Film Reviews

Soundtracks Round-Up

• 28th Sep 2013

Justin & The Knights Of Valour

This is one of those soundtracks that like to accent the action on screen. Yes each moment is tailored round what happens on screen. You don’t get so much of a song as a commentary.

If something spritely and happy is happening then the music is reflectively upbeat – literally following the footsteps of the characters. So if you like your music to dictate every move a film makes and to inform you of when to be happy, sad or excited – then this one is for you.

To be fair the quality of the music is actually fairly high. Serviceable is perhaps too insulting a term to apply to this work because of the nature of the way it was written, although it does tick required boxes and doesn’t deliver on anything new. But what it does deliver on is of a fairly high standard. It’s just a high standard of nothing new.

The Vikings

This comes from Trevor Morris who is responsible for the likes of The Tudors, The Pillars of the Earth & The Borgias.

At 38 tracks long you are getting a hefty amount of material – but then it isn’t a film score, so a TV show is bound to have more content. On top of that they even pinched the opening track “If I Had  Heart”  from the Fever Ray album; a suitably almost Celtic like chanting track.  Well they are Swedish as well, so we can’t blame someone for thinking of them. And to be fair, Fever Ray are hardly a poor choice.

At the risk of sounding like we can’t stop talking about Hans Zimmer in the music sextion of the website – Morris did used to work as part of Zimmer’s team and we point it out as it is really evident in his score here. But then listening to much of what comes out these days most people seem to sound like Hans Zimmer or have helped developed his style.

Lovelace

As far as 70’s collections go this one is actually oh a high standard. There are very few songs on here that have been thrust down our throats over the years to the point where you wish they just went away. Cleverly the songs compiled here do still work for the narrative of the film.

There are perhaps only two tracks that listeners will be overly familiar with from the era. Others are songs that have managed to avoid the limelight, but are still cracking tunes in their own right.  Highly recommended for anyone that has collected the likes of soundtracks like Boogie Nights. This one makes for a decent companion.

The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings

Bryan Ferry and his Orchestra provide the majority of this jazz heavy soundtrack. Enthusiasts of the era the film reflects will want to snap this one up.

Anyone expecting anything even remotely Roxy Music or Don’t Stop the Dance will sadly be found wanting. Ferry doesn’t do as much singing on this as fans may like, and his voice has long since cracked anyway so it’s a very different voice you’ll get anyway.

For a collection that supports the era the film is set in though this is moody depressing stuff to keep any jazz fiend suitably satisfied, if mopey looking

Steven Hurst