Makunouchi Bento is back with another interesting collaboration. This time it’s to soundtrack a film called “Bodrog” from first-time feature film director Mihai Salajan. I can’t say much about the film because I’ve only seen the trailer (watch it below) but it is described as “an almost-horror mockumentary.” It certainly looks intriguing, and I suspect there are many more interesting elements than this taste lets on…
What I can talk about is the music. To my mind, Makunouchi Bento’s electroacoustic soundscapes often create little worlds or stories. [See their album “Swimé” for one excellent example.] They are a great fit for soundtrack work, and create a very effective and enjoyable sound tableau for “Bodrog.” Standouts include the wonderfully off-kilter “The Last Supper” and “Pine Quiz,” as well the anchor for this whole production – a long track called “Summoning Iosif II.” This song is dominated by beautifully haunting piano, of course embellished by MB production. At several points the piano seems to be trying to break free, and eventually does as the entire thing slowly disintegrates.
Rounding out the soundtrack album are a handful of songs by Selfmademusic (which is none other than “Bodrog” director Mihai Salajan in his musical guise), including the trailer music. The Selfmademusic tracks actually fit very well with the MB tracks, maybe with slightly more aggressive instrumentation at times. There is also a bonus chiptune track from Nagz (yet another MB collaborator) that frankly doesn’t really fit the mood of the other music here at all, but it’s a fun and catchy bonus nonetheless.