Fargo / Barton Fink

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Carter Burwell is the kind of composer that gets frequent attention by directors but really isn't heard among most music fans, even though they carry a score of him or heard much of his work before. One they will undoubtedly heard of is Fargo, one of the most respected movies of Joel and Ethan Coen. Basically its a thriller with a real hard edge (meaning violence) but wrapped in such a comical humor that each character looks silly and funny but they aren't. The pure charm of this movie is that they flow together flawlessly and its another movie that shows how the Coen brothers took Hollywood by storm through their pure artistic style. Of the two scores released by TVT Records, it is Fargo opening the disc and it is the best score of the two. Fargo carries a really great main theme. Its sort of a dramatic powerful theme that carries a burden with it and it is heard during the entire score. It opens in 'Fargo, North Dakota' with guitar, then violin and then the whole orchestra gives it this burden and it sounds terrific. That the theme alone makes the score worth it is not true, but it is correct that the rest doesn't sound so powerful. The theme appears further, mostly on the sole violin in tracks 7, 10 and it receives a neat little lullaby in 'The Eager Beaver', when baby toys further the path to the violin and orchestral performance. The rest carries either the mystifying strings of the town in 'Moose Lake' and 'Paul Bunyon' and a more darker suspension laden tone, creating either some dark if short fanfares ('Forced Entry' which is as funny and disturbing as a scene can get) and 'Delivery'. Together this mix works and it makes Fargo a very interesting listen with a great main theme.

Where Fargo listens short for 27 minutes, the next score Barton Fink does even cut 10 minutes of and brings for 17 the same somewhat light mood. However Barton Fink is not carrying a theme you will remember nor a lot of melody you will accept. This is a background score that barely brings nothing yet doesn't sound too bad in a personal way. 'Fade In' brings some classical tones with piano and pretty much the piano sets the tone from then on, if not with actual great melody. 'Love Theme from Barton Fink' is nothing from the way it sounds and brings apart piano pure drain pipe effects which ironically bring more interest with it, if only for the bizarre matching effect. 'The Box' is the same only here, soft dramatic strings make way for what sounds like footsteps hitting the ground and some weird noises thereafter. The rest is piano without actual melody and makes Barton Fink somewhat matching the style of Fargo but in a whole different way. Together Fargo and Barton Fink bring 43 minutes of Carter Burwell music, with Fargo being the one I appreciate the most. That score carries a very good main theme which makes impression in the film and on disc and besides that, some very good ideas. It is a soundtrack I recommend because of Fargo but Barton Fink will not bring much joy with it. If you are a Coen fan, the movie Fargo is a great thriller, for the musical accompaniment lies the dramatic amusement with Carter Burwell and only that you have to remember of this review.

Fargo: ***
Barton Fink: **1/2

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Tracks

Single Disc

Fargo

1. Fargo, North Dakota (2.48) Excellent Track

2. Moose Lake (0.41)

3. A Lot Of Woe (0.49)

4. Forced Entry (1.23)

5. The Ozone (0.58)

6. The Trooper's End (1.04)

7. Chewing On It (0.50)

8. Rubbernecking (2.03)

9. Dance On The Sierra (1.22)

10. The Mallard (0.58)

11. Delivery (4.45)

12. Bismark, North Dakota (1.02)

13. Paul Bunyon (0.34)

14. The Eager Beaver (3.09)

15. Brainerd, Minnesota (2.39)

16. Safe Keeping (1.39)

Total Length: 26.44

Barton Fink

17. Fade In (1.02)

18. Big Shoes (1.29)

19. Love Theme From Barton Fink * (1.16)

20. Barton In Shock (1.52)

21. Typing Montage (2.06)

22. The Box ** (2.59)

23. Barton In Flames (0.53)

24. Fade Out / The End (3.37)

* Drain effects by Skip Lievsay

** Wrestling effects by Skip Lievsay

Total Length: 15.14

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Carter Burwell ===