Year of the Dog [Music from the Motion Picture] [Soundtrack]

Christophe Beck (Composer), Simon Jeffes (Composer), Anna Padgett (Composer), Mike Nowak (Conductor), Naysayer (Performer), Penguin Cafe Orchestra (Orchestra), Adam Blau (Performer), Robert Thies (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Naysayer, Adam Blau, Robert Thies
• Orchestra: Penguin Cafe Orchestra
• Conductor: Mike Nowak
• Composer: Christophe Beck, Simon Jeffes, Anna Padgett
• Audio CD (April 10, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Lakeshore Records
• ASIN: B000NVSZ58
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,385 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

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2.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, August 29, 2008

By 

Jon Broxton (Thousand Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year of the Dog [Music from the Motion Picture] (Audio CD)

One of those `indie comedy-dramas' which come and go without much fanfare throughout the year, Year of the Dog starred Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, John C. Reilly and Peter Sarsgaard in a film about a lonely, but content office worker whose life is shattered by the sudden death of her little dog. Struggling to come to terms with her surprisingly bitter feelings about her pet's death, she struggles from one failed romantic possibility to another - until, eventually, she finds new meaning in her life: the animal rights movement, and specifically her intention to save a pound full of incarcerated pooches. This quirky little tale was directed by Mike White and features an equally quirky score by Christophe Beck. From the beginning, it's clear that Beck was going for a variation on the Thomas Newman-American Beauty sound, with orchestrations that feature little plucked strings, strummed guitars, little fiddle textures, marimbas, pianos, and twinkly percussion via xylophones and glockenspiels. The score's thematic material is built around "Pencil's Theme" (Pencil being the fated fido in question), a generally quite sweet and fluffy piece, but all just a little too insubstantial and understated to be truly engaging. And it's quirky. There's that word again - quirky. "Death of a Pencil" features a bittersweet piano solo, "Fifteen Dogs, One Car" builds up a funky vibe through the use of bass guitars and accordions, and the conclusive "Peggy's Goodbye" restates the core thematic material with the addition of a soulful solo cello, but beyond these brief highlights the score maintains the light, idiosyncratic tone throughout the score's running time, making for an enjoyable but somehow strangely uninvolving album. Oh, the reason "Music for a Found Harmonium" by The Penguin Cafe Orchestra is familiar is because it featured prominently in the soundtrack to Napoleon Dynamite!