Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
14 Track, LP (2007, )
Related: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis.
Those old Romantics, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, get all fluttery at the sight of an open plain, scorched earth and rustic remains. This soundtrack accompaniment to the artful, revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is also a companion piece to their work on the Cave-scripted The Proposition. By turns lilting, spare and sumptuous, it shares with all good film music a standalone evocativeness, suggestive and emotive in a subdued tone. It’s a mournful and reflective work, in line with the mood of The Assassination….
Ellis’ violin features heavily, playing most leitmotifs and other recurring themes. He uses his cracked and dried tone to strong effect, ghosting around the notes and altogether stepping back from the bow-shredding histrionics of the Dirty Three. Cave is on the piano, tapping out his familiar plangent chords—but this time backed, on a few tracks, by the gentle swell of an orchestra. Instrumental throughout, it’s still a deeply lyrical album. This is one of the few albums of film music – alongside, say, The Necks’ stunning The Boys soundtrack – to reward repeated listens.
by Ben Gook
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