Appreciation of a Score

There is always some confusion about how to appreciate a film score. Should a film score be strongly thematic, high on melody and easily listenable even out of the film? Or is it just enough if it is ambient, a yawn to listen to it as standalone music and shirt-sits perfectly on the visual arm-sleeves of the film? A film score’s primary aim is to functionally work within a film but most often that doesn’t seem to make a film score get its due. The fact is that the criteria differs from one film and score to another.

‘Couples Retreat’ score was unanimously rejected by people in India or elsewhere, not because of quality of music but because Rahman chose to do music for a typical Hollywood rom-com after Oscars and Globes. As for me, I am really happy that Rahman did this score. It still is a very melodic and enjoyable musical ride I take on at least once in a week. Though I haven’t seen the film I like what I hear. In this case, I don’t really care much about how extensively, how loudly or how well it is used in the film. It gave Rahman to write some full length orchestral music pieces and instrumental tracks which we hardly get to listen to in his Indian film soundtracks.

On a more psychological level, the opinions depend on whether one wants to like the score or not. In this case, there are hundred reasons one can list down for not liking the music and of course most of them would be about everything else but the actual music. Will we ever judge music just by it? If one doesn’t like a particular score, does that make the score bad? Or if one likes the score does that make the score great? A score is just what it is.

Filmtracks.com lists Rahman’s Couples Retreat score in third spot next only to James Horner’s ‘Avatar’ in its “Top Scores of the Year 2009” list. ‘Jason and Cynthia Suite’ and ‘Animal Spirits’ are mentioned in the best film cues list. These sensibilities of people behind such Hollywood film score websites are more inclined towards music content than the music’s visual connect.

Here is a high praise ‘Couples Retreat’ soundtrack review by an American.

In Soundtracks.com podcast, a film score critic says that ‘Couples Retreat’ score deserved an Oscar nomination more than ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ did.

And this is the first post on http://www.backgroundscore.com

Needle Drops

• A.R.Rahman’s Couples Retreat Score has been nominated for International Film Music Critics Association awards for Scoring Excellence in ‘Best Score in a Comedy Film’ category. This is really very significant considering that there was no buzz whatsoever about this score even in the hardcore Hollywood film score magazines and websites. Winning is highly unlikely though.



• Every little work that Michael Giacchino did in 2009 has been nominated in various categories of International Film Music Critics Association awards for Scoring Excellence.



• While posting this poll, I was in dilemma whether to nominate ‘Dev.D’ in background score (Hindi). The film is a musical, filled with songs all over but with limited space left for an instrumental background score. I did like few pieces in the background score, the score for the scene in which Paro cleans Dev’s room is one. Dev and Chanda’s themes – two instrumental pieces that got released in the film soundtrack CD were also good. I am still not sure. I have to watch Dev D again. Interestingly in all Bollywood awards, Amit Trivedi’s music for ‘Dev.D’ has been pushed to best background score category and none have included it in the Best Music Category.



• ‘Tamizh Padam’ is not just a spoof on Tamil films; there are enough spoofs on Tamil film background scores too (composer - B.Kannan). It really is not possible to spoof a genre of film without imitating background scores of those films. A complete joyride this film is.



• And happy to inform that Background score blog is listed in
  
  “10 Best of Bollywood blogs” in blogs.com and
  “600 Movie blogs you might have missed” list in Totalfilm.com

Listening 'Couples Retreat'

‘Couples Retreat’ is in a way the true entry of A.R.Rahman into Hollywood. He did some stage musicals, there were some Hollywood movies which used his Indian songs, he was a co-composer in ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ and also it was a movie by an Indian Director, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was never meant to be such a huge success and even A.R.Rahman didn’t believe it was his ‘Ticket to Hollywood’ while working on that movie and moreover it was a movie set in India. But with ‘Couples Retreat’ is none of the above. The world knows who A.R.Rahman is and they expect him to go ‘Jai Ho’ again. Has he?

‘Sajna’ is a breezy romantic ballad done on a template ripped straight out of ‘Dreams on Fire’ (a gem which is yet to get its due) with simple lyrics and a catchy Hindi hook phrase ‘Sajna Re’. Except for that hook, the melody of song sounds simple and too much worked upon as they have tried hard to fit in lyrics for Rahman’s tune. It gets better with vocal harmony countering the main melody and is truly elevated at the end with a soulful string section smoothing the rough edges of the melody. But overall, this song is a very underwhelming start to the soundtrack.

But wait, a full instrumental version of the song comes up in ‘Tour to the Villas’. The melody of the phrase ‘Sajna Re’ is almost the main theme of the movie. The sweeping grandeur of this theme as played on full throttled string section begins the track ‘Tour to the Villas’. I can imagine ‘Tour to the Villa’ being played when the couples enter the ‘Eden Resort’ in an Island and take a tour around the resort checking out what is in store for them. The music just follows them as they move through various sections. The track shifts from the main melody to another beautiful melody played on ‘Erhu’ (a Chinese Spa in the resort or a mediation or Yoga centre??), and to more ambient, soundscape music filled with ethnic percussions and exotic instruments that effectively puts the listeners right in the middle of the mood and space that it wants to create.

There is another main theme in the movie which first appears in the track ‘Jason and Cynitia Suite’. It is a simple, soothing melody oozing romanticism. The melody is introduced in the very beginning on a guitar solo, and then it turns into a guitar concerto with strings joining in and replying to the guitar phrase by phrase. The melody slowly ascends up and turns into a full throttled orchestral piece proving that A.R.Rahman is easily capable of doing a very conventional Hollywood movie score. It moves up, up and up until there is nowhere to go, takes a breath, and turns to the ‘Sajna Re’ theme. A serene Santoor tickles and a pleasing atmospheric melody on velvety flute join the ‘Sajna Re’ melody on soft strings gently dancing in the air. Aah! BLISS.

The ‘Sajna Re’ theme again appears exquisitely in the track ‘The Waterfalls’, which one can easily imagine is for when the couple is watching a beautiful waterfalls and gets into a romantic mood. And for the romance Rahman brings in the ‘Jason and Cynitia Theme’ for a brief moment towards the end.

Having played the theme enough with the orchestra, it is time for ‘Jason and Cynitia Theme’ to travel on solo instruments. To further reveal its yet uncorked beauty, the theme is played on quietening Piano, mellifluous Oboe (sounds divine in this avatar), aching cello and all carried as a one whole by a soft bed of supporting strings in ‘Jason and Cynitia Piano Theme’.

‘Kuru Kuru Kan’ with its zing-swing rhythm is instantly addictive, the shakers keeps our head shaking with the melody and Rahman gently whispers the melody laced over cute and simple Tamizh lyrics. The language isn’t a problem here, as the melody and the ambient orchestration beautifully sprinkles the romance in the air. That whistle melody is the coolest thing I have heard in a while. And when you expect the song to slowly fade over, the mood is further enhanced as Rahman introduces a twist to the song with a layer of soulful strings soaring over the melody.

Clearly ‘Shark’ theme is going to play out when Vince Vaughn is thrown into the sea surrounded by Sharks. It is a very dramatic piece predominantly on strings playing a very Indian melody. A short phrase repeating on strings forming a chaotic harmony for the Sharks approaching, biting and reaching and Vince’s attempt to escape. It comes to a grand halt as it finally bites Vince Vaughn and Rahman’s cry follows sympathising what this guy has just gone through. From those visuals in the trailer, it is easy to imagine how fitting this music would be for that situation.

As you can see in the trailer of the movie, ‘Marcel’ is an Asian, and in one of the shots in the trailer the second item in the Itinerary is titled ‘Dr.Marcel’s Activity’, and I guess ‘Meeting Marcel’ track plays out in the scenes related to that. That explains why the music sounds totally Asian. Filled with deep windy flutes, Indian chants and drums, dramatic strings it is hard to predict what happens on screen, but as a standalone track it is a soothing transcending meditational music. On the same lines, ‘Intervention’ is a serious and a deeply spiritual music with beautifully written harmony of strings.

‘Animal Spirits’ is an eclectic piece and a glittering gem of a track. Strangely, it starts with the same melody and Rahman’s vocals that begins the track ‘Intervention’. The track keeps changing its colour, flavour, genre but all bound together for one purpose – Creating a heavenly aural ambience. Heavenly, is how I felt when the track stops its rhythm and beats and a sitar begins to a relaxing start with ‘Sajna Re’ slowly fading in on soft strings. Another twist ends the track with the most euphoric version of the ‘Sajna Re’ theme.

Now, wait, wasn’t this soundtrack meant for a ‘Romantic Comedy’, but so far we heard mostly serious and romantic music, where is the comedy?

It is obvious that a comedy need not have a comic music always. I guess here the comedy comedy is out of the people who are put in serious situations. For the victims of comedy, it is a serious moment. So, the music should be as serious as the people who are put in the situation so that the people outside can feel them genuinely funny.

Rahman uses staccatos and pizzicatos to its maximum in the track ‘Itinerary’. It is for the scene in which the couples get a list of tasks that they have to complete in this package. The whole track is highly dependent on the visual proceedings but for sure a very interestingly orchestrated piece with varied instruments. Having seen the visuals, ‘Undress’ could be the funniest track of the soundtrack - think of English men reluctantly undressing accompanied by Indian strings (a lingering Tanpura throughout) and percussions (Ghatam in this case). The music slowly builds up as each man undress one after the other and comes to a grinding halt with a blow when it comes to undressing the black man who says he is not wearing the inners.

In ‘Salvadore’, Spanish flamenco meets Indian Taraana and the very thought of such a combination is intriguing and Rahman pulls of it brilliantly with ample support from the talented Kailash Kher. I can’t really imagine where this music would fit it but it could be for that guy (whose name could be Salvadore) who comes to teach ‘Yoga’ to the couples in a hilarious scene. ‘NaNa’ is a true-to-genre hippy-peppy beach party dance song in the soundtrack. The non-stop rapping, the swing in the rhythm, the ever intruding trumpets all nicely put together to make an effective stress buster of a song. ‘Luau’ sprinkled with Spanish guitars is an impressive instrumental track with nice percussion arrangements (composed by John O’Brien).

‘Couples Retreat’ as a whole has something for everyone who comes to hear specific stuff from A.R.Rahman, but no ‘Jai Ho’ here and that is not a complaint. This soundtrack may not be spoken about like how every movie review spoke about ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ score, and it may not win any awards, but that is not the point. The music should fit the movie and some of it should get a life of its own outside and I am sure ‘Couples Retreat’ has got both.

Audio Clips from http://www.couplesretreatsoundtrack.com

A.R.Rahman's Couples Retreat

Here are the samples of A.R.Rahman's music for 'Couples Retreat', his first mainstream Hollywood Soundtrack post Oscars. Enjoy.

Couples Retreat - Track 1
Couples Retreat - Track 2
Couples Retreat - Track 3
Couples Retreat - Track 4
Couples Retreat - Track 5

Complete Soundtrack is available for listening in http://www.couplesretreatsoundtrack.com

A.R.Rahman on Scoring

AND his next Hollywood project.

AND AND his next "Passage" with Shekar Kapur. I am excited about this. The music in the trailer is very good and it sounds like it is going to be a classic orchestral score throughout.