Music for Film

Listeners familiar with Polish electro-acoustic composer Jacaszeks studio albums, such as the brilliant Treny and Kwiaty, might be unaware of his extensive, award-winning work for film scores and theatrical presentations. Music for Film is a concise album of pieces written for fantasy dramas and documentaries over the span of a dozen years. While the individual tracks differ in technique and presentation, the underlying mood is similar enough that the album feels like a cohesive, intentional work rather than a patchwork of different scenes taken out of context. The tracks are generally ominous and suspenseful, but not driven to the edge of panic. Much of the album conveys a sensation of slow, cautious tiptoeing, remaining alert to the possibilities of any sudden attacks or occurrences. The Iron Bridge uses smudged, disembodied vocals and a trudging brushed drum, ending up with the albums most tense, fearsome moment. Twelve Years floats sorrowful violins over carefully paced clicks and vibrations. Dance injects a brittle, distorted buzz atop a distant, plodding drum beat and steady bass pluckings. Encounter Me in the Orchard is a bit more ethereal, with softly floating piano triplets swathed in light layers of shoegaze-like distortion, eventually made eerier by the presence of subtle choral voices and electronic pulsations. November Late builds up from soft rustling and pizzicatos to more dramatic, swelling strings, with the faintest hint of crying vocals trapped beneath it all. Jacaszek masterfully constructs expressions of desolation and lingering fear, equally captivating with or without visuals, and Music for Film is just as powerful and emotionally resonant as his other recordings. ~ Paul Simpson