Customer Reviews

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is an interesting redlease: Mogwai have written the suondtrack for a movie about footballer Zidane. While it is true that it is a move away from their more noisy early style, it still is a very strong album. As a record of instrumental indie guitar rock it certainly stands onm itself. It certainly is quite introspective and tranquil but still shows itself to be related to its independent noise origins. Overall not a bad release. One would have feared much worse.

Hate to say it, but this is pretty drab stuff. That said, I'm hardly about to complain; how could I? This was obviously written for a film (that I have no interest in seeing), and Mogwai just released 'Mr. Beast', a solid (if unspectacular) album earlier this year. I kind of see 'Zidane' as a gift, then. Looking at the whole thing from that perspective, it's impossible to be letdown.

But then, retaining much emotion out of this composition is downright difficult. Mogwai, when channeling the right energies, create sublime, beautiful music -- truly as beautiful as any form of modern music, to my ears. When they're a bit more ambiguous, though, the results tend to float in limbo and lack direction. 'Zindane' seems to possess certain elements of both these characteristics to an extent, but the result is surprisingly dull -- at best, it's pretty; at worst, it's utterly monotonous.

The ideas are here, too; it's not that 'Zindane' lacks drive or intent. It is a focused work. Yet, it's obvious, I think, that the music, contrary to most film scores, desires to refrain from emotional manipulation. While that's admirable, I find that musically, I'd much rather be manipulated than dazed; this is literally music to listen to whilst on painkillers. There are a few nice themes and motifs, don't get me wrong, but this is ALL underscore -- Mogwai, in the best way possible, has a great gift at handling melodrama, and here they never appear to be guided by the dramatic light.

I won't sway anyone from attempting to get 'Zidane', but I wouldn't hand it out to anyone unexposed to Mogwai in some hopes of garnishing their admiration. No, for that, I would naturally lead them to one of their many fine studio albums. For, Mogwai is a band, after all -- they are not Jerry Goldsmith or Ennio Morricone. For those unaware, Mogwai performed much of the score for the recently released film 'The Fountain' -- though they did not write any of the actual material, from what I've gathered -- and as a musical experience, the soundtrack release for that album absolutely blows 'Zidane' out of the water. In my opinion, it even beats out 'Mr. Beast', so impatient fans who need a fresh dose of Mogwai 'oughta check that one out for sure.

Such a DEAL. The seller knew full well that the dvd wouldn't play on any dvd player. No wonder Netflix labels this movie "not available". It ISN'T, not if you want to play it in your dvd player. I threw it away.If Amazon afforded the true rating option I'd give it 5 negative stars, brown ones.