4/5
The Richter Scale.
Gathering all of amazing actor Elisabeth Moss' most powerful performances, which is the best of the best? Obviously most would point with two fingers in salute to the praise that be 'The Handmaids Tale'. The latest series in bloom on Hulu this season with its cowl creative flower arrangement. A raw red reveal that shows just how many Oscars will eventually follow all the epic Emmy's for Elisabeth. But how about 'Us'? Or even all she showed in 'The Invisible Man' as she flipped the script and turned the bandages on the classic Universal 'Dark Universe' story that was set to star Johnny Depp (could you even tell if it did in the end?)? Shining a light on the dark corners of domestic abuse and the bruised souls that hide behind more than heavy clothes and fragile excuses. Or perhaps it's even an episode of 'Mad Men' for the small screen queen who began her compelling career in the Oval Office of 'The West Wing' as the Presidents daughter. Well, like a TV dinner game show, uh-uh. All those answers are incorrect. The most affecting performance from this powerhouse came in a music video...yeah I said it. Back in the Canadian cold of a 2018 Winter. On the deserted streets of the 'Handmaid' shooting spot, filming location of Toronto, Ontario. Years before COVID-19 kept us all at a distance, Moss is sat in a diner alone, gathering her thoughts. She's just received a phone call, the nature to which we know not. All we do is that it was evidently very disturbing. Bad, bad news. The look on her face conveys it all (signs of a great actor in all their nuance). She walks out the deadbeat rest stop like her soul had left already and proceeds to walk these cold streets that now require you to bunch up your coat even tighter. The simmering point of breaking down is captured on every corner as the trained camera focuses on her face and when it all explodes, it's an eruption of a fire inside that no one can hide, but appears no one sees. Without a word...or lyric its a poetic meditation of grief. A masterful performance. All set to the score of Max Richter's 'On The Nature Of Daylight'. Possibly the most moving modern day ode to our broken hearts and seared souls. If it doesn't reduce you to spent tears, I'd question yours as this does more without words, than pages of dialogue. If you don't feel it, it's time to go back to Martin Scorsese's 2010 psychological horror classic 'Shutter Island' with Leonardo DiCaprio. Were off the soundtracks scale Richter mixed this with soul icon Dinah Washington's 'This Bitter Earth, for a pure pain to swallow in our lumped throats that really delved into the darkness of this amazing movie and DiCaprio's haunted classic character conflicts. This further rhyme to the reason that taking it to the max, this German/British composer is only movie matched by the great German Hans Zimmer.
Framing the perfect portrait of the planets pandemic last year, Max Richter stayed by our side as we stayed at home. Like a piano in the corner of our room, playing it again Sam in that same calender cycle. He gave us all 'Voices' and now following our most haunted year here's one sequel we do want to see even though cinema showcases are still shut for the soundtrack leading man. Atmospheric and almost at seven minutes of run-time, the 'Psychogeography' outstanding opener really takes you places. Ones you haven't seen since the cinematography of the iconic big-screen. Or the morning sun burnt off the rain of last night's storm. It feels like a brand new day, just like this sequel. One that segues into the reflection of 'Mirrors' and this moving auditory piece that feels at one with you after our troubled times in this morning after the mourning were we can finally bear with looking at ourselves again. In full bloom, giving us his maximum, Max transcends with the floating 'Follower' taking the lead for us with fellow instrumental voice Mari Silje Samuelsen and Robert Ziegler for this classical composing big-three showing us the way for this modern day when we all are in need of a little direction right now. After the solitary 'Solitaires' it only gets bigger for the holy trinity, out the confinements on this 'Movement Study' that really let's the world and their subtlety soaring and stunning soundscape breathe again. Samuelsen's profound sounding 'Prelude 2' to the vibrant, kaleidoscopoc spectrum of the 'Color Wheel' is truly something though. Just like Mari's moving 'Origins (Solo)', that shows that Richter's latest allows for more 'Voices' than just the ones you don't hear from him too.
Requiem from a dream, you won't want to wake up from the cello version of 'Little Requiems' and how these strings stir you from the senses no matter how lost and alone you might feel in this age of anxiety amidst the planets pandemic. Showing in all its string section beauty just how effervescent this evoking sound feels. Richter really would provide the perfect pitch for fellow renaissance modern artist Lo-Fang. The singer/songwriter who shaped up John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's 'You're The One That I Want' from 'Grease' into a classic chello version and Chanel commercial. My mind is set on this collaboration. THIS is the one that I want. Get your teeth into Fang's 2020 lost in the woods 'Near Other Worlds' volumes of you don't believe me. Pushing the envelope all the way to a paper plane flying through the trees of a foggy forest forever. 'Don't Be Cruel', this man even took the King, Elvis Presley out of this world into other ones in outer space. Before all that happens though, how about a 'Mercy Duet'? Because in the aftermath of a calender when we all needed that word, Richter gives us everything we deserve with this classic closer from the classical contemporary composer. Simply put Richter's rich body of work is like an art gallery of music. It's time to take yours and really explore from the epic to the electric eclectic. He has a soundboard for all your moods. One that rings true even more than the scores he tracks for filmographys. The only library worth more is his discography and with this latest book he brings you some amazing audio were you can read more into every emotion without so much as a word spoken. Hear this. Sometimes you don't have to say it. You can just play it here. And that's what gives Max and us the loudest voices too. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Psychogeography', 'Mirrors', 'Mercy Duet'.
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