Burt Bacharach - South American Getaway (Cinematic Orchestra Late Night Tales)
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Not for nothing are they called the Cinematic Orchestra. As we sit here waiting for the lights to go down with popcorn in our lap and a Coke the size of Swindon, we are transported to the greatest movie that never was; the Movie of our Minds. The movie, in fact, scored by The Cinematics' Jason Swinscoe, especially for us. Jason Swinscoe has been living and breathing soundtracks for many a year (the last one was his epic effort for Disney, the Crimson Wing). You suspect that he'd manage to turn a trip to Sainsbury's into a Homeric odyssey fit for string sections and harp players, such is his aptitude for the gallant, the grand and the plain groovy -- check out Imogen Heap's celestial Cumulus herein. (The Cinematic Orchestra is more than a bunch of movie buffs, though, as anyone who has heard their stellar take on hip hop, All Things To All Men, featuring Roots Manuva.) The Cinematic Orchestra are now on their fourth original album (not including live recordings, remixes and, of course, contributions to soundtracks) and third country, having relocated to New York after spending spells in the UK and France and these days can be found in Fort Greene, a vibey Brooklyn neighbourhood with a grand musical heritage. You can hear some of these influences seep out, gently washing your way. Eddie Gale, whose obscure jazz classic The Rain is
featured here, was also a native of Fort Greene. There are also some known quantities. The delectable Björk's Joga is present and correct while Swinscoe's affection for the double bass, here provided by Danny Thompson, is clearly evident on Nick Drake's Three Hours. The marvellous Shuggie Otis also makes an appearance with the musically
stunning and grammatically interesting Aht Uh Mi Hed, while Sebastien Tellier's La Ritournelle, already regarded as a modern classic, doffs its cap in the direction of Mr. Swinscoe. The compilation would not be complete without some soundtrack content and the lounge lizard himself, Burt Bacharach, obliges with South American Getaway, taken
from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, while the strangely familiar Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich -- check out Fluffy Little Clouds for confirmation -- drops the temperature a tad, before we scoot off somewhere past Southport beach. And this being Another Late Night we could not depart without a venerated (and exclusive) cover version produced by the boys. The Cinematics' offer up Talking About Freedom, originally sung by Fontella Bass with whom they have worked extensively. A little nod in deference to Fontella, there; a nice touch. The lights have dimmed. The Cinzano ads have been and gone. Now it's the main presentation. Lie back and think of Eisenstein.
Cinematic? You betcha by golly wow.
Bill Brewster
