The Music From Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9

ビョークがプロデュース&作曲を手掛けたマシュー・バーニーによる日本が舞台の映画＜拘束のドローイング9＞(2006年公開)のサウンドトラック・アルバム"ミュージック・フロム『拘束のドローイング 9』"。(2005年作品)
ビョークによるヴォーカル曲の他、野村四郎(能楽師)、大倉正之助(囃子大倉流大鼓方能楽師)、宮田まゆみ(笙)、そしてボニー"プリンス"ビリーことウィル・オールダム等がゲスト参加している。

Rolling Stone (No. 982, p.112) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Bjork's delicate compositions employ harp, glockenspiel and the sho, a fifteen-pipe Japanese instrument...." Uncut (p.117) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Bjork's vocals are a hypnotic midnight whisper, a continuation of MEDULLA's vocal layering techniques." Mojo (Publisher) (p.62) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "2005 Soundtracks Of The Year." Mojo (Publisher) (p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "'Ambergris March' is a stunning, multi-tracked Bjork performance....Exceptionally inventive."

Though Bjork has written music for films before, her collaboration with Matthew Barney on Drawing Restraint 9 is a much deeper and more natural pairing, which makes sense, considering that they're partners in life (and now in art). Bjork's pieces for the film reflect its fusions of the contemporary with the ancient, and the organic with the technological -- themes that she has dealt with in her own work, especially on later albums like Medulla. The motif of West meeting East is also prominent in the visual and musical halves of Drawing Restraint 9: shot in Nagasaki Bay, the film depicts a pair of occidental guests (played by Barney and Bjork) who visit a Japanese whaling ship and evolve into whales to escape drowning when a storm hits. Details such as costumes inspired by Shinto marriage robes, a tea ceremony, and whaling boat culture are echoed in Bjork's music: Drawing Restraint 9 begins with "Gratitude," which uses Will Oldham's vulnerable vocals, a children's choir, and Zeena Parkins' harp to bring to life a 1946 letter written to General MacArthur by a Japanese citizen. Thanking the general for lifting the ban on whaling, the writer's gratitude comes from "my family and the ancient sea," underscoring the film's connections between life, death, sacrifice, and transformation. Meanwhile, the wistful "Shimenawa" and "Antarctic Return" incorporate the sho (played here by sho virtuoso Mayumi Miyata), a Japanese free-reed mouth organ that produces subtle and complex tone clusters that sound organic and ethereal at the same time. The album's climactic track, "Holographic Entrypoint," is inspired by the traditions of Noh theater; the alternately gruff and wailing vocals and wood block percussion are the essence of simplicity, and all the more powerful and eerie because they're so simple. Similarly, "Pearl" pairs the sho with heavy, primal, Medulla-like rhythmic breathing and gasps that sometimes sound like scraping, once again showing Bjork's willingness to integrate sounds that might not be conventionally beautiful into her work without diluting them. Perhaps the most striking thing about Drawing Restraint 9 is how seamlessly it blends and contrasts beauty and violence. "Ambergris March" is all sparkling, dreamy delight, while "Hunter Vessel" mixes tense, stabbing brass with reflective passages. The handful of tracks Bjork sings on embody this duality as well: the layers of her vocals on "Bath" are appropriately soothing, but on "Storm," they add to the track's chaotic power. Though Drawing Restraint 9 is more expansive and abstract than Medulla, it's in a similarly challenging and rewarding vein, and bodes well for future Bjork/Barney collaborations. ~ Heather Phares

「クレマスター」の鬼才アーティスト、 マシュー・バーニーの最新フィルム・アートのサントラ!! 音楽はビヨーク!! 『拘束のドローイング9』サウンドトラック 日本の捕鯨船を使って撮影された、2時間15分に およぶマシュー・バーニーのフィルム・アート、のサウンドトラック は、ビヨークが作成。まるでデヴィッド・シルビアンを思わせる 耽美さを感じる1曲目、そして2曲目以降の、個性的かつ 繊細な美しさを感じさせる、ビヨーク・プロデュースによる インストゥルメンタルたち。それは、初期グリーナウェイ作品 につけたマイケル・ナイマンの音楽にも時に似たりするが、 つまりは、今まで聴いたこともない、新世代の実験音楽 といったらいいだろうか。ビヨークの声は8曲目で聴ける。 ショッキングな力作。 (C)馬場敏裕