The Virgin Suicides (Original Motion Picture score) --- Air --- 2000 (Astralwerks)
Never thought I'd be into a band like Air. Jazz/electronic/ambient? Not normally my cup of tea, mate. But after hearing “Playground love” I just had to hear more. Now admittedly this album is a film score, but all the music on it is by Air, their own compositions, so I still consider it to be a “proper” album. There's no doubting the laid-back joy of the aforementioned “Playground love”, which opens the album, with its breathy keyboards and lazy sax, understated vocals and just general air of feelgood, nor second and much shorter track “Clouds up”, which is an instrumental, basically carried on growling guitar and synth, only a minute and a half long, nor indeed “Bathroom girl”, another instrumental which starts off with church-like organ and rides along on a wave of digital piano and guitar. But it's “Dark messages” which really ups the ante, providing a skewed anthem worthy of the most eccentric of Tom Waits' compositions, and making you feel just a little on edge...
(Unfortunately, EMI seem to have blocked most of the content from this album on YT, so this will have to suffice. Sorry.)
The album, as might be expected, is almost all instrumentals, bar the opener, and parts of the final track, and it's all very ambient music, which I have to admit I find a little hard to review (so why am I reviewing it? Cos I like it. Didn't stop me reviewing Vangelis' “Oceanic”, now did it?), but very impressive. “The word hurricane” features a spoken explanation of how a hurricane occurs, halfway through the track, which then goes a little crazy with mad piano and bashing drums to the end. Weird, with a capital W. Then we're on to the longest track on the album, over six minutes of music which goes under the title of “Dirty trip”, with a nice funky bassline and those churchy organs again. Nice hi-hats and tom-toms add to the feel of the piece, with some sort of weird growling sound, presumably made on a synthesiser or guitar and some cool reverb. I would say that for music of this nature six minutes seems a little long, and the track sounds and feels overstretched: maybe three or four minutes would have been better, as it really doesn't change much throughout.
Much better is “Highschool lover (theme from “The Virgin Suicides”)”, sounding like a throwback to seventies-era Supertramp, before it becomes an instrumental interpretation of “Playground love”, mostly on piano and synth, which works very well. “Afternoon sister” is introduced on acoustic guitar, which breaks the constant keyboard music up nicely, even if those organs are back again, with violins that no doubt were produced on a synthesiser keyboard. “Ghost song” comes in on haunting harpsichord and organ, suddenly joined halfway through by angry electric guitar (though to hear the way it's played, it could be the synth again, or one of those hand-held synth-guitars that were popular for a short time in the eighties). “Empty house” gives a great impression of panic, over keyboard arpeggios and organ backing with drum-machine sounding like a heartbeat.
“Dead bodies”, meanwhile, kicks up the tempo in no uncertain fashion, great piano playing and a real boppy rhythm forcing the toes to tap, with some nice choral synth about halfway in taking over from the piano. Some pretty cool bass work too. The album ends on “Suicide underground”, which opens with a spoken announcement concerning the reasons people commit suicide, then slips into a nice laidback synthy score while the voice continues to speak. I guess it helps if you've seen the movie. I haven't.
As I said, reviewing a film score is not easy. There are no lyrics to talk of, no real themes in the songs and add to that the problem that if you aren't familiar with the film being scored, you may miss out on some important points the music tries to make. Nevertheless, I like this album, and it certainly makes me want to hear more of Air's work. At worst though, like most scores, this is a good album to put on if you want to lie back, turn out the lights and close your eyes and just relax. Maybe leave out the last track though, as the voiceover is likely to spoil your relaxation and your enjoyment of the music.
TRACKLISTING
1. Playground love
2. Clouds up
3. Bathroom girl
4. Cemetary party
5. Dark messages
6. The word 'hurricane'
7. Dirty trip
8. Highschool lover (Theme from “The Virgin Suicides”)
9. Afternoon sister
10. Ghost song
11. Empty house
12. Dead bodies
13. Suicide underground