Review by John Bush [-]
It was just a matter of time before the Cinematic Orchestra received a commission for a film score, but this 2003 release actually dates from 1999. The genesis of Man With a Movie Camera lies in the selection committee of a Portuguese film festival, which asked Cinematic Orchestra to score their re-airing of Dziga Vertov's
1929 film of the same name, a silent Soviet documentary focused on a
day in the life of an average worker. Performed live by the orchestra, Man With a Movie Camera doesn't allow J Swinscoe
to indulge in his usual post-production magic, but it is a surprisingly
adept score, with occasional bursts of on-the-one jazz-funk wailing to
break it up. (Pity the poor comrade who's soundtracked 70 years later
with a hyper-speed Pretty Purdie-type
drum solo and some old-school-rap samples in the background.) Scattered
moments of brilliance abound, and at one point, someone on sax comes up
with a brilliant foghorn recreation. The cinematic material lies in
'70s astral jazz, with evocative, tremulous work from soprano sax and
violin. Just two caveats: several of these performances were later
echoed in tracks appearing on the Cinematic Orchestra's 2002 release Every Day,
and some passages have a baffling, you-had-to-be-there quality.
Apparently it was a hit at the festival, though only the DVD release of Man With a Movie Camera has the film itself, along with a Cinematic Orchestra performance live in the studio, plus a Channel 4 documentary on the making of the record.
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