In 2008 John Zorn released another three, yes three, additions to the Filmworks series. This puts me a little bit on the back foot given my recent rate of progress. Although I'm hardly in the same situation of Tom Ewing over on Popular, or Marcello Carlin on Then Play Long, working their way towards covering every UK number one single and album respectively, projects which require a fair amount of running just to stand still.
Anyway, "The Protocols of Zion" is number XV in Zorn's collected soundtrack work, and in its own way is as good a soundtrack album as you could wish for. It perhaps doesn't work as well as some others in the series as background listening on its own terms, but it is certainly evocative. Evocative of exactly what I'm not so sure, but I'm seeing parched brown landscapes, shimmering heat haze, and Arabs and Israelis lobbing things at each other. There is a lot of space between the notes, Zorn tinkles an electric piano to nice effect, and two percussionists really work on creating an atmosphere.
Actually, more so than with any other of the series so far, this one makes me want to see the film for which it was made. In that regard, it puts me in mind of Jonny Greenwood's amazing score for "Let There Be Blood", which is like no film music I have ever heard; in fact Greenwood's score is not always necessarily recognisable as music, but it does an extraordinary job of enhancing the visual element of that remarkable movie.
And for those who don't see John Zorn as a man with much of a sense of humour (the same mistake that many people make with Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen), note his cheeky use of the Jew's harp in a track called "Jew Watcher", which you can't help but listen to with a wry smile on your face. At least I can't.
