ALBUM: Phosphorescent (Trailer Music)

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

BLUME SCORE: 73%

 

I like a well made meal. And I'm not necessarily talking about food that's been deemed by a Michelin critic as "worthy" of your taste buds. It doesn't need to have liquid nitrogen involved or to be carefully and artistically shaped like the labial folds of Venus. Even a greasy highly Americanized pizza made by an equally greasy Sicilian American down in a shady joint where I frequent for lunch can be well made. You maybe don't like your pizzas greasy. Maybe you like your pizza a bit more light and summery. And that's fine. But there are good greasy pizzas and bad greasy pizzas. There are good light and summery pizzas and bad summery pizzas. You can tell one's good and one's bad when you put in your mouth and you either feel like you've discovered heaven or you get that uneasy feeling where you try to decide whether it's bad enough that you'll throw it away and waste your money or muscle through it because you've spent the money on it and need the sustenance and you don't have time to get something else. Worst case you begin to question whether the pizza will kill you. But you're already a bite in. Do you cause a scene? Do you make an excuse and leave? Complain and send it back? These are tough choices to be made when things go south. 

 

Luckily, things don't go south with the subject of today's review. But they don't exactly go far north either. 

 

Joseph Trapanese has been a curious up and comer in the world of film music. Something about his music has managed to keep my interest. That's despite the fact that he's been steadily delving into the world of generic film music. He hasn't been writing with flair. He has been writing the equivalent of a well made ham and cheese sandwich for a while now. The quality of the bread is superb. The cheese has been aged to perfection. The ham is cured rather nicely. The mayonnaise is home made and pretty delicious.  But it's still a damned ham and cheese sandwich. It's got no secret ingredient. And ultimately that ham and cheese sandwich does not make much of a mark on your person or your soul. It's enjoyable while you chew it over, but not much more. 

 

Amidst a line of ham sandwiches, enter Phosphorescent. Trapanese is delving into the realm of greasy pizzas and burgers. Fast food. This is trailer music. It's not married to any picture. It's not even married to a specific trailer. It's EPIC music, with EPIC drums, EPIC synths, and EPIC chords and EPIC melodies. And yet it's a weirdly artistic endeavor because it's not written for a production. It's written to nothing, but meant to be used in a production. It's like a concert work, but with the rule that it needs to be exciting and pumping, ALL THE TIME. The former makes it interesting. It's refreshing to have music that's not being driven by rapid cuts and edits. There is a development to the tracks presented on the album that you just don't get with film music these days. The development occurs within the framework of the rising tension and excitement you would expect in trailer music, but here Trapanese takes advantage of the time dimension. Tracks tend to be around 3.5-4 minutes, which gives you more time than an average trailer (2 minutes or less), gives enough time to develop a musical idea, but doesn't stay long enough to be fatiguing. Because after all the music is EPIC. And EPIC music will shred your ears at some point. 

 

The good news this is more interesting than a well made ham and cheese sandwich. It's a well made and greasy burger. But I'm not sure the flair is there yet. There isn't something odd or strange about it that only Trapanese can bring to the table. I'm the kind of guy who likes it when the chef infuses the meat of the burger with garlic, parsley, or the finely powdered legs of millipedes. Just something to make you think, "oh my, that's interesting." No, here the ingredients are perfectly prepared and put in front of you. But they are basic. There is little artistry, little innovation or ingenuity. The first seven tracks in particular are pretty damned good though. 

 

It's good. It's fun to listen to. I'd even say that it's engaging, it's not just background music. But flair is what Trapanese doesn't bring to the game. And it's a shame. But he's young. Maybe he'll get better. But isn't that what we said about Michael Giacchino? 

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Aren't you in North Carolina?  I bet pizza is shit there. 

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Yep. 

[idril 86]

Good review.. except the ending jab at Giacchino (I am a die-hard defender!). I might check this out. I actually enjoy trailer music but listen to whole albums can be rather exhausting. Still, I like your points about the ability to fully develop ideas given the nature of this album.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sounds ghastly!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

It’s rather good!