Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

Mogwai | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Play It Again Sam
• ASIN: B000P7V5WK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,726 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Black Spider

2. Terrific Speech 2

3. Wake Up and Go Beserk

4. Terrific Speech

5. 7:25

6. Half Time

7. I Do Have Weapons

8. Time and a Half

9. It Would Have Happened Anyway

10. Black Spider 2

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Mogwai's slow-shifting, meteoric post-rock might have never earnt them a place on the back-of-the-nets montage on Match of the Day, but their soundtrack to Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait suggests that for this band, football boasts a deeper emotional palette than the Lightning Seeds could ever hope to evoke. Truthfully, it beggars belief it's taken Mogwai so long to reach the rarefied sphere of movie soundtracker; their gleaming, glittering instrumentals are big and beautiful, like a glacier or a blue whale. But supplying the score to Turner Prize artist Douglas Gordon's match-long portrait of French footballer Zinédine Zidane is probably a subject somewhat closer to their hearts. Lilting and ponderous, it boasts little of the fireworks that this band have been known for: far from the anger its name suggests, "Wake Up and Go Berserk" is a neat excursion into serene ambience, all finger-picked semi-acoustic guitars and padded sticks, while "It Would Have Happened Anyway" adds that crucial tension, perhaps a product of the pre-penalty kick. Mogwai's spirit has soften in recent years, but with Zidane, the boys done good: call it a "Nessun Dorma" for the experimental rock set. --Louis Pattison

Product Description

One of the most acclaimed films in the Cannes Film Festival, ‘Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait' is Turner Prizewinner Douglas Gordon's and Philippe Parreno's sensational cinematic portrait of the world famous French football hero Zinedine Zidane. Filmed during a Real Madrid match (versus Villa real on April 23, 2005) in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, its 92-minute length equals the actual game, but contrary to traditional television broadcasts, it is not the ball which is the focal point of the action. Instead, 17 synchronised cameras (under the direction of cinematographer Darius Khondji) distributed around the entire stadium are directed solely on Zidane. The soundtrack was written and produced especially by Mogwai after the release of the ‘Mr. Beast' album and the music is by turns moving, evocative and perfectly suited to the film -it has been singled out for praise time and again by critics and cinema goers the world over. The soundtrack album is being released on CD only, and Spunk is specially importing a limited number of copies to satisfy the demand from Mogwai's loyal fanbase here in Australia. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Throughly Excellent release from Mogwai...., November 20, 2006

By 

fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zidane a 21st Century Portrait (Chi) (Audio CD)

Mogwai have, by and large, become something of a surprise over the years. From their humble beginning as Post-rock, Experimental-rock fledging musicians, who were probably more known for their amusing "Blur are Sh**e" T-shirts, than for anything musically amazing. But after having dropped their amazing debut "Young Team" which skilfully balanced Complex and lengthy soundscapes which veered between brooding and ominous guitar plucking, and crisp instrumentation, before exploding into fierce guitar feedback and explosive drumming, the band managed to carve out a niche for themselves amongst other post-rock/indie-rock bands such as: Godspeed you Black Emperor!, Tortoise, Spiritualized, Sigur Rós, the Sea and Cake, etc.

Apart from earlier albums experimenting (on one occasion with vocals) and slightly more focus on guitar noodling, the band have (in some eyes) grown up, and refined their sound, with each album become more melodic, more structured, less abrasive, and moving with each release towards a more cerebral and Restrained introspective mood, with less of the Guitar freak-outs prevalent, in each album. This creative transition seemed to really make it's presence most felt on 2003's sublime "Happy Songs for Happy People", and makes the precious and subtle sounds found on that album, gradually evolved and repeated with hypnotically subtle and interlocking layers of restrained histrionics over which the band become more and more confident with this refocusing of their sound.

Composed for the documentary, of footballer, "Zidane"...which is a documentary that takes 17 cameras, and films his every movement in strangely hypnotic detail, over the course of one match. Mogwai were giving the task of providing incidental music, that expresses his moods, be it: Frustration, irrational, indecision, anger, boredom, disappointment. or his ever present temper, are all condensed down into a series of 10 wholly instrument pieces, composed by Mogwai, for the film. What isn't clear is, if the band, had access to the film, whilst arranging and composing this material?, or if indeed the director felt that their blend of delicate and slow-burning instrumental music would perfectly fit, with the film, and was thus shoe-horned into the documentary.

As this feels more like a continuation of the work that the band developed with both "Happy songs..." and "Mr Beast", it's no surprise to hear, that it's the same sort of lilting and softly focused arrangement of subdued percussion, nocturnal piano, sophisticated guitar plucking, cavernous bass and classical minimalism, that the band have begun to mine so successfully over each successive album. And without having personally seen the film myself (I can't seem to find any friends interested in seeing it...), the clips I have seen....seem to contrast well with the brightly light stadium and frenzy of the game. Although one would imagine that such understated soft sound arrangements such as these, would jar horribly with the crowd and atmosphere of the game. But seeing as the emphasis is largely on Zidane, and his relation and temperament to the game, the music seems to soften the hostility of the game, and lend it an almost graceful and poignant tone/mood, with a soft rumbling bass line, and a scratchy, lo-fi ambience. It shows a growing instrumental prowess and an emphasis on straight-ahead, occasionally improvisational arrangement...a millions miles away from some of their indie-rock peers.

What is impressive, is that Mogwai are able to resist reverting back to the guitar explosions of the beginning of their career, and instead reign in the musical impulses and create subtle mood and texture the sound with softly affecting piano, and sparse drumming, developing slowly over time and skilfully creating layers of dynamic tension that manifests itself in waves of shimmering flows, and dynamic melody, that has a aching, anguished beauty with the music occasionally and quite brilliantly tethering between sounding like it could all kick off at any moment, and burst into a flurry of volatile intensity. Yet teasingly, it never comes, and instead brilliantly moves from one sprawling melancholic composition, to the next. And it's not hard to actually picture Zidane, on the pitch moving through various moods of engagement. And having reviewed this soundtrack purely on the merits of its content, without having seen the film, It is arguably one of Mogwai's finest moments, and completely vindicates their decision to continue with this softly focused dynamic tension in their music.

There is no doubt that whether or not, you've seen the film, if you are a fan of Mogwai's work, than this is a superior purchase. This is a beautifully devised piece of work, that can (and does) stand-up perfectly against their studio-albums. As it shows the band aptly playing to their strengths, and works towards a breathing, emotional combination of delicate string work, and focusing on instrumental prowess and group interaction, which is full of gracious sound, that shows that even the subtlest music, can sometimes be the most effecting. But it should be noted, that those that crave even a little of Mogwai's fury, will be disappointed, and it's usage is notably missing here, with none of the contrasts between quiet/Loud dynamics of before, and now seemingly a thing of the past. But aside from that....this is a incredibly impressive soundtrack, for one of music's most recently consistently excellent bands.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Excellent Soundtrack, from Mogwai..., March 1, 2007

By 

fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zidane a 21st Century Portrait (Audio CD)

Mogwai have, by and large, become something of a surprise over the years. From their humble beginning as Post-rock, Experimental-rock fledging musicians, who were probably more known for their amusing "Blur are Sh**e" T-shirts, than for anything musically amazing. But after having dropped their amazing debut "Young Team" which skilfully balanced Complex and lengthy soundscapes which veered between brooding and ominous guitar plucking, and crisp instrumentation, before exploding into fierce guitar feedback and explosive drumming, the band managed to carve out a niche for themselves amongst other post-rock/indie-rock bands such as: Godspeed you Black Emperor!, Tortoise, Spiritualized, Sigur Rós, the Sea and Cake, etc.

Apart from earlier albums experimenting (on one occasion with vocals) and slightly more focus on guitar noodling, the band have (in some eyes) grown up, and refined their sound, with each album become more melodic, more structured, less abrasive, and moving with each release towards a more cerebral and Restrained introspective mood, with less of the Guitar freak-outs prevalent, in each album. This creative transition seemed to really make it's presence most felt on 2003's sublime "Happy Songs for Happy People", and makes the precious and subtle sounds found on that album, gradually evolved and repeated with hypnotically subtle and interlocking layers of restrained histrionics over which the band become more and more confident with this refocusing of their sound.

Composed for the documentary, of footballer, "Zidane"...which is a documentary that takes 17 cameras, and films his every movement in strangely hypnotic detail, over the course of one match. Mogwai were giving the task of providing incidental music, that expresses his moods, be it: Frustration, irrational, indecision, anger, boredom, disappointment. or his ever present temper, are all condensed down into a series of 10 wholly instrument pieces, composed by Mogwai, for the film. What isn't clear is, if the band, had access to the film, whilst arranging and composing this material?, or if indeed the director felt that their blend of delicate and slow-burning instrumental music would perfectly fit, with the film, and was thus shoe-horned into the documentary.

As this feels more like a continuation of the work that the band developed with both "Happy songs..." and "Mr Beast", it's no surprise to hear, that it's the same sort of lilting and softly focused arrangement of subdued percussion, nocturnal piano, sophisticated guitar plucking, cavernous bass and classical minimalism, that the band have begun to mine so successfully over each successive album. And without having personally seen the film myself (I can't seem to find any friends interested in seeing it...), the clips I have seen....seem to contrast well with the brightly light stadium and frenzy of the game. Although one would imagine that such understated soft sound arrangements such as these, would jar horribly with the crowd and atmosphere of the game. But seeing as the emphasis is largely on Zidane, and his relation and temperament to the game, the music seems to soften the hostility of the game, and lend it an almost graceful and poignant tone/mood, with a soft rumbling bass line, and a scratchy, lo-fi ambience. It shows a growing instrumental prowess and an emphasis on straight-ahead, occasionally improvisational arrangement...a millions miles away from some of their indie-rock peers.

What is impressive, is that Mogwai are able to resist reverting back to the guitar explosions of the beginning of their career, and instead reign in the musical impulses and create subtle mood and texture the sound with softly affecting piano, and sparse drumming, developing slowly over time and skilfully creating layers of dynamic tension that manifests itself in waves of shimmering flows, and dynamic melody, that has a aching, anguished beauty with the music occasionally and quite brilliantly tethering between sounding like it could all kick off at any moment, and burst into a flurry of volatile intensity. Yet teasingly, it never comes, and instead brilliantly moves from one sprawling melancholic composition, to the next. And it's not hard to actually picture Zidane, on the pitch moving through various moods of engagement. And having reviewed this soundtrack purely on the merits of its content, without having seen the film, It is arguably one of Mogwai's finest moments, and completely vindicates their decision to continue with this softly focused dynamic tension in their music.

There is no doubt that whether or not, you've seen the film, if you are a fan of Mogwai's work, than this is a superior purchase. This is a beautifully devised piece of work, that can (and does) stand-up perfectly against their studio-albums. As it shows the band aptly playing to their strengths, and works towards a breathing, emotional combination of delicate string work, and focusing on instrumental prowess and group interaction, which is full of gracious sound, that shows that even the subtlest music, can sometimes be the most effecting. But it should be noted, that those that crave even a little of Mogwai's fury, will be disappointed, and it's usage is notably missing here, with none of the contrasts between quiet/Loud dynamics of before, and now seemingly a thing of the past. But aside from that....this is a incredibly impressive soundtrack, for one of music's most recently consistently excellent bands.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. cleats, July 21, 2009

By 

IRate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (Audio CD)

While this soundtrack off-ramp for the popular Scottish post-rockers can initially sound subdued, repetitious, and lacking the band's trademark soft/loud dynamics, it is in fact one of their more layered and disciplined recordings to date, producing a recording of subtle ambiance, if one that doesn't have all the momentum to finish gracefully.