{"id":2158,"date":"2011-01-12T20:06:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T01:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2011-01-12T20:14:41","modified_gmt":"2011-01-13T01:14:41","slug":"mp3-cd-house-of-the-devil-2009-i-can-see-you-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2158","title":{"rendered":"MP3 + CD: House of the Devil (2009) \/ I Can See You (2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>H<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: MovieScore Media (Sweden)\/ Released:\u00a0November 17, 2009<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length:\u00a026 \/ (64:28)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: Available as a MP3 downloadable album<\/a> and on CD.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Jeff Grace<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Jeff Grace\u2019s quietly elegant House of the Devil<\/strong> is a perfect match for Ti West\u2019s inherently slow pacing, adding little doses of unease to creeping camera movements, still shots, or otherwise mundane moments when the babysitter has suspicions there\u2019s something very weird about the isolated house she\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

When distilled to basic plot points, there\u2019s not much to House of the Devil<\/strong>, but Grace keeps expanding on his little chiming motif, adding more unsteady tones, increasingly shrill chords and warped notes from strings otherwise heard in plaintive configurations (“The View Upstairs”).<\/p>\n

Much like The Roost<\/strong>, Grace sticks with simplicity \u2013 piano and strings \u2013 to create unsettling sonic images in tracks like \u201cOriginal Inhabitants,\u201d brilliantly taking the components of an already unsteady chord and having them drift apart, accent tones, and suddenly deepen in tenor.<\/p>\n

A larger orchestral sound (including brass and percussion) is introduced in \u201cMother,\u201d and alongside pizzicato strings and a steady percussion rumble, the cue\u2019s about discovering a horrible truth, and finding oneself in a nasty, inextricable situation. Grace\u2019s cue begins with an orchestral surge, switches to a reverberating pall of doom, and gradually progresses from sustained chords to metallic clamor.<\/p>\n

The selection of original cues (which had to function between a number of vintage 80s synth and rock cues) comes to a close with a 5+ mins. suite, and a final thematic statement \u2013 the unsettling lament, \u201cMrs. Ulman.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s second score is I Can See You<\/strong>, composed for Graham Reznick\u2019s Lynchian thriller, and like House of the Devil<\/strong>, the music was meant to fit between additional cues (material composed and performed by Reznick\u2019s own band).<\/p>\n

Like the film, the music is a mix of electronic, rock, synth, and orchestral, and its eclecticism still works within the album. The slow and steady rock beat and synth drones in \u201cToday in New York City\u201d is an overt tribute to John Carpenter, whereas \u201cPitch Meeting\u201d is a just free-form pattern on keyboards, deliberately performed out of tune.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer Day\u201d is the album\u2019s longest cue, and within its 6 mins. running time, Grace slowly moves from gentle waves of synth and string chords towards the integration of ascending string motifs, creating a peculiar elegy for characters whose fates have yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s midsection and weird dream sequence is largely scored with music by Reznick and a musical number, but the remaining Grace cues cover the episodes where characters disappear, bicker, and ponder their fates as the night sets in and the darkened forest becomes an alluring force. \u201cDoug Escapes\u201d features wooden trunk percussion, and \u201cThe Cliff\u201d is a great mix of distant metallic shimmering and weird brass moaning. \u201cEvening Fog\u201d switches to experimental, disharmonious strings after a large brass statement, and the cue is somewhat compressed in the eponymous \u201cI Can See You,\u201d played in the film when the lead character suddenly moves from reality into Reznick’s pure bizarro world.<\/p>\n

Little of Grace\u2019s music is featured in the film\u2019s concluding scenes, but the album closes with the lovely \u201cSwimming Hole,\u201d featuring dual acoustic guitars, evoking a contemplative moment for the lead character; and \u201cPassing Trees,\u201d which reintroduces the detuned keyboard solo heard in \u201cPitch Meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related links:<\/em><\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0I<\/a><\/strong> Can See You<\/a> <\/strong>(2008)<\/p>\n

Interview: Composer Jeff Grace<\/a> (2009 & 2010)<\/p>\n

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Related external links (MAIN SITE):<\/em><\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0House of the Devil, The<\/a> <\/strong>(2009)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0H<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ H . Rating: Very Good Label: MovieScore Media (Sweden)\/ Released:\u00a0November 17, 2009 Tracks & Album Length:\u00a026 \/ (64:28) . Special Notes: Available as a MP3 downloadable album and on CD. . Composer: Jeff Grace . . Review: Jeff Grace\u2019s quietly elegant House of the Devil is a perfect match for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[33,4212],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-yO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2158"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2181,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158\/revisions\/2181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}