{"id":3636,"date":"2011-10-03T13:32:29","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T17:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3636"},"modified":"2012-04-02T15:06:54","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T19:06:54","slug":"cd-contagion-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3636","title":{"rendered":"CD: Contagion (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>C<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Label:\u00a0WaterTower Music\u00a0\/ Released: September 6, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 20 tracks \/ (45:26)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: On-demand CD-R available via Amazon.com.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Cliff Martinez<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually intriguing to compare the variety of scores that have been written for the last spate of virus films. Mark Isham\u2019s The Crazies <\/strong>(2010) reverted back to a sleek, vintage industrial style of electronica that gave the drama a tough, visceral edge, whereas the older Outbreak<\/strong> (1995) was an old-fashioned Hollywood melodrama, goosed with moments of ridiculousness which James Newton Howard felt compelled to capture using a large orchestra with thick bass beats. (Most likely it was director Wolfgang Petersen who insisted on treating his schlocky virus epic with severe, action-oriented gravitas.)<\/p>\n

John Murphy\u2019s spin on the 28 Days Later<\/strong> (2002) and 28 Weeks Later<\/strong> (2007) diptych was to ground tragedy around a wrenching theme that kept spiraling towards deeper emotional depression, whereas in Contagion<\/strong> Cliff Martinez went for a m\u00e9lange of impressionistic sounds, and cues which rarely closed with any resolution.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting approach, because while the score\u2019s style frequently wafts between seventies crime jazz (it\u2019s there), orchestral dissonance, and abstract sounds which collectively evoke states of confusion, desperation, or mortal danger, the music weirdly captures an undetermined time period in which humanity is smacked with an invading microbial force. The score also follows its complete assault, evolution, and humankind\u2019s desperate efforts \u2013 including the clumsy blunders \u2013 to fix a bad problem.<\/p>\n

The music of Contagion<\/strong> of about the onslaught, the infiltration, propagation, and massive devastation of the bug, and the sometimes schizophrenic blend of musical sounds suits its evolution, be it the stealth jazz elements, the pulsing electronica, or Martinez\u2019s usual fixation on waves of rhythmic textures and ambient chords (such as the twanging \u201cBat and Pig\u201d).<\/p>\n

Not unlike Drive<\/strong> <\/a>[M<\/a>]\u00a0(2011), Martinez doesn\u2019t score onscreen action per se, but Contagion<\/strong> has a sense of humanity, evident through short theme bits. Simple cues, such as the solo piano intro in \u201cContagion\u201d gives audiences something to grab onto, but as with virtually every cue in the score, it rapidly morphs into something new: like an evolving virus, solo piano is joined by electronics, rhythmic hits with synthetic feedback, and light orchestral backing.<\/p>\n

While not a lengthy score, it\u2019s a nice, chilly little portrait of a lethal, unseen assault.<\/p>\n

Read an interview <\/a>with composer Cliff Martinez regarding the scoring of Contagion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Film Review<\/a> —\u00a0Composer’s Website<\/a> — Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ C . Rating: Very Good Label:\u00a0WaterTower Music\u00a0\/ Released: September 6, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 20 tracks \/ (45:26) . Special Notes: On-demand CD-R available via Amazon.com. . Composer: Cliff Martinez . . Review: It\u2019s actually intriguing to compare the variety of scores that have been written for the last […]<\/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":[301,300],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-WE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636"}],"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=3636"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4557,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3636\/revisions\/4557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}