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FILM WORKS XIX: THE RAIN HORSE

John Zorn

RIO/Avant-Prog


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John Zorn Film Works XIX: The Rain Horse album cover
4.21 | 15 ratings | 5 reviews | 13% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2008

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Tears of Morning (4:32)
2. The Stallion (2:42)
3. Tree of Life (3:01)
4. Wedding of Wild Horses (4:22)
5. Forests in the Mist (6:09)
6. Dance Exotique (2:59)
7. Bird in the Mist (4:01)
8. Parable of Job (4:17)
9. Encounter (2:10)
10. Rain Horse (4:16)
11. End Credits (2:04)

Total Time 40:32

Line-up / Musicians

- Erik Friedlander / cello
- Rob Burger / piano
- Greg Cohen / bass

Releases information

CD Tzadik (TZ 7365), Jan 2008

Thanks to silentman for the addition
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JOHN ZORN Film Works XIX: The Rain Horse ratings distribution


4.21
(15 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(13%)
13%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(73%)
73%
Good, but non-essential (7%)
7%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (7%)
7%

JOHN ZORN Film Works XIX: The Rain Horse reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by snobb
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars This album (Dimitri Geller's the Rain Horse movie's soundtrack) is one of the most accessible Zorn's work (as many others from his Filmworks series). No avant-jazz trumpet sounds, no hardcore scratches. Chamber acoustic trio of his regular collaborators ( Erik Friedlander / cello, Rob Burger / piano and Greg Cohen / bass) play melancholic jazzy instrumental music based on klezmer.

It's a beautiful music! Acoustic piano plays a jazzy, slightly swinging melodies, when cello's sad but optimistic strings sound brings you somewhere in the ocean of your fantasy.

Zorn's best soundtrack music has unique ability - being just a back-up for some visual works (at least in theory), this music is such full bodied, that easily could require visual illustration for itself. So, you don't need to watch original movie to feel all the music in full, but when listening to it, your imagination easily build a visual line!

With no drums or percussion added, the acoustic bass is only rhythm instrument added on this record. So, sound is soft, rich and melodic. Using same roots as Zorn's Masada, klezmer there is just a deep inspiration for saloon music. All emotions are subtle and refined, but deeply under the skin it's the same music!

Highly recommended for everyone searching on different and beautiful music. Excellent entry for Zorn's world as well!

Four and half, rounded till 5!

Review by Neu!mann
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars No appreciation of John Zorn would be complete without a study of his many film scores, all of them for movies unlikely to ever open at your local multiplex: indie art projects, obscure documentaries, and so forth. Number nineteen in his Filmworks catalogue, released in 2008, was commissioned for an austere but often stunning piece of alt-animation by Russian artist Dimitri Geller: a wordless dream-parable of death and rebirth in the natural world.

Geller originally approached Zorn to borrow songs from his Book of Angels archive for the film. But Zorn, as always an incredibly prolific composer (scroll down his page in these Archives for proof), offered instead to write an original score, and in typical fashion recorded and mixed the entire album in a single day.

It's a thing of beauty too, and one of the few soundtrack albums able to stand apart from its parent film as a totally unique and equally worthwhile experience. Hardly surprising, since Geller's 15-minute movie used only a fraction of the music cues collected here, each one a miniature instrumental objet d'art all by itself.

The music couldn't be simpler: graceful yet haunting melodies, drawn from eastern European traditions and arranged for an uncluttered acoustic trio of cello, upright bass and piano, the latter sometimes gently muted by an application of (!) Silly Putty. Is it Jazz? Classical? Gypsy Folk-Art? Whatever the answer, the full album is a joy to hear, and in its own modest way remains one of the highlights of John Zorn's immense musical library.

Latest members reviews

4 stars For the longest time I shied away from Zorn's filmworks. I was initially hypnotized by Zorn, as most are, due to his masterpiece Naked City and subsequently fell victim to his catalogue of Avant Garde music. For no discernible reason I felt for the longest time that taking this highly experiment ... (read more)

Report this review (#175353) | Posted by Equality 7-2521 | Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Rating: B+ In his long career, John Zorn has done everything from extreme avant-garde to relaxing, trance-inducing music, everything from avant-garde classical to metal, from free jazz to klezmer, and all of these sides of Zorn I love. There's one side of Zorn, however, that I only discovered ... (read more)

Report this review (#162404) | Posted by Pnoom! | Friday, February 22, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars A really good start for this new year. Soon Zorn will publish other works, and this is a pretty fascinating one, with good compositions, essential strumentation and relaxing atmospheres. Absolutely enjoyable for all Zorn fans. Waiting for The Dreamers, pick up this and listen.. ... (read more)

Report this review (#162116) | Posted by paloz | Monday, February 18, 2008 | Review Permanlink

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