Bradbiry Fahrenheit

The complete ambient downtempo and atmospheric collection Fahrenheit Project serie. All along this project, the diverse musical and geographical influences communicate with one another, evoke their rhythms, their harmonies and inspirations. Asura, Solar Fields, Aes Dana, Robert Rich, Vibrasphere, H.U.V.A. Network, Carbon Based Lifeforms and many more.

Bon Jovi's sophomore release found the New Jersey group continuing with its engaging mix of hard rock dynamics and blatant pop-metal overtones, and primed the pump for the coming popular explosion of Slippery When Wet. Ever since the keyboard call to arms of the breakthrough "Runaway," Bon Jovi had understood that real success lay in a billowing smoke, soft-focus derivation of true metal, where Journey-style synthesizers and soft rock chorus vocals were the name of the game. To that end, 7800° Fahrenheit tempered its black-leather rock & roll with a rudimentary form of the sound that would make Bon Jovi superstars.

After suffering the humiliation of having his score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 film Torn Curtain tossed aside and replaced, Bernard Herrmann turned right around and set to work on a film score that many feel contains his finest work: Fahrenheit 451, released in 1967 by Universal. The movie, which is director Francois Truffaut's sole English-language film, puts on celluloid Ray Bradbury's classic and terrifying novel of the same name – a tale of a not-so-distant future in which books, any and all books, are deemed to be subversive by a repressive mega-government. Herrmann's score proves once again that some of the finest film scoring efforts achieve their greatness by going firmly against the superficial grain of the film. The Fahrenheit 451 score is intense, human, and deeply personal (and, as such, sometimes quite unhappy or ugly) in a cinematic world that is cold and absolutely inhuman. What Herrmann provides is less a depiction of or even response to the elements of plot and cinematography, but more a ticket into some internal cross-section of the protagonist, Guy Montag, that finds its way to the screen only fleetingly. Beyond that, it is a musical bill of faith in the eternally unbreakable human spirit, an element that comes into the movie only at its very end. The movie often moves along in two very different layers – sight and sound (film proper) and musical score – and the effect can be overwhelming.

Taking a break from his day job with the Rippingtons, saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa treads some different ground on Walk a Mile (Fahrenheit FR9603-2; 52:06). The talented wind player experiments with a variety of textures and moods-from the brassy and warmly inspirational “Givin’ In,” to the loping, urban-toned title track, both of which showcase some soulful, economical work in lean settings. Kashiwa pairs up well with keyboardist Dave Kochanski (who shares writing credits on the album), as well as with gypsy guitarist Marc Antoine, whose pretty, driving acoustic work support the swirling Brazil feel of “August Moon” and the knuckling Latin rhythms on “Rise.”