Max Richter - Disconnect

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 4 / 12 / 2013

Label: Milan Records
Format: CD

intro

Fabulous film soundtrack from British composer Max Richter, which proves far superior to the film

The music that Max Richter has written for Henry Alex Rubin's film 'Disconnect' film starts with the familiar 'On The Nature of Daylight' from 'The Blue Notebooks', and from thereon features minimal electronic sounds that typified his earlier works. Whereas for example 'Zero Balance' gets close to sounding like drone music - not to be confused with pestilent little planes - 'Hospital' and 'Running' embody elements of orchestral and minimal techno music. For this score, Richter invited Arthur Honig, Elena Cheah, Luke Turell, Eva Hahn and Hannah Perowne to form his String Quintet, whilst he plays the piano. Since the film deals with digital identity fraud, social media and on-line journalism, Richter's score for 'Disconnect' lacks the coherence heard on his albums. 'Arrival' though is a mesmeric and melodic intermezzo, and together with the glowing tension on 'Drycleaner' and 'Break In' there follows a sequence of even beauty. The eleven minute 'long' centerpiece 'Confrontation' sums up clashing perceptions of menace and false re-assurances with prominent melancholic violin play in its middle part and a clear sky apotheosis. Never before has Max Richter paid tribute to Moritz von Oswald, the Berlin pioneer of Basic Channel, a deep house 'tube' type of music with beats and bellowing echoes, although both have recomposed repectively Vivaldi, and Ravel and Mussorgsky for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon record label. On 'Confrontation' Richter merges that Basic Channel sound extremely well with his Beethoven-esque and chamber music-like composition. The last movement in this cinematic symphony as it were, relishes in quiet and dark mystery where Richter returns to trademark two minute snippets of piano and violin play. The surprising close features the harp-like string play and the vocals of Jayme Ivison. The film itself features plenty of the repetitive iPad sounds, it is only after some ten minutes Max Richter's first contribution comes on, when a kid, referred to by his dad as Mozart, mumbles over tones from 'On The Nature of Daylight' in the background. 'Disconnect' seems to aim at an MTV audience with loads of close-ups and fancy features that will look terribly outdated by the time this on-line MTV generation is in its forties and fifties, and can't for a single moment recall any childhood memories. 'Disconnect' probably isn't what we need to mock corporate exploitation of the young, and stealing their imagination. I think it's fair to claim that you'd better only listen to the film score.

Track Listing:-

1 On the Nature of Daylight
2 Find Schumaker
3 Love Slave
4 Zero Balance
5 Clone the Hard Drive
6 Pursuit
7 Hospital
8 Running
9 The Report
10 Written On the Sky
11 Arrival
12 Drycleaner
13 Break In
14 Confrontation
15 Afghanistan
16 I Will Come and Get You
17 The Gun
18 Derek to El Paso
19 Unwritten
20 The Swimmer
21 Ni Su Nave

Band Links:-

http://www.maxrichtermusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/MaxRichterMusic
https://twitter.com/maxrichtermusic

Label Links:-

http://www.milanrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/milanrecords/
https://www.youtube.com/user/MilanRecords
https://twitter.com/MilanRecLabel
http://milanrecords.tumblr.com/

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In our 'Re:View' section, in which we look back at albums from the past, Maarten Schiethart reflects on British composer Max Richter's extraordinary 2002 debut 'Memoryhouse', which has just been reissued

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