The Color of Pomegranates is a 1969 film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov. It depicts, with little dialogue, the life of an Armenian poet, and the avant-garde film is praised for the beautifully cryptic, visual storytelling, often appearing on various "greatest ever" lists. In 2015, New York-based Nicolas Jaar released an alternate score to The Color of… digitally, and it was first issued on vinyl as a double LP on the label Mana in 2018. It's been out of print for years, and now Jaar has finally made it available again on his Other People label. Profoundly intimate, Pomegranates is an engaging listen full of strange ambient textures and gorgeous melodies (in the latter half of the album). Jaar explains: "I started making most of the music that is found on Pomegranates before I had seen the movie or was aware of its existence." He had created "a weird collage of ambient music" over about a two-year period. One of his friends, upon hearing the songs, recommended The Color of Pomegranates to Jaar, and the producer was "dumbfounded" after watching the film: "I felt the aesthetic made complete sense with the strange themes I had been obsessed with over the past couple of years." Jaar couldn't get the clearance to screen the Pomegranates-version of the movie, but this reimagined score surely can stand on its own. Listen from beginning to end and soak in the imagery and feeling that the beautiful notes conjure up.

• black double vinyl pressing
• original release year: 2015
• music label: Other People 2025

reviewed by rei kwondo 09/2018