What Do You Say to a Naked Lady? [VHS]

The soundtrack to a Russian silent film originally released in 1929, Man With a Movie Camera whips up a maelstrom of moody, electronica-tinged jazz-funk. In 1999, the Portugese film festival selection committee asked Cinematic Orchestra's Jason Swinscoe to compose a new score for a screening of Dziga Vertov's avant-garde classic with live orchestral accompaniment. The result is a limber collection that flirts with brilliance while never quite coming together as an entity separate from the movie itself. For the full effect, listeners are advised to check out the film's DVD release, which features this music in its intended setting. Having said that, there is much to recommend here for fans of Cinematic Orchestra's post-modern, acid jazz fixations; "The Awakening of a Woman (Burnout)," for instance, slinks along on a decadent groove, as does the skittish "Reel Life (Evolution II)." By improving an already classic film with these sly compositions, Swinscoe's band lives up to its name with elegant style and sophistication. --Matthew Cooke

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