Review Summary: The soundtrack to Richard Linklater's dreamlike 'Waking Life' is suitably ethereal and mysterious, and leads the listener on a breathtaking sonic adventure, standing up regardless of whether they've seen the film or not.
For those of you that have seen Richard Linklater's stunning film 'Waking Life,' you might well remember the music as being one of the factors largely contributing to the film's excellence. The Tosca Tango Orchestra supplied the score, and were shown fairly prominently in the film itself, which immediately made the listener pay that little bit more attention to the soundtrack underpinning the film's mesmerizing events. But for those of you who haven't yet seen it (rectify that now), the Tosca Tango Orchestra might be new to you, and they might also sound fairly tacky based on that name.
But start this album, and from the opening notes of the first track, 'Ballada 4 Part 1,' fears of any semblance of any lack of quality are dispelled all at once as the achingly beautiful string arrangements ease you in, into what is one of the dreamiest (aptly for the film), most moving, and, at times, unnerving albums I've ever heard. It flits between hopeful sounding passages, back into downtrodden waltzes, and then into aggressive Spanish guitar breakdowns, before coming to rest, at its suitably grand finale, back in the dreamy state of mind it began in, what seems like a whole R.E.M cycle ago. It's a real journey of a listen, and whilst it is improved significantly when used as a musical backdrop for the film, it more than holds its own as a standalone piece of work.
So, what does it actually sound like? The Tosca Tango Orchestra is comprised of 7 musicians, who all share a passion for making modern sounding classical music, infused with tango sensibilities. This combination of genres might seem fairly odd based on just hearing a description, but when a tense violin run segueways into an energetic tango breakdown, it all comes together in one brilliant, crystallizing moment, and you 'get' what the TTO are going for. The actual music on the album is led mainly by the pianist and the violinists, but the double bassists and guitarists get their time in the limelight consistently, too. It never ceases to amaze me that such a limited setup continues to produce such a sheer variety of sounds, moods and textures, and by the end of the album you're left slightly dumbstruck as to how the group managed to keep you just that interested throughout. But they certainly do, and it's testament to their skill that the album holds up equally well after numerous repeated listens.
By far the best sections of the album are the aforementioned dreamy, violin-led, parts. The pace is often a moodily slow one, the piano subtly complementing the ethereal string section as they drag out their notes to the point where you begin to transition into the dream world, along with the cast of Waking Life. There is an otherworldly quality to these sections, and it's interesting to see a group that utilizes the quieter sections as their strong point, rather than the post-rock tradition of the climaxes being 'where it's at.' You'll find yourself getting lost in some of the especially serene and surreal moments, such as the middle section of 'Ballade 3,' but the group will proceed to bring you back to earth, all guns blazing, with energetic pure tango numbers such as 'El Cholulo.'
The closing track, 'Ballade 4 Part 2,' has such an immediate sense of urgency, of despair, and of almost apocalyptic levels of the sense of something ending, that you can't help but be pulled along, headfirst, through the astonishing final two minutes, breathlessly caught up in the drama of it all. The album ends in a flurry of double bass notes, a disconcerting and unexpected, disorientating and unwelcome, end to the dream that the album has led you through, as the album ends, waking you up with a start. As you desperately try to recall elements of the dream that have already begun to elude you, you can't help but play the album again, and again, to piece it all together.
