Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck in the award-winning film.
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Saturday, 10, Nov 2007 12:09
Mute Records, out November 12th.
In a nutshell...
Dull and dusty, like tumbleweeds.
What's it all about?
This soundtrack to the Brad Pitt-starring tale of the infamous outlaw re-unites Nick Cave with Warren Ellis, and sees the duo's second sortie into the western genre following their collaboration on the critically acclaimed The Proposition in 2005.
The album presents 14 moody and melancholic pieces of music inspired by one of the Old West's deadliest gunslingers.
Who's it by
Nick Cave is no stranger to film scoring, and has built a fine reputation in this field. Alongside Mick Harvey and Blixa Bargeld of his band The Bad Seeds, Cave produced the soundtracks for Ghosts Of The Civil Dead and To Have And To Hold.
Cave's previous link-up with Warren Ellis was on The Proposition, with the latter delivering a haunting semi-acoustic score featuring violin and piano.
As an example...
There's a sense of dread urgency delivered by plaintive piano throughout the album, but it comes to the fore on The Money Train and What Must Be Done.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Seeing as Cave and Ellis appear to be channelling western movie music legends Ennio Morricone and Ry Cooder with this soundtrack, and following on from the plaudits they received for The Proposition, there exists a fair chance of Grammy goodness coming their way.
What the others say
"The album lacks a recurring theme but retains the artfully wonky fiddle and accordions while adding piano and the occasional electric guitar." – Empire
"Like Morricone before him, Cave understands the (Western) genre completely and utterly, and knows how to capture both mood and story using only music." – Subba-Cultcha.com
So is it any good?
If only Morricone had been involved in this project how much better it would have been! Unfortunately, we have to make do with Cave and Ellis meandering through an endless stream of exceedingly annoying and banal piano, violin and cello, with one turgid track sounding exactly like the preceding one, until the wonderfully sad Last Ride Back To KC, and the stirring strings of What Happens Next attempt to salvage something from the wreckage.
4 /10
Lee Davis