As part of the film festival celebrations of Porto being the European City of Culture in 2001, Jason Swinscoe of The Cinematic Orchestra was commissioned to score a soundtrack to a silent movie as a one-off performance. The film was Dziga Vertov's ‘Man With A Movie Camera,’ a 1929 early documentary cinema film from the Soviet Union, and hailed by many including The British Film Institute to be one of the greatest films of all time, nearly 100 years on from its creation. The performance took place in the historic Coliseu Porto, and ended with a standing ovation of 3,500 people. The Cinematic Orchestra have since toured the show internationally over the years, including performances at The Barbican in London, NYC’s Winter Garden at WTC, and Sydney Opera House.
The band was in the process of writing “Every Day” when the film commission occurred, which had a formative influence on “Man With A Movie Camera”. Certain tracks that made it onto “Every Day” in other forms were written specifically for the score or were already in development, which allowed Swinscoe and the band to remold motifs to the film's unfolding narrative. The title 'Every Day' was based on the narrative in the film, which portrays a day in the life of an idealised Soviet society, beginning with people waking up, moving through various workplace environments, and into leisure time & activities.
“Man With A Movie Camera” was eventually recorded and released in 2003. it was met with much acclaim. The Guardian gave it 4/5 and said “You can perform an autopsy on the jazz instruments, DJ Shadow-like grooves and repeating chord sequences, yet come away scratching your head as to how, in such simple combinations, they make such heartfelt music.” The Independent on Sunday continued, “It stands alone, proud and complete.” And dance magazines also showered it with praise such as DJ Magazine, “The genius, a word not to be used lightly, of The Cinematic Orchestra seemingly knows no bounds.”
Since debuting with “Motion”, in 1999, The Cinematic Orchestra have sold hundreds of thousands of albums, generated over a billion streams and enjoyed critical support from the likes of Pitchfork, The Guardian, New York Times, Le Monde, Resident Advisor, Fader, Crack, Rolling Stone, Gilles Peterson, Benji B, Jason Bentley and Mary Anne Hobbs. In 2007, The “Ma Fleur” album was recognised for its bold departure from the group’s sonic traditions; in the years since, it’s been continuously celebrated, with tracks like ‘To Build A Home’ reaching huge audiences. The band have performed to larger and larger audiences and sold out the likes of London's Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Rome’s Auditorium Park Della and the Sydney Opera House. Coachella, Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Montreux and Sonar have all played host to the band’s much loved live performances. They have also appeared at the Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Awards for Stanley Kubrick and New York’s Summerstage with the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin. Their original score for “The Crimson Wing”, included the track ‘Arrival of the Birds’ which featured in the Oscar Winning Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything”. Their last album “To Believe,” charted in the Top 20 of the UK albums chart and #1 in the album vinyl chart.
Tracklist:
A1. The Projectionist
A2. Melody
A3. Dawn
A4. The Awakening Of A Woman (Burnout)
B1. Reel Life (Evolution II)
B2. Postlude
B3. Evolution (Versao Portuense)
C1. Work It! (Man With The Movie Camera)
C2. Voyage
C3. Odessa
C4. Theme De Yoyo
C5. The Magician
D1. Theme Reprise
D2. Yoyo Waltz
D3. Drunken Tune
D4. The Animated Tripod
D5. All Things
