Reel Chill Vol.2

Silva Screen Records specializes in re-recordings of film scores, usually performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (which is heard on 21 of the 28 tracks here). Once portions of a score have been recorded anew, they are then recycled in a variety of collections, many of them given over to particular composers, for example, or film genres. The concept this time, contributed by label head Reynold da Silva, is to assemble becalmed film cues from 28 scores. The album is a successor to 2004's Reel Chill: The Cinematic Chillout Album, and like it draws largely from movies of the immediate past with occasional pieces dating back further (Chinatown, On Golden Pond). The music did not always originate in the films; in fact, Erik Satie gets two selections due to the use of his music in The Royal Tenenbaums and The Painted Veil. Even when a contemporary composer is writing for the screen, however, classical influences are often heard, notably in Dario Marianelli's music for Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 remake) and Atonement. Pianos tinkle quietly and contemplatively; tempos tiptoe; and strings swell in track after track, as the composers provide accompaniment to poignant and romantic moments. The listener is invited to "chill out" to these sounds, and little will disturb the reveries that result over two hours. ~ William Ruhlmann