Tennant/Lowe and Dresdner Sinfoniker - ‘Battleship Potemkin OST’ (Parlophone) Released 05/09/05

 

First things first: this is nothing like The Pet Shop Boys.  If you want to hear duets with Dusty Springfield or have choirs of men in funny hats then this is not the place.  If, on the other hand, you have a free hour in which you want to listen to a fusion of electronica and orchestration that is often dark and frequently beautiful, please read on...

Eisenstein’s classic art-cum-propaganda film ‘Battleship Potemkin’, which describes the mutiny of Russian sailors on said vessel in 1905, was released in 1925, and there has been, in accordance with Eisenstein’s own wishes, various soundtracks composed to accompany the film.  The Pet Shop Boys were approached to produce this latest musical interpretation of the film for its showing in Trafalgar Square last year, and the result is nothing like what we have come to expect from the clever-clogs popsters.  Sweeping orchestral swathes of melancholia abound, bolstered by grim, industrial electronica, as on instrumentals  ‘Comrades!’ and ‘Drama in The Harbour’. 

It’s easy at times to compare such tracks to Vangelis or even the Teutonic symphonies of ‘Low’-era Bowie but, in spite of the necessary Russian themes running throughout, this is a thoroughly modern-sounding album.  In fact, much of this album would probably suit a good dub treatment by a DJ/producer such as, say, Jacques Lu Cont – ‘The Squadron’, ‘Night Falls’ and in particular the perfect-for-Chibuku minimalism of ‘Nyet’ could all tear up dance-floors in the right hands.

Secretly though, you really do want it to sound like The Pet Shop Boys, don’t you?!  It’s OK, you can admit it!  Fortunately, there are enough traces of their unique brand of intellectual pop savvy on the Tennant-sung ‘No Time For Tears’ and ‘After All (The Odessa Staircase)’ to please die-hards and closet fans alike.  The Tennant/Lowe sound, with it’s pomp and pulsing beats, is perfect for this project, and it really is a treat to stow away on ‘Battleship Potemkin’ for an hour and see where she takes you.  So, go out and buy it – Gigwise won’t tell anyone, we promise!