Otherworldly and strangely appealing, The Valerie Project combines contemporary folk with Czech new wave film.  The impressive assemblage of musicians from a myriad of projects is headed by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass) and features the talents of Margaret Wienk (Fern Knight, Eyesores), Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass), Helena Espvall (Espers), Mary Lattimore, Tara Burke (Fursaxa), Jesse Sparhawk (Timesbold, Fern Knight), Jim Ayre (Fern Knight), Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), and Charles Cohen. The impetus of the Project series is to 'recontextualize the filmic meaning and impact of a particular work through the substitution of a newly composed soundtrack.' According to the project's website, the intention of the collective is to 'reconnect the world to itself.'  Commonly rescored soundtracks are performed live to films dating from the silent era. However, in this unconventional circumstance, the film must be either muted or the original soundtrack must be completely removed.  Performances by the project group spanned from the west to east cost at such venues as the Museum of Modern Art, the Smith Rafael Film Center, the Silent Movie Theatre, and the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago.

The group's first project is for the 1970's Czech film Valerie and her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divů) by director Jaromil Jireš, an adaptation of the surreal novel penned in 1935 by Vítězslav Nezval of the same title.  The dizzying display of supersaturated color and the unusual utilization of sound effects, both cacophonous and subtle, for varied moments in the film creates an apt setting in light of Nezval's antecedent intentions in his novel.  A brief synopsis: Valerie, the 13 year old heroine, is cresting on womanhood and is fraught with a series of unsettling hallucinations.  Met by a host of menacing characters including vampires, zombies, doppelgangers and perverted monks, she is forced to grapple with her demons and accept her family's dark past.

"The Magic Yard" begins sweetly with instrumental swells and touches of twinkling bells, innocently introducing the soundtrack to the listener before an endearingly dissonant children's choir joins the other instruments and hushes the resonant strings and plucking harp.  Momentum picks up on the next track, where pounding drums and bells make "Talk With Grandmother" sound like a vibrant, jubilant fanfare.  In opposition is the darkly narrative, yet abbreviated harpsichord and guitar theme of "The Letter."  Children's voices, both singing and engaged in prayer, are present yet again in "The Sermon" and "The Visit," however organ interludes are more sinister and threatening than before. Lovely guitar and harp return in "Losing the Way,"  but the abrupt changes within "The Work of Death" and "Dense Smoke" make the songs difficult to grasp and appreciate without the presence of the film. 

The songs in this new interpretation of the soundtrack are frequently curtailed and very repetitive. This is disappointing, considering the talent displayed by the musicians on their respective previous musical efforts.  The instrumentation is consistently tenuous and the dynamics are unsettling.  Although this interpretation is fitting when performed with the film, as an album itself, I feel that there is much to be desired.

-P.J. Stevenson