Search - Nick Laird-Clowes, Trashmonk, Yo La Tengo :: The Invisible Circus (2001 Film)

It's hardly rare for a rock or pop musician to try their hand at film scoring. But, perhaps because of the medium's minefield of time constraints, business pressures, and elevated artistic expectations, only a relative few have made the transition to full-time scoring. Dream Academy founder Nick Laird-Clowes has not only survived the journey, he's arguably elevated both his art and the medium in the process. This evocative score is a deceptively seamless fusion of his distinctive pop sensibility and a moody, mature orchestral sense that belies the musician's one-hit-wonder, Top 40 heritage. His spare use of the acoustic guitar throughout is especially effective. The score also incorporates several tracks by Laird-Clowes's modern pop project, Trashmonk, as well as some atmospheric work by longtime critics' darlings Yo La Tengo and the brooding, atmospheric modern jazz-tinged work of Woodrow Wilson Jackson III and Petra Haden (daughter of jazz great Charlie Haden). --Jerry McCulley