Why is it so hard for Cirque du Soleil to engage an experienced musical composer from Broadway to lead their New York based shows?
It's the troupe's third attempt at breaking into the market, and each time has been a sadly disappointing offering. Paramour is the closest Cirque has come to creating a traditional musical, but as always, the composition doesn't fall to a well known composer or team of creatives, but to those they know best, composers Bob et Bill (Guy Dubuc & Marc Lessard), who have scored a jaw-dropping nine original scores for the company. Perplexingly joined by Andreas Carlsson, it was a missed opportunity to let this team write the score for a big scale musical in the Big Apple. Wanting to conquer the New York theatre scene without engaging composers who have ever worked there before - will Cirque ever have the courage of their ambition?
The premise in Paramour is a sticky love triangle set to the backdrop of a movie being made, which spans multiple different genres. It actually wasn't so long ago that we were presented with a musical score of a similar premise - Carter Burwell's score from Hail, Caesar! also had the composer going through different ages, times and styles to the premise of the audience visiting various 'movies'. It was extremely theatrical and probably would have been smarter framework than the flimsy love-story here. To their credit, the team manage to evoke these movie genres extremely well, with all the textures and instrumentation you'd expect in hackneyed spaghetti Western ('Help a Girl to Choose'), biblical epic ('Cleopatra') and mobster crime noir (NYC Rooftops) films. Other songs make interesting homages to old school musicals and Hollywood - 'Everything' sounds like a blend of 'Maybe' from Miss Saigon crossed with some more irritating material from Sunset Boulevard, such as 'Too Much In Love to Care'.
On the other hand, there's the usual Bob et Bill percussion-noise driven filler crap ('Revenge Fantasies', 'NYC Rooftops' - does anyone ever listen to these tracks after the first listen?), but also extremely satisfying moments, such as the highlight 'Egyptian Gift', an instrumental moment both clandestine and exotic, with booming drums and an arresting violin peppered across which sounds like magic. 'The Hollywood Wiz' is exactly the kind of opener a big-scale show needs - a grand, vaudeville feeling show-man tune with a strong contribution from the ensemble and a big voice. Maddeningly, unlike any well structured musical with themes and leitmotifs for characters, each 2-3 minute song in Paramour tries to make a new melody which is dead and buried before it even takes off. There are two brief reprises of songs, but nothing sophisticated or clever . . . maybe there are more, but I don't care to listen to it again to find out.
Who are the key players in Paramour? Ruby Lewis makes her debut with the role of Indigo, Ryan Vona plays composer Joey and Jeremy Kushnier plays AJ. They've all got awesome, powerful and vibrant voices, a belting hybrid of classical musical theatre and pop, with a bit of rough and raw power. It's just too bad that their material ranges from average to awkwardly bad.
The lyrics suck. There are too many instances where the most cringy, predictable rhymes you hope won't happen do happen, so there's really no point identifying examples. Honestly, what were we expecting from Andreas Carlsson, a man who writes lyrics for the likes of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC? This is Broadway, where the story is sometimes as important as the music - frankly it's not good enough and really lets the whole production down (chuck on 'Ginger Top' and 'Love Triangle' for a laugh, as they are worst offenders).
All in all, a passable but disappointing offering from Cirque du Soleil in their attempt at global domination. Talented cast members can't make up for unforgivable lyrics, and the music is not sophisticated or up to scratch to rank with the best shows on Broadway. Maybe one day, Cirque du Soleil will dare to work with some new composers, but until the day comes, there won't be a stand out performance from them on Broadway.
'Cirque du Soleil Paramour - Original Broadway Cast Recording' by Cirque du Soleil is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
Toruk - The First Flight by Cirque du Soleil
[Source: Amazon.com]
Where to even begin describing this unexpected delight?
After a lukewarm performance on Joya, I didn’t have high expectations for Toruk. If I were asked to pick a favourite Cirque du Soleil
soundtrack, the scores of Bob et Bill (Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard) would never
have been among my choices. Now, I would consider Toruk ranking among some of the most listenable, and ranking among one of the best.
Toruk succeeds
where Avatar didn’t - it
distinguishes itself beyond the broad genre of ‘tribal’ music.The late James Horner wrote a surprisingly
unremarkable score for Avatar; for a
film with such acclaimed in its visuals and imagery, it certainly lacked
distinction in its musical style. I would never be able to tell you what
influences have been picked and make up the DNA of Toruk. It absolutely has a tribal feel and basis, but draws on
electronic beats, complex percussive patterns and a huge variety of voices and
instruments. Bob & Bill seem to hit their stride when it comes to creating
a more cinematic and immersive feel for a soundscape.
Typical of the pair’s work with Cirque, there is no big
ballad or grand use of themes and motifs. There are fragments of both but instead,
the compositions seem to progress through many movements within a single track.
The only caveat is that some phrases seem under-developed, but the variety is
refreshing and the result is a collection of tunes that manage to cover a lot of ground. The music feels like a fusion of works from Deep Forest albums, Tan Dun operas and Damon Albarn's scores for stage. As a little side-note for big Cirque Musique fans, this
record has a few cameos from superstars including Julie McInnes, Isabelle
Corradi and Christian Laveau contributing vocals - it’s really cute that they
contribute here.
On a whole the album is extremely unified and very
listenable – there are a few brilliant tracks that distinguish themselves. ‘Lu
Aw Navi’ is quintessential Cirque, a multi-layered percussive-electronic fusion
that builds climactically through layering and caries the central theme of the
album, and ‘Direhorses’ is an absolute revelation – a jaunty and celebratory
string arrangement that is extremely emotive and elating. The new singers to
the Cirque catalogue including Cumie Dunio and Elsieanne Caplette have
excellent voices that blend and transcend around the music, and I hope these
talented ladies end up on more Cirque recordings.
I will be interested in listening to the duo’s score for Paramour, Cirque’s ‘first’ (read: third)
attempt to break into the New York theatre scene – as it’s going to require
them to bring out some serious melodies and ballads that I wish were included
here. However, on a whole the album is dynamic, rhythmic and enjoyable, and a
terrific offering for Cirque to have in their catalogue.
Finally, we have another Cirque du Soleil soundtrack that
lifts us up and takes us to another world.
'Toruk - The First Flight' by Cirque du Soleil is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
The latest soundtrack by Cirque du Soleil (Source: Spotify)
I guess that Cirque du Soleil is past the point of caring about creating exquisite melodies and transportive works. Joyá is a clumsy and bombastic half-hour of music that we could've all done without, and will go in one ear and out the other whether you want it to or not.
This Spanglish (read: what white people think Mexican music sounds like) product is brought to you from the dinner show which performs at the Riviera Maya Resort in Mexico. From what I gather, the performance itself takes a backseat from the food - and it sounds like the music is an after-thought to even the background.
The composition is very slap dash, nothing special and certainly doesn't 'feel' like a Cirque du Soleil score. There have been competitors knocking off Cirque for years with foreign sounding lyrics and 'zany' compositions, but it seems we've reached a full cycle where Cirque du Soleil is now imitating that exact style. There isn't really anything in terms of lyrics, and while there is a use of 'motifs' they are so basic it's like listening to a nursery rhyme on repeat.
One of the lines is 'Ai yi yi yi yi'. Guys, we get it, we're in Mexico.
The mix of instruments just doesn't work. The core instruments are guitar, keyboards/percussion and trumpet, with a female and sometimes male voice joining them. Even when the score tries to be upbeat, it sounds cheesy and low energy. The mixing of the CD is really bizarre too (instruments surge and pan between ears, weird effects on instruments), and there's also an unfortunately gross sounding synthesised strings plug-in that features prominently (and when it does it sounds ridiculous). The whole recording feels very lifeless.
If 'Comedy of Errors' had been in another show as a clown act, I would've commended the composers for finally making a cute, goofy and interesting cue. But it's not for a clown act - it's literally the only stand-out in the score for simply not being derivative, and even then it's not something you could listen to for an extended period of time. Nothing here is going to endure over time or become a proud hallmark of the company's musical catalog.
Even if you've been to the show, I can't think of a single reason why you'd want to listen to this boring mess. If you're a diehard Cirque fan and you need to own it, be prepared to go through some annoying lengths as the physical record is only available at the show. It's cheesy clichés galore and it sounds like hackneyed background noise at a family friendly themed restaurant - oh wait, that's *exactly* what the pitch is.
'Joyá' by Cirque du Soleil is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon.com and Spotify. Available on physical CD at Joya's Official Boutique onsite. .
Cirque's annual music offering for 2013 is Zarkana, an attempt at a rock-opera/psychadelic/world/pop/whatever recording. There are so many things wrong with this recording and there are so many different types of crazy to be discovered. Zarkana is poorly composed and extremely over-produced. Songs amble around with no discernible melody or development, and many that do have those elements have been extremely compromised in losing their dramatic intensity and vibrancy during the transfer from live production to this recording. Too many songs develop a fine structure then have elements added seemingly from random, from improvisations of instruments disrupting the flow to elecronica breakdowns. It's frustrating since several of their live counterparts are impeccable - here they are awkward, jarring, and nothing special. Like previous Cirque recordings that have aimed to be considered heavy rock, Zarkana's instrumentation lacks the edge and rawness that so many great rock albums have - it's too dreamy and synth heavy, and too psychedelic to be taken seriously. The concept of this recording isn't really realised, and majority of the content isn't anything interesting.
Still, it's dependable on a Cirque du Soleil record that there is always at least a handful of interesting songs. 'Zarwaq' is a unique splice of tribal chanting and percussive beats, with unfortunate interjections of synthesisers, whereas 'Asteraw' feels diluted from an array of twinkly effects and random interjections, but has a vibrant and memorable melody. The mystique of 'Rae' is ruined by a bizarre spoken word interval and omission of the stunning bugle horn, but otherwise is an entrancing amalgam of voice and piano. The jewel of the album is 'Eridanus', which has an infectious chorus, and unlike most of the record has amazing mixing with exceptional clarity. It's an excellent song and shows that Cirque du Soleil's repertoire is still expanding and conquering new genres.
The remainder of the album variates between remarkably beige ('Tourago/Guiram', 'Gienah'), to embarrassingly weird ('Tarienter/The Archer', 'Crysococca') to horrifyingly bad ('Caph', 'Jarseate'). It's a painful reminder that Cirque kicked artistic excellence out of it's view long ago and are primarily interested in settling for the average.
Seeing as Zarkana was originally conceived as a rock opera on Broadway, this is probably the one time where it would have been acceptable for a release with English lyrics. Instead, we are left with imaginary lyrics that seem to be an after-thought of a scrambled attempt to change Zarkana's image. The result is a horrible mishmash of sloppy pseudo-English vowels with no apparent rhyme or structure, sometimes with an odd English lyric thrown in. The record is sprinkled with unpronounceable and upsettingly random titles that are all kinds of crazy ('Caph', 'Crysococca', 'Zawraq').
The recording of Zarkana isn't great. The mixing and production is fairly poor, the majority of the songs are unappealing, and . There are some likeable tracks, but the majority of the album isn't worth a recommendation. Overall I'd recommend just purchasing 'Eridanus' on iTunes and giving the rest of the album a miss.
Cirque du Soleil 'Zarkana' is available from their online boutqiue and on Amazon.com. Available on physical CD and digital download. Preview the entire album for free on Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana official website.
Artwork from Kooza, featuring 'The Trickster' (Source: Group Line).
Talking about Cirque du Soleil is a precarious embarkment these days. My violent love-hate relationship towards the company swings from side to side as a viciously sharpened pendulum, moving like a little boy's favourite yo-yo in the wind on a blustery day. Cirque's annual January engagement this year brings Kooza to the Royal Albert Hall, a show directed by prominent theatre director with many accolades, awards, and experience at directing accomplished multi-million dollar productions ex-clown David Shiner, the mastermind behind Banana Shpeel, who totes the 'art' of clowning to be best thing since sliced bread.
The Innocent. Being Innocent.
It's his thing, yo.
(Source: Cirque du Soleil).
When Kooza opened it was described as "a return to Cirque's roots", which everyone knows is performing without animals and allocating large amounts of stage times to awful clown acts. All in all, Kooza is not as terrible as I was warned it would be - itclaims to look at themes of innocence, identity and fear through a barrage of circus acts and a lot of clowning. To some extent it succeeds but a major issue with the show is its nauseating and egregious prominence of clowns, owing to the horrible attempt at making a homage to the 'art'. There are a total of six in the show, which means there is more inane toilet humour and slapstick than any other show in the world. Also, while this show draws Cirque back to its roots, it also falls into the oxymoron that the original Cirque wasn't actually that unique or noteworthy, and it wasn't until almost a decade after its inception that they started their signature fusion of theatre and circus acts which has made them so prominent. But never you mind that - just pay money!
As far as it goes in theatricality, anything is better than Ovo, so while Kooza lacks any serious discussion, its sense of storyline is pretty random, and its mise-en-scène is just a mélange of 'anything goes', it's still somehow enjoyable to watch. The plot focuses on a character called The Innocent (who is, you guessed it, innocent), who is pulled into a "zany kingdom" which is created and ruled by The Trickster (tricky, but also sinister). There's also a bunch of skeletons who turn up for one scene - no one will be able to explain why.
For Kooza, I'm happy to temporarily abandon my insanity and morals, and excuse the quality of the theatrical elements since the acts really blow you away, and there is a distinctly higher calibre of acrobatics and athleticism compared to other Cirque du Soleil productions. Aerial acts including the Highwire and Wheel of Death attracted the biggest applause I've ever heard for Cirque acts, where it was surreal to look around the entire Royal Albert Hall and see everyone clapping furiously. The Mystic Pixies have long departed from the tour, but the trio of tiny Asian women who perform Contortion brought the house down with a similar routine. The two highlights of the evening were the Hoops Manipulation and the Balancing on Chairs. I've wanted to see Irina Akimova's hoops act for years and it was certainly worth the wait (her act is better suited in Delirium, since there was better music and her costume wasn't as hideous), as she spins five hoops while rotating and grinning at the audience, and Yao Deng Bo's serene and languid act shows a mastery of patience and the entire scene is beautifully choreographed. We missed out on the Trapeze, and whoever was managing backstage apparently forgot there is a rotational act (Hand to Hand) that could have replaced it . . .
Akimova's Manipulation act (Source: Tumblr).
I've owned the soundtrack for the show for around five years, and it never dawned on me until I saw the production just how campy the music is. Jean-François Cóté's score is a bizarre fusion of 80's big band, Indian ethnic and pop music, and while certain pieces are beautiful and slow, adding multilayered percussion and REALLY LOUD drums sounds like a gimmick. The main theme, 'L'Innocent' is just . . . wow. It's flaming. It's just the most in your face Cirque score, and I'd have to agree with cynics that usually critics the music since it's very washy material, and with all the kiddies yelling vowels it sounds very childish. Other aspects include Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt's costumes and Florene Cornet's makeup, which are just a clusterfuck of colours and random tassels which blend right into Stéphane Roy's set, a giant bataclan resembling a triple-decker Indian tour bus which is gorgeously revealed.
Despite any criticism, I very much enjoyed the evening, and I think any London theatre viewers who were a bit disillusioned by Totem will enjoy Kooza due to its linearity and superb circus feats. The material performed by clowns is awful, the music is very contrived and the theatricality is lacking, but Kooza has its moments and certainly enchants the audience. At the end of the show the cast get together on stage and yell "Kooza!". Why not?
'Kooza' is also an underwear brand.
Just saying it like it is.
Tickets for Cirque du Soleil's Kooza are £25 - £80, and is showing at The Royal Albert Hall until February 14th. Duration of approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including a 30 minute interval. Book by visiting Cirque du Soleil's website.
Well, music is obviously a big part of my life and sharing
it is a pretty important thing for me. I wanted to share some thoughts of all
the songs that have meant a lot to me over this last year, with one for each
month from October 2011 to September 2012.
October
'The Broom/Scarlett Flying' by Cirque du Soleil from Iris.
Danny Elfman started composing the music for Iris in 2009, for the shows premiere in
2011. On average, composers for film take around 3 -4 months to complete a
score, and Elfman had 2 years. One of my favourite pieces of all time, ‘Scarlett
Flying’ is included on Iris.
This piece is important to me because the first time I heard
it was at a time in my life where everything was going right. I remember the
day I first heard the song (Tuesday 11th of October – I was on my way
into university to work on my Performance Innovation assignment), and
TaylorJeffs on CT announced that the entire Iris album was available for
streaming online. I jumped on the bus and eagerly loaded it up, and actually
started crying upon hearing the first few notes because I was so glad Cirque du
Soleil could still produce magic in their music.
"The most coruscating moment on the album is the exquisite and flawless 'The Broom/Flying Scarlett' arrangement. Beginning with a reprise of the opening tune shared delicately between woodwinds and a solo violin while strings flourish softly behind, the piece evolves into something utterly stunning. It provokes this incredible but practically indescribable emotion that resembles something like yearning. It's an ephemeral and achingly beautiful piano waltz paired with this forlorn, angelic voice which fragments and harmonies itself, and slowly layers with chimes and glockenspiels which leads into the striking, driving and powerful orchestra accompaniment. The arrangement is sweeping . . . I'm listening to this right now and I am covered in goosebumps - it's just so good. "
The piece is also now included on Le Best of Cirque du Soleil 2, which I'm very happy about.
November
'Downside Up' by Peter Gabriel from New Blood.
I’m not a Peter Gabriel fan in general, but ‘Downside Up’ is
a song I really fondly remember. Originally it was released on the album Ovo in 2000 (not the shitty Cirque du
Soleil one with ‘dodecaphonic melodies’, the soundtrack to the show from the
show at the Millennium Stadium). The rendition there is nice, but really
heavily synthesised and with mixing that’s a bit boring. While it’s an okay listen
it’s not compelling or uplifting. The new version is subtle and mellow to begin
with, but the chorus introduces an entire symphony that evokes a visceral and
celebratory atmosphere, with a melange of fluttering strings and woodwinds
which sound regal and wood-nymphesque.
This version was released in November 2011 on his album New Blood, and is a re-imagined
rendition that is performed entirely on orchestra, with new vocals featuring
Peter Gabriel and his daughter Melanie Gabriel. At this time, we were just
about to open for our Production One performance, The After Dinner Joke. In
between rehearsals I busted out this song almost all the time, and I still find
listening to the chorus to be an elating way to spend my time . . !
December
'Musique Pour Gabrielle' by Jorane from 16mm.
I’d known about Jorane since 2007, when I saw her first
perform on a Cirque du Soleil DVD (Soleil de Minuit), and was really taken by
the piece she performed. Like most performances Cirque do, they’re not particularly
good at crediting who does what and what the songs are actually called, so she
fell of my radar pretty much entirely until last year. Her new EP, Une Sorcière Commes les Autres, was
released last year, and it came recommended to me after I bought another Cirque
CD (hurr).
‘Musique Pour Gabrielle’, which was originally released on
her album 16mm, is no exception. It’s
a quirky, feel good piece that has an eclectic mix of instruments and moods. It
starts off very brightly and later moves into a closing phrase that features
some of the most gorgeous and earnest cello music that I’ve ever heard. It
evokes feelings of wanderlust and homesickness simultaneously, and I love the
filmclip because it just shows ordinary people smiling, doing the jobs, dancing
at home . . . it makes me feel very nostalgic.
After the La Boite 2012 Season Launch, I walked around the
city about 3am. I had a lot to think about and I wasn’t sure what to do with
myself, so I just walked and listened to this album. The following morning, I
went to the GOMA, and this song played while I sat in the atrium, looking out a
huge glass window onto the river – I realised I’d come a very long way since
the start of the year. While the launch was in October, I started planning
ahead for Of Little Matter in December,
and that’s’ where the piece (and a lot of Jorane’s music) came to be a huge
influence in my style of composing. I hope one day I’m able to write music that
moves other people in a similar way.
January
'En Plein Face' by Harmonium from Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison.
I got introduced to Harmonium through Jorane – after enjoyed
The You and the Now so much, I went ahead and picked up Une Sorcière Commes les Autres and discovered that all the songs
were covers of French Candaian songs. I particularly enjoyed the cover of ‘En
Pleine Face’, which I found was originally buy a folk group called Harmonium
(in English the title literally manes “In Your Face”).
The piece, included on one of the bands only EPs Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison, is very
gentle because evolving into a somewhat hypnotic and inspiring ballad, and then
transforming to something that seems to represent some pleading disappointment
– very difficult to describe, and it’s hard to grasp, especially as the song is
in French. The band, especially in the closing moments of the song, sound very
much like the Beatles.
I alternated between listening to the original and Jorane’s
cover. I ended up including this one as I thought it’d be boring to list the
same artist twice, though I do like both versions, and both have their
advantages over the other. I just like the song because it’s so easy to sing
and it’s so memorable – I remember singing it a lot during a dinner with gravity, and one evening I ran into Liesel Zink who
laughed and complimented my singing skills in French. Winner.
February
'Sunday' by Stephen Sondheim from Sunday in the Park With George.
Sondheim’s ‘Sunday’ is far from anything like “an ordinary
Sunday”. For some reason I had avoided Sunday
in the Park with George for a long time because it just hadn’t appealed to
me, but during one rehearsal of Sweeney Todd, Sarah recommended I give it a
listen and showed me ‘Sunday’. Even then, it took me a few weeks to get into
it, but once I did I was so glad I’d found it. I ordered the CD and when I
received it I really enjoyed a few songs (‘Sunday’ the most), although the
score is really difficult to engage with initially.
In the musical, the song is performed at the end of Act One,
and is then reprise at the end of Act Two to close the show. It is probably
Sondheim’s strongest ensemble piece, holding a hauntingly beautiful melody that
utilizes the entire ensemble of the show – the version below is from the 2010
Proms. The delivery is stunning, with a huge orchestra and choir which conveys
the grandeur and rich texture of the score.
Thematically the song’s lyrics discuss the observations of
idyllic surroundings, suggesting the simplicity of life can supply even the
most beautiful and inspiring art in the eye of the beholder. As someone who
wants to create art, I find that message very special and important.
March
'Losing My Mind' by Laura Michelle Kelly from The Storm Inside.
Oh, to be young and incredibly good-looking. A very cute and
vastly different adaptation to Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Losing My Mind’. Originally
it’s a heartbreaking ballad about the uncertainty about the perception of love,
but here it’s just something you can bop your head to. I can easily see it in some
kind of romantic comedy movie, starring Zooey Deschanel doing various
sad-single women things – like doing her hair, diving under covers, eating
ice-cream all while simultaneously wailing irrationally.
I’m a director.
Just something to relate a little crush too. :0)
April
'The Vegemite Song (The Black Death)' by Amanda Palmer from Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under.
Fond conversations with Steven Mitchell Wright drew me back
to this one. How could this not be on anyone’s list? Perfectly surmises my
thoughts on the subject and I usually redirect people to it when asked for my
opinion.
May
'Libertango' by The Swingle Singers from Too Cubed.
We had been working with Ben Schostakowski in a university
unit called Production 2, where we devised a work of theatre under supervision
and guidance of an industry professional. We used Ben’s starting point,
eisteddfods, to create a work that was a satire on the preparation and process
of children competing at eisteddfods.
We were fairly up in the air about what we wanted to focus
on, and Ben suggested that we bring some music into the room to add some
inspiration. We found this track by the Swingle Singers that unintentionally
embodies the entire vibe that we wanted for the production – a melodramatic and
over the top creation that regardless of how intense characters were, the
ending result is something ridiculous.
I’ve been a fan of Piazola’s music since I heard an
interpretation of ‘Libertango’ on bond’s album Shine. The piece is somehow quite romantic, sort of hypnotic with
its repetitive descending passages and carries a sense of allure. The vocals of The Swingle Singers, who provide everything and use nothing beyond their
voices, adds a complexity and grandeur to the work, and added in the Glee vibe that we were trying to create
. Tom and I still bust this one out every now and then.
June
'Rainbow High' by Andrew Lloyd Webber from Evita Broadway Revival Cast Recording.
I had actually bought a copy of Evita in 2010, entirely based on the fact that Philip Quast played
Juan Peron in the 2006 version. I didn’t think much of it, and I found the
music to be pretty unpleasant and the instrumentation to be pretty week. I left
it alone for about 2 years until I somehow got very enthused about it in May
this year. As it turned out, Evita
was currently being revived on Broadway and a new recording came out in June.
The new recording got me enthused about the entire score
(probably due to fact that it’s a complete recording) -I'm crazy about Elena Roger, who is perfect in
the title role of the trashy and calculated actress who clawed her way to the
top and seduced a nation. Her voice has an earthly quality, slightly rough and
raw, but powerful and engaging. She is captivating, and while she has attracted
a lot of criticism for being too nasal, she is ferocious on the brutal highs and
lows of the score, and manages to balances explosive exuberant with a quietly
modest and candid.
Roger’s performance in 'Rainbow High' is simply bitching,
and she absolutely smashes the ending with these incredibly crazy notes that I
imagine would bring the house down. It’s a high paced, hypnotic and a bit of a
bizarre song. I regularly scream out passages from this – it’s an insanely
catchy piece and a lot of fun to belt out. I sang this a lot all through adinner
with gravity, and frequently ever since.
July
'You Woke Me Up!' by Andrew Bird from Noble Beast.
Through July I was working with Dave Sleswick on the show Iphigenia 2.0 for Vena Cava Productions.
We were one day away from our preview and Dave and I decided that one scene
(‘The Bridesmaids’) in particular needed music. We weren’t sure what the mood
should be, so Dave tried ‘You Woke Me Up!’ as the temporary soundtrack.
I instantly fell in love with the track and Andrew Bird’s
work. The final we ended up using I wrote and recorded the day that we opened
for a preview, and although it’s in a different key with a different melody and
different instrumentation, I drew a huge amount of inspiration from this track.
I love its simplicity and nonchalant mellow mood. It’s sweet and calming, but
also warm and playful. I listened to it everyday through the process after and
ordered the album from Amazon as soon as I could.
August
'And I Will Kiss' by Underworld (feat. Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Pandemonium Drummers) form Isle of Wonder.
Written by Underworld for a section in the opening of the
2012 Olympics, this 17-minute mega-mix accompanied a breathtaking and stunning
theatrical segment called ‘The Pandemonium’. Around 90 drummers swarmed around
the crowd while hundreds of actors pulled up the entire lawn of Olympic
stadium, while towers and buildings emerged from the ground.
The piece is led through a thunderous percussion section dominated
by Dame Evelyn Glennie, a deaf artist who drums in time based on the vibrations
she feels with her bare feet. The piece is an inspirational and explosive
anthem. It builds through the use of layers, gradually adding melodies in
electronic synthesizers, percussive loops, and chanting, ritualistic vocals. To
me it really embodies the atmosphere of the Olympics – an uplifting and
indescribable event that really celebrates the world coming together for a few
days to celebrate human spirit and athletic talent.
I remember watching the opening (a few days after, since we
were in bump-in during the time) and not thinking much of it, but once this
came on I thought I had to look up this song. Its like a massive journey across
17 minutes, which can be used to entertain yourself on the train (four listens
from Dakabin to uni!), to block out boring people who don’t understand criteria
sheets, and just to motivate me whenever I have to do lots of research.
Listening to it at full volumes makes my ears ache, but it’s beyond words to
describe how much I love it.
September
'Loving You' by Stephen Sondheim from Passion.
The third Sondheim composition to reach the list, Loving You
is the most hummable piece included in the 1993 musical Passion. The piece is brief, a candid and subtle moment which
represents a short explanation and resembles a breath - it is the major turning
point of the show, where Fosca communicates that her relentless pursuit of
Giorgio is not a conscious choice she has made, it is simply who she is.
Fosca is one of the most complex fictional characters I have
ever heard of – she is repulsive and impossibly ugly, in the original stage directions and Tarchetti’s original
novel she is described as“an ugly, sickly woman: incredibly thin and sallow,
her face all bones and nose, her hair pulled tightly back. Just as there is a
beauty that surpasses all possible description, so is there an ugliness that
escapes every manifestation”. Her character is fragile, occasionally erupting
into uncontrollable hysterical outbursts upon accounting thoughts and emotions
that she cannot endure. She pursues Giorgio in a fervour that is terrifying,
although this piece explains why she does the things she does.
It’s hard to express the deep connection and appreciation I
feel towards the story, music and lyrics of Passion.
This piece, along with the Passion
original recording, played on repeat through September and the start of October
as I was writing a professional plan and proposal for a staging of the show for
Directing Theatre subject at university. The piece is firmly engraved inside my
brain, and I find it simultaneously beautiful and harrowing to be able to
acknowledge within Fosca the possible emotions that people are too afraid to
express.
I can't remember how many times I've said "The new Cirque du Soleil CD has been released", but given the frequency of the phrase in comparison to how much I say it for every other artist I follow, I don't think it's a good thing. Claiming to "surprise by means of the unexpected" (an egregious oxymoron if there ever was one), Amaluna is a bizarre offering from the company. Under the marketing gimmick of having the whole album performed by women, it contains music from the show from composers Bob & Bill (Guy Dubec and Marc Lessard) with new and inane lyrics, pedestrian mixing, and about a dozen compositions which are not particularly strong.
The album prides itself that it is influenced from heavy rock and that the score is played by a "vivacious all-girl band". Newsflash to everyone working in the marketing team - just because the band is comprised entirely of females doesn't mean that by the music is by default innovative or high quality. The vocalists on the CD featured on the CD are also women, and quite talented - Julie Andrea McInnes's sultry alto tone is a strong contrast to Marie-Michelle Faber's airy and lithe timbre, and they breeze through the little material they receive with great skill. The most prominent vocalist on the album is Jennifer Aubury who has a colourful and clear-cut voice - while it's nothing unique, her vocal performance is strong and she delivers her material perfectly adequately. In terms of the band, their performances are fine but there's not much room for improvisation or any specific showcasing of talent.
Despite any issues with the arrangement. 'All Come Together' ('Magic Ceremony 1' from Le Best of 2) is the flagship of the album, a dreamy piece which enforces the same melody over and over again for about 5 minutes (which concludes with a spectacularly superfluous up-tempo verse tacked on the end which no-one really needed to hear or cares about). 'Hope' is a melancholic and ethereal piece which descends into a strong, pulsating rock segment, although it feels like it finishes far too soon just when it's gaining momentum. The best track on the album is 'O Ma Ley'. It's a delight, being a playful and bright number focusing on percussive and electronic beats which is really catchy, actually having a bridge that doesn't depart from the style of the song, and has a complex time meter that I can't pick out. I also love the little piano ditty 'secret track' which plays at the end of 'Run'.
The trend of Cirque CDs lately have been to have a few good songs while the rest just die of their own irrelevance, so of course the usual filter rubbish is here. 'Fly Around' and 'Tempest' are a mélange of noisy drums, cello and twangy guitar, and 'Burn Me Up' is a generic angsty pop song, but then spits out this hilariously inappropriate jazz woodwind section. 'Mutations' features some skittering rhythms, every panning gimmick you can think of, and some schitzophrenic breathing (at one point someone actually moans "OUCH!" - I screamed in the middle of the computer labs). Other tracks really suffer because they don't seem to be confined to a specific genre, like 'Running on the Edge', 'Ena Fee Alyne' and 'Enchanted Runion' which amble around with a chaotic array of instruments, tempo and style, although despite this the entire score doesn't seem to have enough variation and distinction of sound.
The production quality of this album is pretty lousy. It's not mixed particularly well - while it's an electronic album the techniques such panning, reverb, and distortion are naturally in use, but are so frequently utilised it borders on the excessive. Despite claiming otherwise, the mixing doesn't resemble a heavy rock album because it's so dull. The drums are not prominent enough and the quality of the album is too polished, which removes the raw and powerful details that make other artists so invigorating. The compositions themselves are quite mediocre in that they seem to focus entirely on one melody and keep layering it without moving to a bridge, and for what is there the arrangement of the pieces sometimes leave a lot to be desired.
There are some amateur conclusions to pieces, a lot of focusing on build ups which lead to nothing while other verses feeling as though they need extending to develop movement. There are so many bizarre moments, like McInnes muttering "SI!" at the beginning of verses in 'Run'. There's also a few weird production screw ups (like someone left their mic on at the end of O Mi Lay and you can hear the drummer fixing their sticks). To me, the weirdest element of this album is the lyrics. In the production, the lyrics are all performed in the imaginary Cirquish language. On this album, they're performed with (very clichéd and contrived) English lyrics - if this was what the composers originally wanted, why not perform the show's songs in English and then create the album in English, or vis-versa? The lyrics themselves are mundane and seem tacky since the rhymes are too convenient (one example, "I'm not a liar - I want the fire" or something like that).
The album is better that some of Cirque's recent offerings, but it is the weakest score that Bob & Bill have composed for Cirque du Soleil, and that's disappointing since Totem was a promising beginning and Les Chemins Invisbles had some excellent pieces. Despite its few strong moments, Amaluna is a short fall from the "guitar-oriented electronic anthem" style it claimed to create. It's a chaotic mess, a pedestrian production of a very mediocre score.
Cirque du Soleil 'Amaluna' is available November 19th from their online boutqiue and on Amazon.com. Available on physical CD and digital download. Preview the entire album for free on Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna official website.
