From dan hill Sent Fri, Mar 5th 1999, 13:46
RE the Reach the Rock soundtrack. i wrote this review for motion a couple of months ago. there's sound samples too at http://motion.state51.co.uk/reviews/271.html John McEntire Reach the Rock Soundtrack Hefty Records John McEntire's first solo work is definitely worth hearing. The score to the William Ryan's film "Reach The Rock" is composed, produced and performed by the multi-instrumentalist and producer from Tortoise, and has a familiar sombre, melancholy charm, almost as if we finally have a film to accompany the imaginary soundtracks Tortoise have been composing all these years. As well as McEntire's score, the soundtrack features his bands, Tortoise and The Sea and Cake, as well as Bundy K Brown, Dianogah, and Polvo. Whilst I know little about the film (yet), its location in Chicago appears to have proved fundamental to the music's creation as all these outfits, with the exception of Polvo, are also Chicago-based (the project has been coordinated by John Hughes III, of local label, Hefty, as well as McEntire). This local focus meant that the bands were able to visit the film locations, spending time with the filmmakers, and occasionally actually recording their songs whilst playing to the film. This technique has been used in the past to classic effect (see Miles Davis with Louis Malle's "Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud"), but seems rarely attempted, perhaps due to digital music technology's ability to physically disperse production - maybe we'll see differences due to the advances in portable digital film-making. Unsurprisingly, given McEntire's background as a drummer and as a student of electronic music at Oberlin College, the score is characterised by busy, intricate, percussive shuffles, supporting minimal circular patterns of electric guitar or electronics, layered against a shimmering electric screen. Certain moments will inevitably inspire comparison with Morricone, combining marching drums with curlicues of picked guitar, though there's an impressive range of instrumentation, skilfully mixed and produced by McEntire. We've heard similar music before from Tortoise, Ui and other post-rock bands incorporating electronica, yet the film appears to have focussed McEntire - this music is taut and spare and direct, certainly strong enough to enjoy in isolation from the film. ---+ dan hill [state51] ---+ new reviews on motion [5.3.99]: < puppy | cristian vogel | talk talk | stephen vitellio | black lung | aspen | rafael toral > http://motion.state51.co.uk/ +---