- Does it matter if I haven't seen the movie?2. Does it matter if I have seen the movie, and think it's great, and think the music goes with it, but hate the soundtrack on its own?3. Can I only like the soundtrack because it reminds me of the movie?4. Is it really a good "soundtrack" if I love the music but hate the movie?5. When pop stars write soundtracks, isn't it better when they just contribute a few "real" songs and keep the noodling "atmospherics" to a minimum?6. Why does there have to be noodling, "atmospheric" music in movies?
I've long held a bias against soundtracks. Not for their use, mind you: a good soundtrack can make a movie better than its sum of train explosions, drug deals and awkward romances. However, taken on their own terms, soundtracks tend to reek of passive-aggression. I can imagine how tough it was to score music that complimented, yet never overwhelmed, a film, but my attention span usually demands more than music that just suggests emotion. Not that original scores are all bad-- I have soft spots for Danny Elfman, Bernard Herrmann and Nino Rota-- but in the best case, I imagine the symbiotic relationship between music and film to be a little more interesting a lot more often.
Björk's music for Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9-- in which the singer also stars-- is her second foray into film music (after 2000's Selmasongs), and commits all the crimes and good deeds a soundtrack should. I haven't seen the movie, so I can only guess that throat singers and chimes enhanced it. However, there are context clues suggesting Björk went out of her way to, well, get out of the way of the action onscreen. Pieces like the low brass-heavy "Hunter Vessel" and "Vessel Shimenawa" alternate the fat squelch of trombones, trumpets, and horns with more ethereal chord clusters, evocative of perhaps a rocky landscape that meets the sea. Stripped of visuals, there is still an impression left, one that nails a kind of cold distance very well, but doesn't sound like anything specifically.
Still, I'm most drawn to the songs, and there are some notable ones for Björk fans. First is "Gratitude", featuring solo vocals by Will Oldham. The song is very much in the vein of the classic Björkian ballad, with a flowing, seemingly open-ended melody that is running away from conventional pop phraseology as much as it seems "accessible." Oldham handles its melodies well, though to my ears, sounds a bit broken and delicate where I imagine Björk would be strident and flighty. Nevertheless, supported by harp, bells and chimes, and featuring neat instrumental interludes that remind me of the xylophones in Steve Reich's Drumming, it's pleasant and unmistakably Björk. However, my favorite song is "Storm", which the composer has performed live over the past few years. Over a sinister backdrop of synth, rain, creaking doors (all of which appear and disappear without notice), Björk's lone vocal soars in the chorus (?) like the booming siren of a blue whale who suddenly realized she was the last of her species. The tragic, detached vibe of the track only makes what sounds bitterly lonely all the more pressing. This would have been a highlight on Medulla or Vespertine, much less here.
And then there are the rest: A sound art piece based on throat singing (and very reminiscent of Medulla's "Ancestors"), a longer (and way more excruciating if you don't happen to be into traditional Japanese Noh vocals) exotic vocal piece, some nice, if innocuous electro-music-box stuff and a couple of lesser vocals by Björk (the trippy, plasmatic ballad "Bath" and simpler, brighter "Cetacea"). And that's where I usually end up with moderately interesting soundtracks: A couple of really cool parts, and the rest I don't feel so bad for forgetting. I'm not sure I learned a ton about the form, but Björk's entry is more interesting than most.
