July 31, 2009

Album Review: Moon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)




One of my most anticipated films of the year came out in Vermont a couple weeks ago, and I finally was able to catch it in theaters. Moon is an absolutely brilliant film, and my full review for the movie is
here, on my regular site.

The score stands apart, however, and Clint Mansell has really done a spectacular job with this score. His other big claims on films was Requium for a Dream and The Fountain. The Fountain soundtrack is a stunning piece of art, there's no way around that. Where that score is far more ambient and airy, Moon has a far different feel to it, with a rhythmic and repedative main theme that aids the feeling of isolation and loneliness for Sam Bell, played by actor Sam Rockwell.

Whereas in most scores, a monotonous and repedative score is a bad thing, this aids the film rather nicely because of its connection to the themes of the movie. Indeed, at points, the score almost overwhelms part of the film, one of the few annoying parts of the film, and it easily stands on its own for music. Welcome to Lunar Industries, the opening track, works beautifully with the opening credits as we're slowly introduced to Sam's life on the station. The first half of the soundtrack has a similar sound and feel, but for the second half, there is far more elegant and different feel to the remaining tracks.

This soundtrack is both beautiful, elegant and well worth purchasing. The film is brilliant, beautiful and well worth seeing.

First Snow - Clint Mansell