Solomon Burke - Cool Breeze OST (1972)

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The Limits of Control Original Soundtrack

I watched this, Jarmusch's latest, twice this weekend. I was hooked by the soundtrack and the score. The soundtrack is dripping with droners. Oddly the drones never come off as spooky or grinding, etc. They are almost kind and very complimentary to the enigmatic vibe of the film. I was really caught off guard when the first track kicked in but it quickly became comforting and nurtured the script.

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01. Bad Rabbit - Intro
02. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Fuzzy Reactor
03. La Macarena - Saeta
04. Bad Rabbit - Sea Green Sea
05. Boris - Feedback (TLOC Edit)
06. Manuel el Sevillano - Por Compasi n Malaguenas
07. Boris - Farewell
08. Sunn o))) & Boris - N.L.T.
09. Carmen Linares - El Que Se
10. Bad Rabbit - Dawn
11. The Black Angels - You on the Run
12. Earth and Bill Frisell - Omens and Portrents 1: The Driver (TLOC Edit)
13. Taleg n de C rdoba & Jorge Rodriguez Padilla - El Que Se Tenga Por Grande
14. Sunn o))) & Boris - Blood Swamp (TLOC Edit)
15. Ensemble Villa Musica - Schubert 2. Adagio (Strin Quintet in C, D.965) (TLOC Edit)
16. LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is PLaying at my House
17. Boris - ” ” (TLOC Edit)


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Giovanni Fusco - Music For Michelangelo Antonioni

Giovanni Fusco

Parle Italiano? What can i tell you about Giovanni Fusco? he died on my birthday in 1968, a year before I was born, so I guess maybe that doesn't really make it my birthday yet. He was born in Italy in 1906. thanks wikipedia. Oh yeah, and he did that kickass soundtrack for Hiroshima Mon Amour (which we gotta get up here one of these days).

AND, he composed all the music for my favorite Antonioni films, which are represented on this stately and serene slab, and do sound so very very lovely on this gray autumn day (if also very very elegaic, melancholic, and basically very fucking lonely). And hey, even though it's currently out of stock at Dusty Groove, you folks can find it right here, in the Forest...

dustygroove: Early soundtracks for Michelangelo Antonioni movies -- penned and conducted by Giovanni Fusco, for films that include L'Avventura, L'Eclisse, and Deserto Rosso. The orchestrations are full, but often have a sense of space that really fits the brooding work of the director -- stark and spare at times, with a lone (or lonely) instrument standing out from the rest -- a woodwind instrument here, piano line there, arcing out with a nicely sensitive quality. Titles include "Tensione", "Tema Drammatico", "Eclisse Twist", "Passeggiata", "Nevrosi", "Happy Surf", "Orgia", "Il Surf Della Luna", and "Atmosfera Suspence".

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Ry Cooder - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Paris, Texas

Who am I to buck a mini-trend. We all need suggestions for how to live...

The Paris, Texas OST is something I tend to throw out there a lot when describing other things. It's a point of reference. So, instead of being purposefully obscure, let me hand you over the real deal for your examination. It feels, um, Texasy... but not in a ZZ Top sorta way (to Baywatch's relief).

A good record to give in to.

A good record for a crash - physical, emotional, metaphysical.

A good record for being tired.

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AMG: Suggestive of both the imagery of Win Wenders' movie Paris, Texas and the desert itself, Ry Cooder's score is a peaceful, poetic journey into the soul of an acoustic guitar. "Paris, Texas," "Brothers," and "Nothing Out There" open the album as meditative blends of guitar twang and scratching ambient effects. The songs move at a pretty, slow place, and the opening track sees Cooder plucking his guitar's strings and letting that sound vibrate into thin air; it's a motif that he returns to repeatedly throughout the score. There's a bit of both humor and mystery to the stillness and the echoing, edgy sound effects that crop up. "Cancion Mixteca" includes a memorable turn on vocals by Harry Dean Stanton, singing in Spanish. "No Safety Zone" is almost completely ambient in its ethics, with fleeting experimental guitar playing, as the song works more as a mood-setter than a traditional song. "I Knew These People" begins with an extended segment of dialogue from the film before Cooder's somber guitar creeps in. The effect of the dialogue makes the track a fine, artistic statement, but the moment works better in the context of the movie than as a track on an album. The dialogue comes from a scene where the characters played by Stanton and Nastassja Kinski have a particularly emotional meeting. The majority of the score is delicate and stunningly pretty. The overall sense is that Cooder was reaching for spare, emotional movements. The score is stark, quiet, and as uplifting as it is sad. Cooder makes the music sound as modern and stylish as acoustic music can sound. The album is at once alien and organic. Since "I Knew These People" includes dialogue from Paris, Texas, the score works best for people who have seen the movie, but it's still a powerful and immensely evocative journey for those whose experience with the material is the album alone.


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Various Artists - The Brown Bunny

(Just to fatten up that OST)

We've talked about this before. Here.

Love or hate the Bunny, it's a nice droppping

(and wtf, y know we love the Frusciante here)

TRACK LISTING

1. Come Wander With Me (Jeff Alexander)

2. Tears For Dolphy (Ted Curson)

3. Milk And Honey (Jackson C. Frank)

4. Beautiful (Gordon Lightfoot)

5. Smooth (Matisse/Accardo Quartet)

6. Forever Away (John Frusciante)

7. Dying Song (John Frusciante)

8. Leave All The Days Behind (John Frusciante)

9. Prostitution Song (John Frusciante)

10. Falling (John Frusciante)

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Various Artistes - Shake Sauvage: French Soundtracks 1968-1972

salaciously sublime offering

from the "impeccable" label

Crippled Dick Hot Wax :-

"Without a doubt, soundtracks have been the field of experimention for innovative musicians around the world

France is no exception, but definitely has its own unique certain sound to offer

somewhere between French-Pop and Blaxploitation-reminiscences.

On this compilation of French Soundtracks from mainly the 60s and 70s

(only exception: "Grand théme Malko" from 1982)

we cover the whole spectrum; from pulsating thriller-beats to relaxed sexy grooves.

This line-up of first-class composers includes:

Jean Yanne, Francis Lai, Georges Garvarentz, Michel Magne, Claude Bolling

and many more!

Pump the perfumed "French touch" out of your speakers!

Young girls lose their way

in the midst of the 68 riots

find themselves in wild clubs

taking narcotique exotique

letting their hair down

to the sound of the sitar

(Romy Schneider only just escapes death,

when her weekend lover crashes

down the cliffs in a car "Full Speed"!)

Bored married couples invite you for orgies

and a mental marriage-swindler

drugs women senseless

to make them obey

These and other stories are the ingredients of these selected films.

The typical French combination of commissioner and psychopath

are well represented here

(as is the absurd sex film)

Mysterious, sexy, or just plain funky

(thank god for various disco scenes)

are the tracks on this compilation

Percussive rhythms

wild organs

psychedelic flutes

sitars

(and various electronic sounds)

will do the rest

to spoil the 'advanced' listener

The result is this explosive cock-tail of casual grooves and orchestral thriller-themes!"

##. TITLE - COMPOSER - FILM - MISCELLANEOUS

01. Sexopolis - Jean-Pierre Mirouze - Le mariage collectif - Brian Auger on organ!

02. Nues Dans L'eau - Georges Garvarentz - Sapho ou la Fureur d'aimer

03. Haschisch Party - Georges Garvarentz - Les galets d'Etretat

04. Jukes Boxes Chez Saidani - Phillipe Sarde - Max et es Ferrailleurs

05. Full Speed - Claude Bolling - Qui?

06. Ok Chicago - Resonnance (Pierre Bachelet) - OK Chicago - composer of Emmanuel

07. Kidnapping - Karl Heinz Schaffer - Les gants blancs du diable <-- entire soundtrack @ link!

08. I Don't Know Why - Francis Lai - La lecon particuliere

09. L.S.D. Party - Roland Vincent - Delphine - Brian Auger on organ!

10. Le Crocodile Porte-Cle - Bernard Gerard - Des vacances en or

11. Grand Theme Malko - Michel Magne - S.A.S. a San Salvador

12. Le Temps Des Loups - Georges Garvarentz - Le Temps des loups

13. African King - Andre Aprino

14. Bowery Mood - Vladimir Cosma

15. Petrol Pop - Michel Magne & Jean Yanne - Moi y'en Vouloir des Sous

16. Le theme d' Olivier - Francis Lai - La lecon particuliere

17. Munich Party - Thierry Vincent - Les Teenagers

18. Sweet Bacon - Julien Covey

~~~

Get it on

w yr honey

ces soir!

~~~

ECOUTEZ!

Backbeat - OST

Kicking back with Richard Lester's "A Hard Day's Night" last night on IFC it occurred to me how much I appreciated early Beatles. This little record gets that sound right. There's an anxious, angry immediacy here that approximates that early Beatles groove quite well. Ignore the movie - but indulge yourself with the soundtrack. Mike Mills, Dave Pirner, Greg Dulli, Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore and Don Fleming may not be the Fab Four, but they tear it up just the same.

allmusic:

Though more notable for the musicians who contributed to the album than for the actual music contained therein, the Backbeat soundtrack is actually a fantastic record that holds its own even when judged by purely musical criteria. Backbeat (the movie, which is unfortunately a bit of a hack job) chronicles the Beatles' developmental period in Liverpool and Hamburg, so the idea behind the soundtrack was to assemble musicians who could accurately convey the raw, quasi-punk feel of the early leather jacket-clad Fab Four. Producer Don Was, though not usually associated with high-power garage rock, does an excellent job of assembling an amazing post-punk supergroup, the members of which perform cover tunes from the Beatles' actual repertoire with aplomb and surprising cohesion. The band includes powerhouse vocalist Greg Dulli, best known as the leader of the Afghan Whigs, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighters guitarist/vocalist Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore (legendary six string strangler with Sonic Youth), noted alternative rock producer/guitarist Don Fleming (Gumball, Hole, Teenage Fanclub, Screaming Trees), and Soul Asylum vocalist Dave Pirner. Pirner, though he only participates on three songs, contributes some of the most energetic lead vocals of his career. Dulli, too, sounds like he's having the time of his life. Overall, the band sounds pretty convincing, except for Grohl's drumming, which, though typically excellent, is obviously from the post-John Bonham hard rock era. Despite that small flaw, however, this album is highly recommended, as it gives a much better idea of the early Beatles over-the-top energy than the film itself.

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American Hardcore - The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986

When the Steven Blush book came out I jumped all over it, devoured it and loved it. I foisted it on friends and spread the love like mayo. This was my high school soundtrack (tho a little heavier on the SST and Twin/Tone). I proudly sported combat boots and the bars on backpacks for years until, as Barlow said, "...started smoking pot - things sounded better slow."


This is the music that connected me to something bigger - mostly it expanded my political worldview, a worldview rooted in frustration, anger, misunderstanding and contempt for affluence and its arrogance. Quickly the HC scene became misogynist, fascist/racist, laden with a jock mentality and had outlived its purpose and, almost appropriately, the genre's key practitioners transitioned into metal or glam.

But this is exciting stuff. Nothing like it had been heard before. Makes me happy. Sadly, the documentary based on the book was cold, overly-regimented, overemphasized a lot of the mindless, musclehead Upper East Coast hardcore thuggery and had very little narrative arch. So, in summation, skip the flick, grab the book and sit down with this compilation for a taster's choice of white, Reagan-era male teenage aggression.

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Track Listing:

01 NERVOUS BREAKDOWN - Black Flag
02 OUT OF VOGUE - Middle Class
03 PAY TO CUM - Bad Brains
04 FUCKED UP RONNIE - D.O.A.
05 RED TAPE - Circle Jerks
06 FILLER - Minor Threat
07 I REMEMBER - MDC
08 NIC FIT - Untouchables
09 KILL A COMMIE - Gang Green
10 BOSTON NOT L.A. - The Freeze
11 STRAIGHT JACKET - Jerry’s Kids
12 BOILING POINT - SS Decontrol
13 WHO ARE YOU?/TIME TO DIE - Void
14 CAME WITHOUT WARNING - Scream
15 FRIEND OR FOE (1983 Demo) - Negative Approach
16 BAD ATTITUDE - Articles Of Faith
17 THINK FOR ME - Die Kreuzen
18 MY MINDS DISEASED - Batallion Of Saints
19 HATE SPORTS - 7 Seconds
20 BRICKWALL - Big Boys
21 I WAS A TEENAGE FUCK UP - Really Red
22 HATE CHILDREN (1980 Demo) - Adolescents
23 ENEMY FOR LIFE - YDI
24 RUNNIN’ AROUND - D.R.I.
25 DON’T TREAD ON ME (1982 Demo) - Cro-Mags
26 HA HA HA - Flipper

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John Lurie - Stranger Than Paradise OST, Down By Law OST (1984, 1986)

Inspired request from Curry, who claims he can't live without (albeit temporarily flint). We know only too well what he means. Can't count how many times I've seen these films, let alone listened to their soundtracks. I bought both as soon as I they hit the racks (of Round Records in Rogers Park as I recall), and I managed to hold onto them for 25 years. Both are inspired pieces of music that stand well enough alone -- even without the flickering screen to support them -- but Stranger Than Paradise, especially, is a master-fucking-piece-of-work. As I recall, Lurie composed on piano while watching the film, then scored his pieces for a chamber quartet, that was recorded at a church in NYC. This record was a critical soundtrack throughout our college years (for those times when we were actually studying). And even today, when it's dull and white outside, Stranger is the perfect dose of austere cold comfort.
This, for me, is quite simply, the elegant, elegiac essence of sonic melancholia.

Hear Stranger Than Paradise

Hear Down By Law

Various Artists - Velvet Goldmine OST

Worship Todd Haynes. Love this movie. Adore this soundtrack.

allmusic: Glam rock was all about style as substance, finding truth through image. Todd Haynes realized this, constructing Velvet Goldmine, his ode to glam, as a hallucinatory experience where the surface means as much, if not more, than the underlying meanings. Which means, of course, that Haynes' view of glam was based on the artier inclinations of David Bowie and the sinister cabaret and full-blown dementia of Brian Eno-era Roxy Music.

Bowie refused to have any of his songs in Velvet Goldmine, possibly due to the anti-Bowie slant of the script, and the filmmakers squeezed their way out of a potentially fatal situation by hiring Shudder To Think and Grant Lee Buffalo to write Ziggy soundalikes. They work smashingly, as Shudder To Think's "Ballad of Mawell Demon" captures the sweeping ballad feeling of "All the Young Dudes," while Grant Lee Buffalo's "The Whole Shebang" is an uncanny recreation of Hunky Dory's skipping vaudevillian pop.

Their contributions stand out on the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack, which is primarily devoted to songs from the era, either in their original incarnations or in newly minted covers. It's actually a risky move to stand Roxy Music's classic first single "Virginia Plain" next to a wealth of Roxy interpretations by the Venus in Furs, yet their recreations are stunning, enhanced by Thom Yorke's remarkable imitation of Bryan Ferry's vocals. Similarly, the Iggy Pop tribute band, Wylde Ratttz do an admirable job with "TV Eye."

The other covers don't fare as well, yet the other new songs are first-rate (particularly Pulp's stomping, horn-driven Slade extravaganza "We Are the Boys") and all the original recordings are terrific, highlighted by cult items as Eno's fantastic "Needle in the Camel's Eye," T. Rex's "Diamond Meadows" and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's British hit "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)."

The soundtrack, like the film itself, may be more of a collection of moments than a coherent experience, but those moments are pretty spectacular.

01 Needle In The Camel's Eye - Brian Eno
02 Hot One - Shudder To Think
03 20th Century Boy (T. Rex cover) - Placebo
04. 2HB (Roxy Music cover) - The Venus In Furs
05. TV Eye (Iggy Pop & The Stooges cover) - Wylde Ratttz
06. Ballad Of Maxwell Demon - Shudder To Think
07. The Whole Shebang - Grant Lee Buffalo
08. Ladytron (Roxy Music cover) - The Venus In Furs
09. We Are The Boyz - Pulp
10. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
11. Personality Crisis (The New York Dolls cover) - Teenage FanClub feat. Donna Matthews
12. Satellite Of Love - Lou Reed
13. Diamond Meadows - T. Rex
14. Bitter's End - Paul Kimble & Andy Mackay
15. Baby's On Fire (Brian Eno cover) - The Venus In Furs
16. Bitter-Sweet (Roxy Music cover) - The Venus In Furs
17. Velvet Spacetime - Carter Burwell
18. Tumbling Down (Steve Harley cover) - The Venus In Furs
19. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Steve Harley

HEAR

Francis Lai - Vivre Pour Vivre

Fall in love all over again for the first time once again just lied you did the last time. More lovely Francis Lai soundtrack meat. Truly the only accompaniment when preparing and enjoying a delicious meal with the object of your desires and the mother of your babies, or just one of the above or if they are one in the same... or not.

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Allmovie: French director Claude Lelouch followed up his hit A Man and a Woman with this tale of a love triangle set against the background of late 1960s political unrest. A French television reporter, Robert Colomb (Yves Montand), on assignment in Kenya, has an affair with a young fashion model, Candice (Candice Bergen). He returns to Paris and tries to reinvigorate his marriage to Catherine (Annie Girardot) by going on a second honeymoon. But Candice follows him to Paris and they resume their affair. Many more romantic entanglements follow. The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.


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Jon Brion - Punch Drunk Love Soundtrack

Paul Thomas Anderson does many things right. Honestly, I can't think of more than a few contemporary directors who are fit to shine his shoes. Among the multitudes of mastery he possesses at such a young age (the heir to Altman's throne?) no one casts better than he and no one farms out soundtrack work better than he. Even today I plop on Jon Brion and Aimee Mann's stuff from the Magnolia* soundtrack and am moved. Anderson has infinite respect for musicians, even, legend has it, tweaking the Magnolia screenplay to incorporate themes held in Mann's soundtrack numbers. Please note there is zero likelihood that I would buy or spend any time with a Mann release outside of her affiliation with Brion and thus with Anderson's work. That's because I'm a total snob, and because the context of Anderson's work makes her songs come to life.


Punch Drunk Love I thought was, to date, Anderson's weakest effort. Ironically, in my opinion it was his casting of Adam Sandler that cluttered the picture (despite what Roger Ebert thought). Not even Phillip Seymour Hoffman could outshine the glare from Sandler's presence. And this from the guy that made John C. Reilly and re-birthed Burt Reynolds' career. Punch Drunk Love was uneven, awkwardly paced and Sandler's lack of dimension (which was probably his selling point to Anderson) conflicted with the character arc. But what helped save the movie, turning it into something passable and even artful (and better than 97% of the trite head pieces made by the army of ass clowns calling themselves directors inhabiting SoCal) was his use of Jon Brion's diverse, sensitive and massively, um, helpful soundtrack.


So here it is. Play in its entirety. Both surreal and heartbreaking and giddy at times. I was also thrilled to hear (me being a huge Altman fan) that Anderson uses Shelley Duvall singing as Olive Oyl singing the infinitely charming, "He Needs Me" from Altman's Popeye.

(* one of the best American movies made in the last 15 years)

Wikipedia on the soundtrack: The score to Punch-Drunk Love was composed by Jon Brion. As with the previous film Magnolia, Brion and director Paul Thomas Anderson collaborated heavily for the production of the film's score. However, rather than scoring the film after rough footage had been shot, Brion created compositions during the filming of Punch-Drunk Love. During the scoring process, Brion would experiment with tones and sounds, carefully making note of what Anderson would respond to. Anderson himself would create vocal tempos he would envision in the score and use them on set, even to the extent of inspiring the pace of Adam Sandler's performance.

The film's score features heavy use of the harmonium, an instrument that Anderson knew he wanted in the film before he had even completed the script. Brion introduced Anderson to this instrument and many scenes between Adam Sandler's character and the instrument were inspired by Brion. For instance, Brion once found a harmonium with a hole in its bellows before going on tour with Aimee Mann. To fix the problem, he covered the hole with duct tape. An identical situation is found in the film.

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Francis Lai - Un Homme Et Une Femme (Soundtrack)

I've been searching hi and low for this digitized for months (despite having two sealed LPs in the basement). So good to cook to, eat too, make delicious cakes and tarts to...

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Curtis Mayfield - Short Eyes OST

This 1977 soundtrack to a film based on a play about prison (written by a guy who was inside at the time), and the complications caused therein by the arrival of a pedophile didn't do so well at the time of its release. Surprise. It tanked in fact. A shame. The lead track was a minor radio hit, but the fact that this record gets retrospective cultural short shrift in comparison to Superfly is a tragic and shallow-minded oversight of hip priests everywhere
(if par for the tired course).

Excuse the soapbox digression. All I'm saying is that it's truly a wonder to hear the master work his magic at the peak of his powers. Check out the opener of each LP side ("Do Do Wap...", and "Short Eyes"), and please don't neglect the closer, "Father Confessor." Aw fuck, just check it all out. The arrangements are ambitious and innovative, the production is lush, robust, and crisp (like a Farmer's Market apple in October). And the songs, you say? How about the songs? Well, let's just say that the songs simply manifest Curtis' pure pwnage of his art. To be au courant.

Irresistible Beats. This 256kbps rip direct from my original vinyl courtesy of Processed down at the JVPC labs plays fat and funky and sounds way better than official CD cuts.

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Mike Curb - Teenage Rebellion OST

Czarth writes: "An old post from the Curry mentioning Mike Curb's involvement with The Smoke reminded me about the teensploitation flick Teenage Rebellion and its soundtrack."



allmovieguide: This gang-directed documentary tries to find common ground between the rebellious teenagers of Sweden, Japan, Italy, and the United States. Italian homosexuals are more open than in other countries, while the relaxed attitudes towards pre-marital sex among Scandinavians is redundantly mentioned. Teens from the U.S. smoke pot and experiment with LSD, while Japanese and Italian teens fall victim to prostitution. Mike Curb provides the music to this low-budget exploitation feature that promises but fails to deliver.




Bay notes: There is a website that gives none other than Richard Lester ("Hard Day's Night") credit for co-directing this B-movie doozie. The imdb entry (which makes no such claim), offers the following summary: A quickie documentary, originally paired on a drive-in double bill with "Mondo Mod," claims to provide the lowdown on crazy teenage goings-on around the globe. We are shown glimpses of the Los Angeles Sunset Strip teen riots, The Paris student revolt, and the English mods and rockers running wild in Brighton. Things soon wind down to such critical issues of the day as go-go dancing, striped hip huggers, bikers, and surfing, all of which are seen to have worldwide popularity.

More about Mike Curb: If you are unfamiliar with this gentleman's illustrious, er, disturbing, yes, career (e.g., his connections to artistes and institutions as far-ranging as Ronald Reagan, The Velvet Underground, The Osmonds, Marcel Marceau, and NASCAR), you might try perusing the informative allmusic bio here.

Or just

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Fugazi - Instrument Soundtrack

I can't diss Fugazi. I may throw them an eye roll every once in awhile. Bottom line Fugazi is a tight rock band who, to their credit, always stick to their guns. The idea of Fugazi to me is much better than the actual artifact. But really nothing achieves the idea.

I'd actually heard the soundtrack before seeing the film (which is very good). What really tickled my fancy with this soundtrack was that it felt to me like the Fugazi animal was truly boiled down, the fat rendered and what remained is the strength of the outfit - rhythm. There's always that parallel to dub triggered in my head with Fugazi - bass and drums being the wheels. Instrument presents this better than anywhere else in the discography.

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