David Carbonara’s mix of contemporary score and period jazz delivers a distinctive sound that has become a part of the series as much as the timeless visuals and characters. Carbonara’s long career includes scores for Spanking The Monkey and The Guru and extensive work as a music editor which includes Cop Land, The Ciderhouse Rules and Chocolat. The album also includes 'A Beautiful Mine', RJD2’s original theme from the TV series...

Mad Men: On the Rocks collects together 23 tracks (46 min, 01 sec) from David Carbonara's work from the TV show. The score mainly consists of period jazz compositions as well as light tracks, touching on the fringes of lounge music.

The album kicks off with 'Pacific Coast Highway', which wouldn't have sounded out of place as background music in the original The Sims game. Other highlights include 'Betty Home and Sally's Story' (the opening to which is in the vein of Danny Elfman); 'Hurry Into The Far Away Places' (which has a film noir feel to it); 'Lights Out' (which for me holds this albums most impressive theme); 'The New York Times'; 'Pete's Not Talking'; and a 5 min, 29 sec version of 'A Beautiful Mine', the show's main theme.

This is a wonderfully enjoyable album filled with fluffy, chilling sounds that will find a welcome home in any Mad Men fans music collection.

7

Darren Rea