Nick Cave And Warren Ellis - White Lunar

by Jamie Rowland

published: 9 / 10 / 2009

Nick Cave And Warren Ellis - White Lunar

Label: Mute Records
Format: CD

Fantastic double CD compilation of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' film soundtracks of the last four years

Review

'White Lunar' is collection of soundtrack pieces Cave and Ellis have worked on together between 2005 and 2009. It’s a two CD album, split according to the style of the compositions. The first CD contains pieces from 'The Proposition' (which Cave also wrote the screenplay for), 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', and the upcoming film version of Cormac McCarthy’s 'The Road'. Some of these are orchestral pieces, some more traditional songs, but all are haunting and beautiful pieces. Personally, I have two favourites; the first comes from the soundtrack to 'The Proposition', and is called ‘The Rider Song’. This track is a slow country ballad, telling the story of a lone rider crossing the desert. My other favourite comes from 'The Road', and is called ‘The Boy’. Starting with a low, unsettling pulse, the strings that build up around it create a sense of optimism which paints a vivid picture of this boy as a last hope – which works wonderfully well if you are familiar with the story. If you’re not, then it makes for a beautiful piece of music, all the same. The second CD is a little more unusual, featuring music from the documentaries 'The Girls of Phnom Penh' and 'The English Surgeon';, as well as other tracks “from the vaults”. This half of the album is much creepier; where the first CD leaves you feeling relaxed and wistful, this one leaves you feeling slightly unnerved. The bonus track at the end of ‘Sorya Market’ is actually quite frightening; I had to turn it off and think about lovely rabbits for a while. Having said that, some of the pieces from 'The English Surgeon' are quite lovely – ‘Black Silk (Suture)’ being a good example – and the album is none the poorer for including these tracks. 'White Lunar' gives a fine overview of the wonderful work Cave and Ellis have produced for films over the past 4 years, and works favourably in 3 ways: firstly, it’s a pleasure to listen to, pure and simple. Secondly, it makes you want to go and watch the films in question (and those of them that I have seen are well worth looking up!), and thirdly it whets your appetite for whatever soundtrack projects the duo may be involved with in the future. Just don’t listen to that bonus track before you go to bed.

Track Listing:-

1 Song for Jesse
2 Moving On
3 What Must Be Done
4 Song for Bob
5 Happy Land
6 The Proposition #1
7 Road to Banyon
8 The Rider #2
9 Martha's Dream
10 Gun Thing
11 The Rider Song
12 The Road
13 The Mother
14 The Father
15 The Beach
16 The Journey
17 The Boy
18 Srey Leak
19 Me Nea
20 Rom
21 Halo
22 Zanstra
23 Black Silk (Suture)
24 Brain Retractor
25 Dandy Brain Cannula
26 Rat's Tooth Forceps
27 Kerrison's Punch
28 Micro Sucker
29 Window
30 Daedalus
31 Magma
32 Cheata
33 Sorya Market (Hidden Track)