Srdjan JACIMOVIC White Suit    PROMO

Yugoslavian composer Srdjan Jacimovic presents us with both music from the feature film White Suit, as well as a selection of bonus tracks.

`Orchestral Tango' opens up the proceedings and this is very much what you might expect from the title. However, it does have the added attraction of a female voice (vaguely Morricone like) and is pleasant enough, but perhaps just a little overlong. Next up is `First Theme' with a raucous string sound that is somewhat grating, although the melody is moderately engaging, if repetitive. The jaunty, almost circus like `Aquarium' is a double-bass driven piece with again some tango elements. But unfortunately it is rather drawn-out, undermining whatever appeal it might have.

A number of very short cues pepper the CD with `Rising of the Thing', `Train 2' and `Bordel in Train' among them and while they appear to be well thought out, none provide too much in the way of entertainment. The first extra track not taken from White Suit itself is `Little Reg with Russian Spice', which has an almost experimental structure, with plucked strings and various violin flourishes. Very hard going unless you are into avant-garde performance music.

One of the more appealing cues from the film itself is `Love on First Sight' with its subtle string theme, but as it is quite short it doesn't really have time to build into anything substantial, which is a pity. Several pieces feature variations on themes already heard, such as `Marco's Condolence' reprising `First Theme' and `White Tango-Expressive', `White Tango-Depressive' recalling `Orchestral Tango'. Plaintive strings and acoustic guitar highlight `Scene with a Dog' and are effective in a low-key way. The more emotional theme that appears in `Love Declarations', despite more strident strings, is for me the best track included here and perhaps promises better things for the future.

Some more extra tracks not from the film are `Russian Piece for Clarinet', `Valce for the End of the War', `Yearn with Guitar' and `Bicycle, than (then?) Telegram' The first of these is a solo clarinet, jazz influenced composition that seems to last far longer than its three and a half minute running time! `Valce' utilises those plucked strings again with another wistful violin lead but does not register particularly strongly. `Yearn' and `Bicycle' are both dominated by acoustic guitar, the former a classical solo work that at five minutes plus could be criticised for being over-indulgent. The latter is a little more accessible with the inclusion of piano.

`Train from another Movie' and `A Bit of Melancholy' should also be mentioned (again not from White Suit) as they demonstrate a contrasting stylistic approach from the rest of the work here. Both feature various keyboard styles and sounds along with rhythm and bass guitar backing. But despite this change of pace I'm afraid to say they didn't make too much impression on me.

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this collection, but although there are a few moments of melodic interest, overall there is far too much introspective excess that may well showcase some accomplished playing, but is far from captivating for the casual listener.

Reviewer

Mark Hockley