Clint Mansell

Clint Mansell (born Clinton Darryl Mansell, 7 January 1963, in Coventry, England) is a musician and composer. Mansell was the lead singer and guitarist of the British band, Pop Will Eat Itself, from 1986 till the band disbanded. Mansell also broke into the world of film scoring when his friend, director, Darren Aronofsky, gave him the opportunity to score his debut film, "π". Despite some acclaim, Mansell's score went widely unnoticed by both fans and critics. However, the soundtrack release, placing Mansell's work alongside tracks from Autechre, Aphex Twin, Orbital and Roni Size, did win many fans from the idm and electronica communities. Mansell's score for "π" was followed up by his score for the next Darren Aronofsky film, "Requiem for a Dream". The score became a cult hit, as it was appreciated by scores of composers. The music is notable for its use of sharp, often staccato 'un-vibrato-ed' string instruments to create a cold and discomforting sound from instruments frequently used for their warmth and softness (an effect pioneered in film soundtracks by Bernard Herrmann). Reportedly Kronos Quartet asked for a very reasonable fee which, according to Aronofsky, suited him well; Aronofsky also stated that the music inspired him during the editing process. The trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers used a remixed version of the track "Lux Æterna", re-recorded with a full orchestra and choir. The soundtrack for "Requiem for a Dream" also confirmed its popularity with the remix album Requiem For A Dream: Remixed, which contained new mixes of the music by Paul Oakenfold, Josh Wink, Jagz Kooner, and Delerium amongst others. The "Lux Æterna" track has become extremely popular, and both the original and the remix have appeared in a wide variety of commercials and trailers, including trailers for the films Sunshine (2007), Zathura and The Da Vinci Code. Mansell also composed the score to Doom, something that brought him musically very close to the original game composers - Doom 1 and 2 game music author Paul Burdette and his later followers - Quake soundtrack author Trent Reznor, Quake 2 and 3 soundtrack performers Sonic Mayhem, and Doom 3 soundtrack author Chris Vrenna. Other notable achievements include the theme for the film The Hole and the music for the pilot episode of CSI: NY. In 2006, Mansell composed the soundtrack for another Darren Aronofsky movie, 2006's The Fountain (performed by Kronos Quartet with Mogwai). His most recent work is the film score for Moon, the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. After the release of Moon, Jones wrote about Clint Mansell that, "It goes beyond his ability to write truly epic and memorable phrases, it's the fact that in the case of Moon, he truly invested himself emotionally in understanding what we were trying to do. In my experience, that's not standard operating procedure. That's not the approach of a Hollywood "jobsman". He cared. He wanted to understand. He approached the film as what he is; an artist. And in Clint's case... a very special, very talented one at that".