CD REVIEW - WRONG HOLLYWOOD NUMBER


Wrong Hollywood Number
Music by Edwin Wendler
Westwood Music Group Promo WECD-1169
8 Tracks 15:20 mins

I am indebted to Screen Archives Entertainment for providing me with a promotional disc of Edwin Wendler's music for the 2003 short comedy Wrong Hollywood Number, for which the composer utilised the services of the London Metropolitan Orchestra and Ensemble Calixa Lavallee.
It's a short score of just over 15 minutes, but is quite vibrant, with a versatile main theme, heard in a lush treatment over "Welcome to Hollywood," which is sadly cut short on this disc as it rises to almost majestic heights. The theme however returns in the very next track "Hopes and Dreams," where it first receives a poignant guitar treatment, before picking up in a bright, almost Hollywood musical styled treatment. "Assembly Dance," a lighthearted tango, concludes the same track. The Latin mood continues into the optimistic "New Beginnings," the main theme returning in a brief whistled variation towards the end. "Acting Montage" follows, initially quite classical in nature, before a kind of sixties spy feel emerges, with a heavenly choral to close. "Ignoramus" is pure slapstick, giving way to an ominous drum roll opening to "Ham and Pineapple," before a carefree variation on the main theme takes over, becoming a flowing western theme, complete with whip cracks. A zany kazoo-lead variation on the main theme closes the score in "Hollywood Melody." The disc ends with a strange little source track "On Hold...On Edge."
This bright and very varied little score then is a pure delight, and is available on iTunes, but should you somehow manage to get a hold of a copy of the promo, it features enhanced content; a trailer, session photos and a digital booklet.
For more information on the composer go to www.edwinwendler.com, or visit him on myspace.com/edwinwendler, where you can listen to some of his music.