Pitchfork

Clint Mansell is probably one of your favorite music-makers-- you just didn't realize it. The former Pop Will Eat Itself frontman has collaborated with Trent Reznor, but he's best known these days as a film composer. In addition to scoring such movies as Sahara, Doom, and Trust the Man, he's partnered with director Darren Aronofsky for all three of his projects: 1998's Pi, 2000's Requiem for a Dream, and this year's The Fountain, due in theaters November 22.

As previously reported, Mansell's score for The Fountain is performed by Kronos Quartet in collaboration with Mogwai. Nonesuch Records, home of Kronos Quartet, will release The Fountain: Music From the Motion Picture on November 21, and they have posted a few pieces of the soundtrack on their website.

Clips of nine of the disc's 10 tracks can be heard here. Of the nine thirty-second samples, "Tree of Life" seems the most Mogwai-ish, with droning guitars bubbling under Kronos' whirling strings.

The epic "Death Is the Road to Awe" can be heard in its entirety via Nonesuch Radio. Building and building to a crashing climax featuring screaming feedback, a choir, and bells, it's exactly the kind of vertiginous high we've come to expect from Mansell's music.

As an extra special treat, Mansell has posted an alternate outtake version of the track "The Last Man" on his MySpace page. It features Antony's fluttery, almost wordless cooing over mysterious, melancholy piano.

The Fountain: Music From the Motion Picture tracklist:

01 The Last Man
02 Holy Dread!
03 Tree of Life
04 Stay With Me
05 Death Is a Disease
06 Xibalba
07 First Snow
08 Finish It
09 Death Is the Road to Awe
10 Together We Will Live Forever