Page Of Madness Soundtrack CD - Import

In The Nursery's fifth "Optical Music" release was created for the 1927 silent Japanese film "A Page Of Madness," and combines recent technology with traditional Japanese instrumentation and percussion.

The fifth in In the Nursery's series of silent film soundtracks, A Page of Madness itself is perhaps both the most obscure and most striking of the movies the Humberstone brothers have worked with so far. The liner notes describe a mid-'20s film depicting the life of a man who works as a janitor in an insane asylum to be near his wife, committed there for having trying to kill their child -- a strong subject no matter what the time or place. Combined with film techniques that suggest parallels to Man With a Movie Camera, earlier scored by In the Nursery, it gave the Humberstones a rich palette to work with. The resultant score is very much in the vein of their earlier efforts in that there's a focus on suggestive, rhythmic passages blending classical influences with electronic approaches, low key so as not to overwhelm the visuals but strong enough to suggest atmospheres in their own right. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the feeling of A Page of Madness throughout is dark, disturbed, and at points chaotic -- there are sudden discordant bursts of musique concrète orchestration ("A Page out of Order," "Separation") and quick edits between layers of sound, silence, and minimal instrumentation ("Dancing With Chaos"). But just as often there are passages of calm serenity -- "Incarceration," for instance, for all the suggestions of the title, is a slow, steady blend of melody and subtle layers of percussion, reflective but not dour, while "The Other Side of Reality" takes a darker tone but is reminiscent of the enthralling extended drones Thomas Köner is known for. Throughout, the Humberstones take distinct advantage of the film's setting and country of origin -- no guests are listed as performing on the album, but every so often there are hints of instrumentation suggesting the koto and shamisen for strings and the shakuhachi for flutes, likely performed electronically. Having long since established their own particular style, the Humberstones here readily show how they are still exploring the possibilities offered via modern cinematic composition, to quite excellent effect. ~ Ned Raggett

In The Nursery album created for the 1927 avant-garde Japanese silent film 'A Page Of Madness'. The 5th in their acclaimed Optical Music Series, incorporates the latest music technology with traditional Japanese instrumentation and percussion. ITN Corp. 2004.