Kubrick’s very best films were steeped in mystery which required you to think beyond what lay in front of you on the screen. Things you witness sat in the memory, sometimes identifying themselves, creating the underlying sense of unease: HAL. I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that. You’ll remember that dialogue from 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968 because as much as you reverberated with fear, you also marvelled at the depth celluloid could fathom. In much the same way that The Shining and A Clockwork Orange worked. The other notable was always the accompanying soundtrack which enhanced scenes without completely overpowering them, although they did often perilously come close. This excellent four CD boxset captures some of those various moments in time from 1957’s Paths Of Glory right through to the directors final film, Eyes Wide Shut from 1999. And highlighting a lot of those transcendent screenshots are the wild and varied music from the likes of Johann Strauss II, contrasted by Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ and the haunting ‘Midnight, The Stars & You’ by Ray Noble & His Orchestra (featuring Al Bowlly), to the then exhilarating Jazz of John Coltrane and Oscar Peterson, to name just a very few. Some of the music included was only finally used during production, to be later replaced, but as was all part of the original plan they play like an intriguing addition. In many ways, this compilation is almost too much to take in in one sitting and, like his films, require repeated viewing to fully absorb the full wealth and breadth of precisely what’s surrounding you.
Release: September 28
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/kubricks-music-selections-from-the-films-of-stanley-kubrick
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