The combination of old-school jazz musical numbers and
complimenting underscore in
La La Land was a hit with audiences,
Hurwitz sweeping all major cinematic awards for both song and score.
There is a "devil may care" demeanor to the soundtrack's recording that
keeps it effortlessly breezy, the spirit nearly too upbeat to tolerate
in parts. Not unexpectedly, Hurwitz has to address three sides of the
jazz in his score and songs; there's the rowdy, nearly Latin-influenced
trumpet personality of hip spirit for the location on one end, the
intensely personal, solo-piano-led romance for the Sebastian character's
on screen style on the other, and the more traditionally Golden Age,
waltz-laden romance for orchestra sandwiched in between. The last
portion has a snippet of choral Hollywood magic at the end as well,
making
La La Land a wildly varied ride through vintage jazz like
nothing else heard on screen in a generation. The recording is extremely
dry and intimate, placing the supporting string and brass performers so
far behind the piano, bass, and other featured musicians that the
dryness of the soloists becomes a bit obnoxious. Just a touch of natural
nightclub reverb would have helped considerably. If you're not a fan of
vibraphones or trilling woodwinds, then these recordings will drive you
absolutely nuts. The vibraphone in particular is an acquired taste. The
trilling is a little transparent in the flutes ("Planetarium" and
"Credits" highlight these well) but Hurwitz also seems to bury the
technique in the lower ranges of other winds in the full ensemble with
reckless abandon. The layering of the various players is inconsistent in
the score, a cue like "Bogart & Bergman" more engaging than several of
the comparatively sparse cues. Don't expect any of the orchestration to
really overwhelm, as the highlighted performances are clearly intended
for the piano and jazz group at the forefront. In the favor of the score
is its significant loyalty to the song melodies, many of which guiding
the themes elsewhere. An exception of sorts is the "Mia & Sebastian's
Theme" that some listeners will consider the main theme despite existing
as more of source-like identity that Sebastian uses to woo Mia. A
secondary love theme for the duo is summarized in the (largely
instrumental) song "A Lovely Night," and this identity is more pervasive
in the score, occupying "Stroll Up the Hill" and "There the Whole
Time/Twirl" on either side and reprised later in "Summer
Montage/Madeline" and "You Love Jazz Now."
Both characters in
La La Land receive their own
individual themes, though Sebastian's identity is rather short-changed
by plot necessity. His celesta and whistling-led theme is the basis of
"City of Stars," the extremely overrated awards bait from Hurwitz's
songs. Forget for a moment that Ryan Gosling cannot sing worth a damn;
even the melody itself simply isn't that memorable. Reprises in "Mia
Hates Jazz" and "Boise" are brief. Mia's dedicated theme, meanwhile, is
far better realized. Based on the very well acted but emotionally
draining song, "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," owing much to Anne
Hathaway in
Les Misérables , this idea provides most of
the optimism to the score ("Classic Rope-a-Dope" and "Bogart &
Bergman"). The best song in
La La Land by a mile is "Another Day
of Sun," representing the infectious, slightly Latin-infused zeal of the
Hollywood dream. For those not in tune with Emma Stone and Ryan
Gosling's solo performances, the cast singing in this song, along with
it's outstanding rhythmic and counterpoint lines, will impress. As you'd
expect, the score's most equally entertaining cue is the straight
instrumental rendition in "Credits." If only the entire score could have
exhibited more of this pacing and performance enthusiasm,
La La
Land would have benefited. Others point to the lengthy "Epilogue" as
the most notable score cue, and while it does rotate nicely between
several of the melodies in wrapping up the story, the trumpet solo in
the midsection is highly annoying and the choral addition to Mia's theme
in waltz form around the 4:35 mark is at odd juxtaposition with the rest
of the soundtrack despite the dream realized. That choir extends the
fairy tale conclusion into "The End" as well. As for the other two songs
in
La La Land, "Someone in the Crowd" is a solid extension of
pizzazz from "Another Day of Sun" and John Legend's "Start a Fire" may
be a source insertion disparate from everything else, but it's a really
fantastic song by itself. Another song, "La La Land," was jettisoned
right before being recording, though hearing a midi rendering of it
would be interesting for fans. Overall,
La La Land is a
well-constructed musical with a clear stylistic focus and faithful
development of its melodies. You have to admire Hurwitz's honing of the
jazz genre of yesteryear for this new application. Then again, the
vocals are suspect and there are a few emotional disconnects throughout
some of the material, and if you have no love for extremely dry,
intimate jazz combos or vibraphones, this soundtrack will do little to
endear itself to you. It remains an admirably solid musical, but it's
one of the most overrated soundtracks of a generation.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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