (OST) (1983)

Local Hero (soundtrack) [debut]
release date: Mar. 1983
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Mark Knopfler
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Wild Theme" -3. "Freeway Flyer" - 5. "The Way It Always Starts" (feat. Gerry Rafferty) - 14. "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero"
[ full album ]

Solo debut album by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for a movie written and directed by Bill Forsyth.
The album is a difficult one to review being a soundtrack with many instrumental compositions and tracks of short playing time. It naturally displays Knopfler's 'signature' finger-picking guitar, music very similar too long progressive elements on Love Over Gold (1982) - the most recent Dire Straits album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]