Nicolas Jaar may be dance music’s least predictable man.
Since releasing his meandering and memorable debut Space is Only Noise in 2011, the Chilean-American talent has managed to avoid putting out a solo successor.
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His DARKSIDE project with Dave Harrington was a different (yet just as worthwhile) beast that channeled Pink Floyd in its majestic rock-oriented arrangements. The release of Jaar’s third EP Nymphs II in May followed the revelation that he had composed a soundtrack to a 1969 Soviet art film called The Colour of Pomegranates.
Now that soundtrack has surfaced in the form of a second standalone album titled Pomegranates. Jaar unexpectedly tweeted out the LP’s download link today.
Jaar describes being overwhelmingly inspired by the Sergei Parajanov-directed film in a note that accompanies the album’s 20 tracks and artwork.
He writes:
“At the beginning of 2015 my friend Milo heard some of these songs and told me about the film. I watched it and was dumbfounded. I felt the aesthetic made complete sense with the strange themes I had been obsessed with over the past couple of years…I was curious to see what my songs sounded like when synced with the images, which turned into a 2-day bender where I soundtracked the entire film, creating a weird collage of the ambient music I had made over the last 2 years.
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“The film gave me a structure to follow and themes to stick to. It gave clarity to this music that was made mostly out of and through chaos. It also gave me the balls to put it out… I wanted to do some screenings but the guy who owns the rights to the film only wants the original version of the movie out there. I can’t blame him, I’m sure Parajanov wouldn’t want some kid in NY pissing all over his masterpiece and calling it a soundtrack! I’ve listened to it a couple of times without watching the movie and I think it stands on its own. Or at least I hope it can!”
Jaar’s next EP Nymphs III, will be available on vinyl through his Other People imprint on.June 29.
Pomegranates Full Tracklisting:
01. “Garden of Eden”
02. “Construction”
03. “Pass the Time”
04. “Survival”
05. “The Fool and His Harem”
06. “Nothingness”
07. “Near Death”
08. “Beasts of This Earth”
09. “Fall Into Time”
10. “Folie à deux”
11. “Screams at the Edge of Dawn”
12. “Divorce”
13. “Three Windows”
14. “Tourists”
15. “Shame”
16. “Tower of Sin”
17. “Club Kapital”
18. “Volver”
19. “Spirit”
20. “Muse”
If you’re at a computer, here’s a DL for my album “Pomegranates” http://t.co/5HtoSw0gKF
— Nicolas Jaar (@nicolas___jaar) June 24, 2015