{"id":2495,"date":"2011-03-12T13:21:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-12T18:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2012-06-13T20:35:59","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T00:35:59","slug":"mp3-gangsters-paradise-jerusalema-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2495","title":{"rendered":"MP3: Gangster’s Paradise – Jerusalema (2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>J to L<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Lakeshore Records\/ Released: June 15, 2010<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 31 tracks \/ (55:25)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: Available via iTunes <\/a>and Amazon.com (as Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Composer: Alan Ari Lazar<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

In the \u2019s commentary track for the Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema<\/strong> DVD, Alan Ari Lazar discusses some production and cultural details for the songs and score for Ralph Ziman\u2019s South African gangster film, and he explains how he drew from many African cultures, capturing the melting pot environment that flooded the inner city of Hillbrow in Johannesburg after the end of apartheid: upscale whites moved out, and a wave of mixed cultures moved in, only to be affected by violent gangs that rendered whole areas of the city as patently unsafe for citizens and police.<\/p>\n

Lazar\u2019s score begins with ethnic-styled cues, blending a vast array of percussion instruments and vocals (such as \u201cArmored Car Robbery\u201d), slight orchestral elements, and subtle electronic ingredients that never overpower or take away from the composer\u2019s determination to evoke the cultural diversity and clashes using organic sounds.<\/p>\n

Electronic and grinding drones morph into semi-orchestral cues, such as \u201cAre You In?\u201d for a robbery sequence, but they serve as sonic blankets for both the percussion and mixed chorus.<\/p>\n

The score\u2019s lyricism comes in the form of songs, particularly \u201cJerusalema,\u201d which Lazar deliberately weaves in and out of the score in partial vocal versions, and tender instrumentals (such as the mournful \u201cSniper,\u201d augmented with solo viola and discrete electonica).<\/p>\n

Action scenes are naturally covered by heavily textured percussion, but Lazar slowly adds more orchestral elements during the film’s progression to help audiences focus on the gravity of the clashes that pit gangs against each other in turf wars, and the police who are affected by corruption and free-form violence reminiscent of Chicago during prohibition wars.<\/p>\n

Kinetic highlights include the opening title track, the mixed percussion \/ vocals \/ organic drones in \u201cTaxi Thieves,\u201d the blending of jingling chains and vocals in \u201cFirst Arrest,\u201d and the thick percussion clusters in \u201cRoof Confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazar\u2019s score is memorable on CD and in the film, but it\u2019s also a great sampler of the musical diversity that\u2019s often distilled into sound samples in Hollywood scores. Jerusalema<\/strong> bristles with authenticity in spite of the instruments and rich percussion textures being harnessed to suit the dramatic needs of scenes. Lakeshore\u2019s CD represents pretty much the entire score, with several of Lazar\u2019s song arrangements placed in their correct chronological order.<\/p>\n

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

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Related links:<\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0Gangster’s Paradise – Jerusalema<\/a><\/strong> (2008)<\/p>\n

Podcast with composer Alan Ari Lazar: available at Big Head Amusements<\/a> + Libsyn.com<\/a>.<\/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>\/\u00a0J to L<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ J to L . Rating: Excellent Label: Lakeshore Records\/ Released: June 15, 2010 Tracks & Album Length: 31 tracks \/ (55:25) . Special Notes: Available via iTunes and Amazon.com (as Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema) . Composer: Alan Ari Lazar . . Review: In the \u2019s commentary track for the Gangster’s Paradise: […]<\/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],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-Ef","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495"}],"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=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5061,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions\/5061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}