Search - Air :: The Virgin Suicides: Original Motion Picture Score

Zowee!

Ryan Hennessy | Albany, NY | 05/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Air's ambient, dreamy and incredibly mood-setting score for the film The Virgin Suicides opens with the soulful "Playground Love," what I still believe to be one of the best pop songs of the last five years. It combines the dark ambience of the later songs with a pop sensibility and the result is a song that, if it was played on the radio, would be one of the greatest pop songs of recent memory. It's more or less smooth jazz with string synths to compliment it. The gentle loungy xylophone and saxophone make this the best chill-out song with a pop structure. Immediately, Air seems to be showing a Pink Floyd influence, one that reoccurs throughout the whole score.The rest of the album keeps a similar dark theme, with Air, this time, switching off from their beloved synthesizers to more traditional instruments at times. Many songs are built over loops of synth sounds, with the song building slowly, and changing, until it ends up back where it started. Such is the case with "Clouds Up," "Cemetary Party" and "Dark Messages." "Cemetary Party" consists of a plodding footstep sounding synth with a organ, and a dreamily played guitar. This song also shows off the capabilities specific synthesizer, i forget the name of it, but Kraftwerk used one of the first versions of it on Radioactivity. It imitates the sound of a choir singing, and so it gives this incredible half-real half-surreal sound of what could be human voices, but you're not sure. Because I immediately tie in the sound with its use on Radioactivity, it always sends a chilling sensation through my body. It's somewhat ominous.As i said, the rest of the album pretty much sustains a mood that's somewhere between mystery and suspense, between clean and sleazy. The Pink Floyd influence is so big that "Highschool Lover" sounds like it was taken right out of "The Great Gig In The Sky." The results of this record couldn't be predicted from Air's somewhat friendlier Moon Safari. They've matured in a good way. This is a film score that should be a trend-setter. Personally, i haven't heard another score that sounds like this, both electronic and traditional and just so.. so... moody! It adds up to be one of the best and most cohesive film scores i've ever heard."

One of the most beautiful albulms I've ever heard...

Cat | England | 05/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a 17 yr old myself, my parents are alarmed at the fact that I have become so obsessed with everything to do with the "Virgin Suicides" recently. First, I read the book (utterly compelling and beautifully written), then saw the film (a great-though slightly short-portrayal of the book) and finally have aquired the soundtrack. I'm not normally into much chill-out type music, but it is so haunting and compelling that you cannot help but listen to it. The best track in my opinion, track 8 (Highschool Love) is really key to the whole film, but all the tracks seem to blend seemlessly into each other. The only faults I have are that the tracks do not last long enough (I personally could have enjoyed another minute or so of track 8 for a start), and that if a listener had not seen the film, or read the book, then songs like track 13 (which contains excerpts from the film) may not make sense. But I suggest you just overlook this, sit back and let the soaring and haunting melodies glide over you."