The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

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Overview

Very few people actually got to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Australian director Andrew Dominik and based on Ron Hansen's brilliant novel. It's an interesting thing, really: it starred Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck (and the latter got all kinds of accolades from critics, some of whom predicting an Oscar for him in the role of Robert Ford). American audiences are weird that way: they'll spend three or four hours to see a film not supported by a strong narrative, but pass on something that involves the story at every turn and in every shot, whether it's the landscape, the weather, or the actual characters moving through it. Nick Cave is no stranger to writing cinematic scores; this is his fourth, and his second with Bad Seed and Grinderman bandmate Warren Ellis. Their last effort was the soundtrack to an actual Australian western, the brutal yet wonderful Proposition; the screenplay was actually written by Cave. It was a wide-ranging soundtrack, going from strange, eerie, spacious moments to those of great drama and tension. It featured some fearsome musical excess as well as skeletal contemplative ones. The music here is drenched in as much dread, shadow, and darkness as its predecessor, but it's a much more narrative and sophisticated undertaking. The theme, "Rather Lovely Thing," circles its way through the film and enters and exits with regularity, anchoring the viewer, and here, of course, the listener, though it's less apparent. Other cues are beautifully and simply named: "Movin' On," "What Must Be Done," "Last Ride Back to KC," "Destined for Great Things," and the rest. The use of violin, electric guitars, piano, a second violin, viola, bass, some drums and percussion, celeste, cello, and other sundry items are employed very specifically -- check the use of all the strings (though not a string orchestra or string section; this isn't a Danny Elfman score) in "The Money Train," where foreboding, loss, drama, and tension all vie for attention, and the notion of a climactic consequence is firmly in the mind of the listener. It is answered by a lone piano, miked very closely, almost from the inside, as strings answer underscoring the conclusion of what must be done to get rid of James. The determinate nature of the music is not in any way steely; it's almost sad, as if these men know that a genuine archetype, a folk hero, needs to go die in order for America itself to become a tamer, more ordered place, a place where emotions have no place in structure, and something like steely determination is a more calculated and cold undertaking. The way Ellis and Gerard McCain order their stringed instruments is almost painterly. The sense of history is at play in the emotional content of the music rather than around it. Just before the score ends, there is one of the most evocative tracks, simple and effective, called "Counting the Stars." Miked so closely the listener can hear the pianist's feet on the pedals, it lasts only a minute-and-twenty seconds, but in it one can feel what has transpired, what cannot be undone, and how it was done. The music doesn't serve to do anything but look out at a new sonic terrain that reflects the character of the land itself; it is at once more alien and more ghostly and more suspect in spite of its tenderness, because it makes room for and tolerates just such a melody. This is Cave's most extraordinary achievement as a composer of film music thus far. It's all come together here between him and Ellis, two very natural collaborators. This music is certainly cinematic, but despite its vast reach, it is constructed with relative simplicity and an almost taut sparseness that makes it stand as a work on its own. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date: 11/13/2007
Label: Mute
UPC: 5099951286422
Rank: 94104

Tracks

  1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Rather Lovely Thing
  2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Moving On
  3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Song for Jesse
  4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Falling
  5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Cowgirl
  6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~The Money Train
  7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~What Must Be Done
  8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Another Rather Lovely Thing
  9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Carnival
  10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Last Ride Back to KC
  11. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~What Happens Next
  12. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Destined for Great Things
  13. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Counting the Stars
  14. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford~Song for Bob

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nick Cave   Primary Artist,Piano,Celeste,Triangle
Warren Ellis   Primary Artist,Piano,Viola,Violin,Celeste
Sonia Slany   Violin
Mary Scully   Bass
Julia Singleton   Violin
Christopher Laurence   Bass
Jonathan Williams   Cello
Jonathan Evans-Jones   Violin
George Robertson   Viola
Beatrix Lovejoy   Violin
Maciej Rakowski   Violin
Vicci Wardman   Viola
Gabrielle Lester   Violin
Gerard McCann   Cello,Celeste
Matt Dunkerly   Conductor
Luke Cave   Triangle
Steve Morris   Violin
Peter Lale   Viola
Paul Kegg   Cello
Rachel Bolt   Viola
James Sclavunos   Drums
Martyn Casey   Bass (Electric)
Mark Berrow   Violin
Frank Schaefer   Cello

Technical Credits

Gary LeMel   Executive in Charge of Music
Keith Zajic   Album Administrator
Dirk Hebert   Album Administrator
Doug Frank   Executive in Charge of Music
Jake Rousham   Assistant Engineer
Carter Armstrong   Executive in Charge of Music
Gabrielle Lester   Leader
Nick Cervondro   Assistant Engineer
Gerard McCann   Mixing,Producer,String Arrangements
Sam Jones   Assistant Engineer
Tom Bailey   Assistant Engineer
Jake Jackson   Mixing,Recording
Warren Ellis   Composer,Producer,String Arrangements
Mike Marsh   Mastering
Nick Cave   Composer,Producer,String Arrangements
Isobel Griffiths   Music Contractor
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