As Late Night Tales moves into a new decade, the long awaited chapter from The Cinematic Orchestra greets us with style. Following editions from behemoths of rock Arctic Monkeys and Snow Patrol, The Cinematic Orchestra’s selection sees a return to a more typical Late Night compiler. Their association with the series reaches back to the inclusion of ‘Channel 1 Suite’ from their debut album ‘Motion’ on Zero 7’s memorable 2002 compilation. With track selection and order seeing many revisions since the inception of the project, we arrive in 2010 with one of the most defined Late Night Tales yet to come in the 23 title strong series.Not for nothing are they called The Cinematic Orchestra. 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.
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 - Burt Bacharach’s ‘South American Getaway’ from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, appears in a heavily re-edited form, while the strangely familiar ‘Electric Counterpoint’ by Steve Reich drops the temperature a tad.
This being Late Night Tales 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. Concluding the album, Will Self continues his spoken word short story ‘The Happy Detective’, now onto the third part.
Release Date: 5th April 2010
Tracklisting:
1. Flying Lotus - LA-EP3 Aunties Lock Rebekkah Raff Remix
2. Nick Drake – Three Hours
3. Eddie Gale – The Rain
4. Terry Callier - You're Gonna Miss Your Candyman
5. The Freedom Sounds Feat. Wayne Henderson - Behold The Day
6. DJ Food - Living Beats
8. Shuggy Otis - Aht Uh Mi Hed
9. Thom Yorke - Black Swan
10. Cinematic Orchestra – Restaurant
11. Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint III
12. Bjork - Joga
13. Imogen Heap – Cumulus
14. St.Germain - Rose Rouge
15. Songstress - See Line Woman
16. Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle
17. Burial - Dog Shelter
18. Burt Bacharach - South American Getaway
19. Cinematic Orchestra – Talking About Freedom
20. Will Self - The Happy Detective Part 3