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popular culture, lasted all weekend
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One From the Heart Soundtrack
Island Records (Reissue of 1982 Release)
One from the Heart was a Francis Ford Coppola musicial from 1982 that flopped, but it was Tom Waits big break, moving him towards writing longer thematic works, and nabbing a Oscar nomination. Coppola was inspired to bring Waits in as a composer after hearing Tom and Bette Midler duet on Foriegn Affairs. Midler was unavailable, so Waits got Crystal Gayle, the AM radio ballad singer with the really, really long hair.
In 2004, after 20 years of clanging nightmares and scortched blues, it's a hard to imagine how reasonable this pairing was- but Waits used to be on the same label as Linda Rondstadt and Jackson Brown. While he was darker than his fellow Southern Californians, he was just as laid back. One from the Heart is a transion between his cocktail-lounge Kerouac persona and the pitch black master of ceremonies that took control on 1983's Swordfishtrombones.
Coppola built his film around the songs, making this more of a musical than a soundtrack. It's a worthy set. The opening montage builds from a spare duet to a swing orchestra sound. The Gayle-lead tracks aren't as stong for me. They're well executed , but damn, "Is There Any Way Out of This Dream?" is close to "Send In the Clowns" for sappiness. "Insturmental Montage" and "You Can't Unring a Bell" have the junkyard drama of his later work. The previously unreleased "Candy Apple Red" works around a New Orleans dirge melody that's a good midpoint between the styles explored here.
posted Monday, March 15, 2004
Review:Lorelei
Our Minds Have Been Electrified
Ice Made, 2003
An antidote to all the bass-player lacking rock of the last few years- Lorelei are two bassist-singers and a drummer. They stood out on the WRCT Advanced Calculus comp, and it wasn't obvious to me that they lacked for high end, sounding no less murky than much of what was on that live-in-the-studio record. Here the murk is a little harder to take, song after song. The songs are relentlessly mid-tempo, which doesn't help either.
But this is unusual stuff, and listened to a song at a time, it's more interesting. Lorelei reminds me of the less punky bands on late-80s Homestead Records- Salem 66, Antietam, Live Skull. One bass is fuzzed out and rhythmic, the other is cleaner, strumming plink-plink chord leads. The singing is dreary and cold, contrasting with the feverish warmth of all that bass. All clean.
Inject some rustbelt depression into your set with 1 or 9, and you may like the others.
posted Sunday, March 14, 2004
Poster Children
No more songs about Sleep and Fire
Hidden Agenda, 2004
This is my first exposure to Poster Children, but they've been around for a long time, starting with on post-punkish guitar pop in 1986, going not-so-far in the alt-rock signings of the 90s, and keeping it DIY since then. They've got the two-guitar texture thing down. Harmonics and two note leads layer over tense and choppy riffs, making for a big sound. The hooks are chanted harmonies, and mostly very catchy. This likeable record has got a Midwestern lack of attitude. It keeps the record for really standing out, though. "The Bottle" is the most effective song, the snide lyric giving injecting that missing attitude. But plenty of the others are fine too. The more I listen to this, the more I hear an affinity to early Sub Pop.
posted Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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