Being at least partly Irish, I have always had a special place
\nin my heart for the music of Ireland – even if the song only had
\nCeltic influences and went in another direction. (The first time I
\never heard “new age” music, the song opened up with
\nCeltic-influenced flute work.) It’s not always been the easiest
\npassion for me to follow; I had difficulties getting through
\nBoil The Breakfast Early<\/i> by The Chieftains. But for the most
\npart, it’s been one that has been overall satisfying to me.<\/p>\n
How does the soundtrack to
\nAgnes Browne<\/i>, the latest Angelica Huston film, fit into this
\nscheme? With Chieftain Paddy Moloney composing all original music,
\nyou’re sure to get your recommended daily dose of Irish music on
\nthis one – and just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, too! And while
\nthis disc is worth the effort, it does have some drawbacks.<\/p>\n
Let’s talk about one of these drawbacks right off the bat:
\nwhat’s with the reliance on the music of Tom Jones on this
\nsoundtrack? Now, I like Jones and his music as much as the next
\nperson, and I can understand the use of these songs to fit the time
\nframe the movie is supposed to take place in. But devoting 20
\npercent of the soundtrack to Jones’s music is a bit of a stretch…
\nand if I hear one more movie feature “It’s Not Unusual,” I’m going
\nto throw up. (Admittedly, it’s a nice touch to hear “She’s A Lady,”
\none of his hits that’s been pushed to the side of late… but I’ve
\nnever been a fan of “Delilah”.)<\/p>\n
Oh, what the hell… let’s get the other drawbacks out of the
\nway while we’re on a roll. “Banish The Blues” is an interesting
\ntake on Irish music, with the song going from a mournful flute to a
\nrather upbeat rockabilly-type rhythm. It works surprisingly well –
\nthat is, until the sudden ending of the track, leaving the listener
\nwithout any closure on this particular piece. Moloney would have
\nbeen wise to have thought up a decent ending to this one.<\/p>\n
Drawback three, I’ll sum up in three words: Brevity, brevity,
\nbrevity. The whole disc – all 15 tracks – clocks in at under 35
\nminutes. Frankly, I would have been much happier had Moloney
\nprovided more music to enjoy on
\nAgnes Browne<\/i>, ’cause the bulk of the music is very
\nenjoyable. (For that matter, how’s about hearing more than a
\nsmidgen of Derek Bell’s harp work on “My Bonnie (Harp
\nVersion)”?)<\/p>\n
Most of Moloney’s original score is hauntingly beautiful, with
\ntracks like “Opening Theme,” “Marion’s Lament,” “Paddy’s Mazurka”
\nand “Grab The Money” standing out among the crowd. Worth noting is
\nthe duet between The Chieftains and Montserrat Caballe, “The Last
\nRose Of Summer,” a track which should definitely pull at your
\nheartstrings. Likewise, Laura Smith’s duet with The Chieftains, “My
\nBonnie,” helps to bring new life to a well-worn track, even though
\nI thought they stretched this one out a little too far.<\/p>\n
Just a thought – Irish cowboys? Checks out The Fleadh Cowboys
\nwith “Puttin’ On The Style,” a track which isn’t bad in retrospect.
\nBut it is a little surprising to hear such a song mixed in with the
\nrest of the soundtrack. (Having not seen the movie, I don’t know
\nhow it fits into the context of the action… and until I take the
\nlittle one to see
\nThe Tigger Movie<\/i>, chances are I won’t see the inside of a
\ntheatre soon.)<\/p>\n
If you’re not very familiar with Irish music or the work of The
\nChieftains, this might not be the best place to start your
\neducation. However, in general,
\nAgnes Browne<\/i> is a disc of solid music with only a few
\nquestionable inclusions and omissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5729],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-36523","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-soundtrack","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36523"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36523"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}