Various artists
The English Patient: Original Soundtrack Recording (Fantasy)
"Saharan Sun" Orange double LP
Available on vinyl for the first time is there soundtrack/score to the 1996 multi-Oscar winning movie The English Patient. And as beautiful and memorable as the film is, the music is certainly worth revisiting; it stands alone as a glorious accomplishment.
The original score is composed by Gabriel Yared and performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, while there are a few classic songs dotted in there. We get two versions of "Cheek to Cheek" (Fred Astaire, and Ella Fitzgerald). And Benny Goodman pops up twice, with "Wang Wang Blues" and "One O'Clock Jump." Yet the songs only enhance the flow of the score.
It's no surprise that among its nine Oscars, one was for Best Original Dramatic Score, "awarded to Yared for his unforgettable music for the film."
"When director Anthony Minghella invited Yared to score The English Patient, he presented the composer with several challenges," reads the press release. "The film takes place in Italy and North Africa, but its characters have geographic and cultural roots ranging from Canadian and British to Sikh and Hungarian."
"We were trying to make a film that had one foot in Europe and the other in Africa,” Minghella explains. “The film plays many games with issues of nationality, so I thought the music should play games with issues of nationality, as well. The very first idea I had was of a woman’s voice, unaccompanied, singing a lament, with a view of the desert from the air.”
Eric Cannata
Holding Onto the Holy (Industry Houseplant)
The debut solo album from Eric Cannata--famous for his work with Young the Giant, Coma Culture, and American Pets--might not be what fans are expecting.
There's a classic crooner element to the opening "There You Again," and pretty much everything that follows. Initially, it's a little disorientating. But once you settle it, like a cool pool one a hot day, it feels quite luxurious.
“’There You Go Again’ was the song that opened up the writing for my album Holding Onto the Holy,” says Cannata. “It kicked off a period of musical exploration in solitude, seeing what came naturally when I was in my home studio without any agenda, just enjoying the process of creativity. Sonically I gravitated toward a mix of vintage instruments like my Fender Coronado guitar, a jangly upright piano, and Solina String Ensemble synthesizer. I was inspired by the drama of the 60’s Wall of Sound production style. I danced around my studio, singing into an old microphone drenched in spring reverb, feeling completely free to express myself. The lyrics allude to the ebb and flow that comes along with profound love.”
It all makes so much sense, and it showcases what an underrated songwriter Cannata is in his own right.
