The Spirit
David Newman
" The Spirit shows remarkable potential and provides almost none "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Raise your hand if you're a David Newman fan. Of course now you have guys waving in front of their home computer and making a fool of themselves. But they would do it gladly to hear David Newman finally compose something non comedy wise. That's right, The Spirit (Will Eisner's adaptation of the man that brought Sin City to life) is perhaps the most interesting project that came in the hands of comedy crack David Newman. And like me, most of you were already dreaming of something grand. Raise your hand if that was the case.
In what can only be described as an Ennio Morricone inspired opening of the harmonica, "Spirit Main Title" starts to unleash the theme of the Spirit in the better David Newman sense. And this track sumps up what can be said about The Spirit. Despite the brilliance that lies in mere seconds of David Newman's orchestral music, so much of it loses appeal when it suddenly stops and continues on another method. Oh by the way, the ending is Danny Elfman all the way.
The mysterious vocal in "Lorelei / Angel of Death" and the jazzy "Enter Silken Floss / Octopus Kicks" show enough diversity that David Newman has in store for all the women The Spirit encounters. But the Octopus mood is even more interesting. Namely a ticking sound of an instrument. "Just a Fight" ought to be promising but barely breaks into the action mode and "You're an Accident" puts a little suspense and the vocal of Lorelei to it.
"Spirit Reflects" shows a nice moment for a reflective use of the harmonica and the ticking of Octopus returns in "Egg on my Face", interwoven between lovely soft material and unknowing strings out of Basic Instinct. But altogether this track is nothing much on its own (apart from the soft material).
We are still awaiting the real explosion of exiting material and there's a wonderful albeit too brief rise of excitement in "Sand / Octopus Lair". The harmonica returns in "Spirit Finds Sands / Falling / Hung Up" along with the exciting rise of The Spirit's growing theme. It is one of the most exciting tracks of the disc and it doesn't even cover a full blown action moment.
The vocal of Lorelei in "Lorelei / You're Mine / Spirit Wants" has been heard by now, but the brief but lovely The Village like rise of the violin is still astonishing and deserves a longer cut. And the same can be said about that wonderful fanfare in "Standoff / Spirit Just Keeps Coming" which is just awesome but also just 5 seconds long.
The promising "Shootout" is actually the most promising track of all. Why? Because it holds the adventure tunes based on The Spirit's theme now for the entire length of the track. "Octopus Buys It" has that ticking sound allright, along with a brief choral wash and some action material. "Spirit Kisses Sand" holds emotional piano and a resolving fanfare finish, while that wonderful build up with The Spirit theme holds itself together in "It's You and I Love / She is My City", that is if it wasn't so goddamn short.
So there you have it. The Spirit shows remarkable potential and provides almost none. I'm making this sound extremely terrible but I'm a David Newman fanatic and musical offers like these seem to come and go too sparse lately. So when a promising project finally comes in his hands you're dreaming of all those insanely brilliant scores of the mid '90's. Of course The Spirit is nothing of that but hearing glimpses of it makes it all the more frustrating. Because it offers nice emotional piano, interesting diversity and seconds of exploding adventure music that asks for more. The Spirit therefore keeps you thirsty after you already had a sip.
Tracklisting
1. Spirit Main Title (5.03)
2. Lorelei / Angel of Death (0.41)
3. Enter Silken Floss / Octopus Kicks (1.36)
4. Just a Fight (2.58)
5. You're an Accident (1.57)
6. Spirit Reflects (2.02)
7. Egg on my Face (7.26)
8. Sand / Octopus Lair (1.11)
9. I Am Sorely Disappointed (3.26)
10. Spirit Finds Sands / Falling / Hung Up (2.14)
11. Plaster of Paris Dance (1.23)
12. Spirit and Plaster Run (1.08)
13. Lorelei / You're Mine / Spirit Wants (4.33)
14. Standoff / Spirit Just Keeps Coming (2.59)
15. Shootout (1.44)
16. Octopus Buys It (1.51)
17. Spirit Kisses Sand (2.34)
18. It's You and I Love / She is My City (2.45)
Total Length: 47.39
In what can only be described as an Ennio Morricone inspired opening of the harmonica, "Spirit Main Title" starts to unleash the theme of the Spirit in the better David Newman sense. And this track sumps up what can be said about The Spirit. Despite the brilliance that lies in mere seconds of David Newman's orchestral music, so much of it loses appeal when it suddenly stops and continues on another method. Oh by the way, the ending is Danny Elfman all the way.
The mysterious vocal in "Lorelei / Angel of Death" and the jazzy "Enter Silken Floss / Octopus Kicks" show enough diversity that David Newman has in store for all the women The Spirit encounters. But the Octopus mood is even more interesting. Namely a ticking sound of an instrument. "Just a Fight" ought to be promising but barely breaks into the action mode and "You're an Accident" puts a little suspense and the vocal of Lorelei to it.
"Spirit Reflects" shows a nice moment for a reflective use of the harmonica and the ticking of Octopus returns in "Egg on my Face", interwoven between lovely soft material and unknowing strings out of Basic Instinct. But altogether this track is nothing much on its own (apart from the soft material).
We are still awaiting the real explosion of exiting material and there's a wonderful albeit too brief rise of excitement in "Sand / Octopus Lair". The harmonica returns in "Spirit Finds Sands / Falling / Hung Up" along with the exciting rise of The Spirit's growing theme. It is one of the most exciting tracks of the disc and it doesn't even cover a full blown action moment.
The vocal of Lorelei in "Lorelei / You're Mine / Spirit Wants" has been heard by now, but the brief but lovely The Village like rise of the violin is still astonishing and deserves a longer cut. And the same can be said about that wonderful fanfare in "Standoff / Spirit Just Keeps Coming" which is just awesome but also just 5 seconds long.
The promising "Shootout" is actually the most promising track of all. Why? Because it holds the adventure tunes based on The Spirit's theme now for the entire length of the track. "Octopus Buys It" has that ticking sound allright, along with a brief choral wash and some action material. "Spirit Kisses Sand" holds emotional piano and a resolving fanfare finish, while that wonderful build up with The Spirit theme holds itself together in "It's You and I Love / She is My City", that is if it wasn't so goddamn short.
So there you have it. The Spirit shows remarkable potential and provides almost none. I'm making this sound extremely terrible but I'm a David Newman fanatic and musical offers like these seem to come and go too sparse lately. So when a promising project finally comes in his hands you're dreaming of all those insanely brilliant scores of the mid '90's. Of course The Spirit is nothing of that but hearing glimpses of it makes it all the more frustrating. Because it offers nice emotional piano, interesting diversity and seconds of exploding adventure music that asks for more. The Spirit therefore keeps you thirsty after you already had a sip.
Tracklisting
1. Spirit Main Title (5.03)
2. Lorelei / Angel of Death (0.41)
3. Enter Silken Floss / Octopus Kicks (1.36)
4. Just a Fight (2.58)
5. You're an Accident (1.57)
6. Spirit Reflects (2.02)
7. Egg on my Face (7.26)
8. Sand / Octopus Lair (1.11)
9. I Am Sorely Disappointed (3.26)
10. Spirit Finds Sands / Falling / Hung Up (2.14)
11. Plaster of Paris Dance (1.23)
12. Spirit and Plaster Run (1.08)
13. Lorelei / You're Mine / Spirit Wants (4.33)
14. Standoff / Spirit Just Keeps Coming (2.59)
15. Shootout (1.44)
16. Octopus Buys It (1.51)
17. Spirit Kisses Sand (2.34)
18. It's You and I Love / She is My City (2.45)
Total Length: 47.39