The Cinematic Orchestra
Motion

What is the purpose of art if not to unsettle? This is what (the late) Bowie of the best times said, a few Ziggy and Alladin ago, with the simplicity of one who is now a legend. And do we agree with this phrase? Many (of the few) will certainly take that quote as a creed, a trademark. With the music of the Cinematic Orchestra, we move simply from words to actions.

It's 1999. Mainstream music has now lost the vigor of the past when sales and quality were almost a union, in the series quantity and quality. The listener is in a context where that kind of art that unsettles must be found somewhere, because often it is independent music or simply too mature (cultured music and otherwise) and it is precisely in this search that I came across the Cinematic Orchestra. I was looking for something noteworthy that united the influences of various musical genres in a work that retained compactness and I found all of this in "Motion". Seven tracks starting from that dreamy and mysterious incipit of "Durian" (Vocal) where the ensemble made up of six elements flaunts a track that manages to combine vaguely jazzy atmospheres (but not jazz) thanks also to the use of trumpet and double bass (a constant for the cinematic) which together with the soundscape constructed from sampled sounds and the voice that occasionally echoes like a mad fragment throws us into a surreal dimension. A particular mention to the closing part of the track where everything turns into a funky flow.

Another important element in the Cinematic's music is this almost ethno air, a bit Calexico that echoes especially thanks to that sharp drumming by Luke Flowers which in "Ode to the big sea" enriches the lounge sounds of the piece with a brief and effective drum solo. "Night of the Iguana" is certainly a longer track (thirteen minutes) than the previous ones and much more verbose, thanks to a much more visionary atmosphere than before where an incredible solo sax takes space that instead of representing the nemesis of a strongly electronic piece becomes an added value. The peak of the musical discourse undertaken in "Motion" is called "Chanel 1 suite", where the explosive mixture typical of the cinematic reaches its climax in a piece with great impact, suggestive and also alienating. "Bluebirds" and "and relax" move on opposite tracks, more harsh and experimental is the first that vaguely (but really vaguely) recalls the Nine Inch Nails of "The Downward Spiral" (if only for that "industrial" drum) more ethereal the second, much more similar to a trip, a lysergic journey in its formal electronic track. With "Diabolus" "Motion" ends and not by chance. It is perhaps the most ambitious piece where the sax and the trumpet come out of the dimension in which they were relegated in previous tracks and create an atmosphere that is, if possible, even more ethereal than before. I see a distant but vivid connection with "Will o the wisp" by Miles Davis ("Sketches of Spain") if only for that initial atmosphere which is almost orchestral. "Motion" ends like this.

An album, a boulder where the atmosphere is so strong and suggestive that it hurts. But isn't this what we wanted? According to what our White Duke said, I'd say it definitely is.