MICHAEL CLAYTON—James Newton Howard

Out of all the choices in this year’s Oscar category, Michael Clayton seems to be the oddest of the lot at first.  But what one hears in this score is an intriguing blend of an urban film scoring style.  There are some aspects of minimalism here unlike that of say Glass or John Adams.  Howard instead takes small motivic ideas and repeats them in his texture.  Sometimes these are tonal (that is featuring some melodic contour), sometimes these are non-tonal (that is either based on percussion or drum machine sounds, or ambient design ideas), and sometimes these are harmonic. 

While all these aspects make for a rather underwhelming experience when heard as a CD presentation, they can provide a sense of background continuity musically to a scene.  The score tends to focus more on underpinning inner conflict of characters, trying to lend a subtle musical suggestion to the underlying conflict of the character or of a particular scene.  This often means that the music seems to remain relatively static at times creating tension through repetition of these smaller ideas instead of with huge orchestral swells.  The score tries then to get under the skin of it the audience in subtle unaffecting ways that create a sense of coldness to the score that make it unique.

Lately there have been plenty of composers experimenting with pure sound design as music.  These have been relatively experimental scores often really hard to crack and even harder to listen to even though one can admire the attempts (Paul Haslinger has been doing this a lot, and Brian Tyler explored this approach in Bug).  Howard has tried to find a way here to more fully integrate this technique into the fabric of his music.  Sound design as an instrument, rather than an effect, is the result and it is on great display throughout this score.  You might wonder why that is important and in order to understand that it is worth remembering how composers experimented with adding in synthesizers and electronic effects when these opportunities first appeared.  Back when Goldsmith was exploring these things, the Academy was fairly conservative and only a couple of scores made it into the final 5.  Patton tentatively explored the echoplex and this technique of manipulation of sound was at least given a nod, as was the odd, aleatoric approach that John Williams took for Images.  But it has been difficult to find scores that are able to integrate non-traditional sound with standard orchestral music that really work without overwhelming the picture.  And so, with Michael Clayton, we have at least one way that composers might consider in approaching the modern drama.  The problem is that this is very difficult to make work and still maintain one’s individuality. 

Throughout Howard’s score, we rarely get any kind of harmonic epiphany as it plays out.  Things are always fairly static until we come to “Times Square.”  This particular cue encapsulates a lot of Howard’s approach here as subtle string lines are overcome by an almost magical synthetic sound idea leading to a mini-climax on a major chord.  It’s not much, but it does pack more of an emotional punch musically.  As the CD progresses, Howard begins to incorporate more of the cues that feature these small climactic pushes and does a great job of never letting them go to the point of feeling fully satisfied.  This is another mark of the score’s importance that it leaves us as frustrated as its title character.  Howard also demonstrates an ability to create larger musical structure in these cues.  A lot of film music taking the sound design approach tends to suffer from truncated musical ideas and very short cues.  Here, Howard is able  to expand and extend this for longer sequences, heard in “I’m Not the Guy You Kill” and “25 Dollars Worth” most effectively—a cue that takes a page from trance music in some respects.  When acoustic instruments do appear prominently, we take notice in a way that we might not have before, and this often helps create some sense of closure to a particular scene or musical idea that, while subtle, is quite effective.

While many had hoped Shire’s Zodiac would be on the list this year, this particular score bears some resemblance to the approach in that film.  Shire’s score tends to work from a deconstructed thematic idea, whereas Howard is working from a deconstructed musical climax…working away from the kind of forward buildup we expect in the score, teasing us with the possibilities of what might happen, but in the end leaving us wondering, where could this all head.

Five Reasons Why this Should Receive the Oscar

1.      It displays a rethinking of what “music” is and blurs that distinction with ambient sound design.

2.      The score explores an alternative approach to minimalist style in film music while also incorporating a pop style, trance, into its musical language.

3.      The score uses sound design more as a musical instrument in the texture rather than as a special effect.

4.      The score demonstrates how one can build smaller climaxes without heavily relying on thematic development.

5.      Using small gestures instrumentally, or within the sound design, demonstrate a command of underscoring a scene without overwhelming it.

Alright, I started out this morning thinking I would write about Arthur Foote or Bruce Smeaton both born on this date.  Foote was a great composer of string pieces and has a few orchestral works that have appeared on CD.  Smeaton is an Australian film composer.

But then I popped in Mark Isham's score for The Black Dahlia and realized I could not let this score go by unnoticed.  I will say first that I have little desire to see the film.  Not that Regis Philbin is any mark of my going to a film, but when he commented about the premiere he went to on his morning show as being the most confusing thing he had ever seen, I was beginning to wonder.  Isham's score though is another thing entirely.  The main thematic idea is a kind of cross between Jerry Goldsmith's scores for Chinatown and L.A. Confidential but composed in a kind of John Adams-ish postminimalist style.  Isham's solo trumpet adds a fine dimension to this score as well. 

I thought Isham's score for Crash deserved a nomination last year as it was a superb musical accomplishment.  The lack of his name appearing in any awards list for this score equally boggles the mind especially given the notice that The Good German (T. Newman) received.  This particular score makes a great companion to that one updating the film noir sound a bit with colorful orchestrations and amazing thematic ideas that flirt with jazz along the way.  It makes for a great listen as well and if you enjoy Goldsmith's score this one will satisfy your musical interest for that master's music. 

The other score I have been listening to more than I had expected was James Newton Howard's Blood Diamond.  While much of the score has that kind of Hollywood idea of what African music sounds like, there are some nice touches of ethnic percussion and a couple of interesting thematic threads that hold the score together.  I don't recall much of the score in the film proper except in a couple of action sequences.  The disc closes off with some additional song material that fits fairly well with the rest.

So both come highly recommended with a big lean towards the Isham release on Silva!