Artist: Nick Cave & Warren EllisAlbum: White Lunar
Year: 2009
Grade: 5 pretzels
The 2000s have been good to Nick Cave. They’ve seen him right the sinking ship that the Bad Seeds were coming, first with 2004’s stellar Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus dual albums and then again in 2008 with the gloriously gritty Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!. Recently, Cave released his second novel and is becoming one of the best examples of how musicians can retain their edge and relevancy even after they turn fifty. However, another huge element to Cave’s creative rebirth in recent years has been his jaw-dropping venture into film soundtracks. Exquisite westerns like The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and The Proposition (with a script written by Cave himself) have gained miles of aesthetic brownie points with their evocative, sweeping scores. The upcoming thriller The Road, based on Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, also features a gorgeous Cave score. The highlights from all these are now being released in a tidy package, the White Lunar compliation.
Of course, Cave is really only half the show on White Lunar. Warren Ellis, Cave’s longtime musical conspirator, plays just as important a part on these songs. Ellis, who also fronts the Australian instrumental trio the Dirty Three, is the perfect balance to Cave’s melancholy pianos and downbeat melodies. While Cave seems to construct the structure of most of these songs, it’s Ellis’ soaring violins and string arrangements that really sing. The moving “Song For Bob” (off the Assassination soundtrack) is an excellent showcase of Warren’s emotionally charged strings. Another Assassination gem, “Song For Jesse”, opens White Lunar, with its chiming xylophone and twinkling bells. It’s a gentle song, but still heart-wrenchingly sad and affecting.
The highlights from The Proposition are more dissonant and stark, as fitting the movie’s bloody tone. White Lunar thankfully includes the eerie chant “The Rider”, featured as a recurring motif throughout the movie. The album also features a substantial slice of music from The Road, despite the fact the movie and its official soundtrack have yet to be released. These songs strike a bizarre balance between almost cheerful piano lines and crushing, doom-ridden tracks like “The Journey”. As a big fan of McCarthy’s original book, I feel this disconnect of musical styles suits the book’s themes and I cannot wait for the film to be released in theaters.
But wait! There’s so much more! White Lunar also includes a second disc of soundtrack work, from Cave and Ellis’ scores to two theater productions. This second disc dives much deeper into the abstract end of the musical spectrum, with cooing songs like “Srey Leak” lending themselves much better to theater than the concrete images of film. However, the drama and cinematic sweep on Disc 1 do not disappear. Instead, Cave and Ellis prove that they both possess tremendous range when it comes to soundtrack work, able to create music that matches many different moods, while still retaining their signature sound. Hopefully, this musical collaboration will continue to bear fruit and even more great Cave/Ellis scores will appear in the future.
Of course, Cave is really only half the show on White Lunar. Warren Ellis, Cave’s longtime musical conspirator, plays just as important a part on these songs. Ellis, who also fronts the Australian instrumental trio the Dirty Three, is the perfect balance to Cave’s melancholy pianos and downbeat melodies. While Cave seems to construct the structure of most of these songs, it’s Ellis’ soaring violins and string arrangements that really sing. The moving “Song For Bob” (off the Assassination soundtrack) is an excellent showcase of Warren’s emotionally charged strings. Another Assassination gem, “Song For Jesse”, opens White Lunar, with its chiming xylophone and twinkling bells. It’s a gentle song, but still heart-wrenchingly sad and affecting.
The highlights from The Proposition are more dissonant and stark, as fitting the movie’s bloody tone. White Lunar thankfully includes the eerie chant “The Rider”, featured as a recurring motif throughout the movie. The album also features a substantial slice of music from The Road, despite the fact the movie and its official soundtrack have yet to be released. These songs strike a bizarre balance between almost cheerful piano lines and crushing, doom-ridden tracks like “The Journey”. As a big fan of McCarthy’s original book, I feel this disconnect of musical styles suits the book’s themes and I cannot wait for the film to be released in theaters.
But wait! There’s so much more! White Lunar also includes a second disc of soundtrack work, from Cave and Ellis’ scores to two theater productions. This second disc dives much deeper into the abstract end of the musical spectrum, with cooing songs like “Srey Leak” lending themselves much better to theater than the concrete images of film. However, the drama and cinematic sweep on Disc 1 do not disappear. Instead, Cave and Ellis prove that they both possess tremendous range when it comes to soundtrack work, able to create music that matches many different moods, while still retaining their signature sound. Hopefully, this musical collaboration will continue to bear fruit and even more great Cave/Ellis scores will appear in the future.
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