Soundtrack

The latest CD release reviewed

CARTER BURWELL
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus Lakeshore ****

Burwell has composed a quirky, individual and unusually affecting score for this unusual biopic, an exploration of the famous American photographer's fascination with fetishism. Recalling such earlier scores as Fargo, Gods and Monsters and Adaptation, Fur features a small ensemble to extraordinary dynamic effect, with an emphasis on harp percussion, celli, drums, guitar and sax. Burwell boldly merges smoky jazz and pulsing minimalism in a score that is playful, menacing and surprisingly lyrical. As he deftly varies and develops his main and character themes from cue to cue and across a variety of instruments (mostly piano, bass and harp), Burwell derives an astonishing complexity and power from his spare material, particularly on Fur, Ad Ultima Thule, The Shave and Into the Sea. www.lakeshore-records.com