In Winter We Watch a Lot of Movies
The soundtrack to the little indie film that could, has just unseated Alicia Keys on the Billboard chart this week and is officially Rhino's first No. 1 album--a complete anti-folk dream (or is it a nightmare?). The soundtrack is full of songs written by Kimya Dawson, best known as a member of the mid-90s band the Moldy Peaches.
In the film, the songs weave in and out of the narrative and are as
much a part of the success of the film as the characters themselves.
According to the New York Times, Seattle's The Stranger,
and an endless stream of blogs and blogs and blogs, all the praise is
completely deserved, even if it's freaking Ms. Dawson out a bit...
Here's
a bit of indie history in the making, as the Moldy Peaches reunite on,
of all places most-odd to find a K-Records artist, The View:
On the other, much darker hand, Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack to P.T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood
(and oh yes, there absolutely will be some blood) was nothing short of
spine chilling and perfectly matched the oil prospecting drama that's
based on Upton Sinclair's Oil! I can't put it any better than customer reviewer J. Almanza of San Jose, who says:
"...Jonny Greenwood's masterful score creates
an atmosphere of suspense, horror, and confusion that matches the
barren landscape and characters of the film. A string section hasn't
created such terror since Bernard Hermann's score to Alfred Hitchcock's
"Psycho." But there are no cheap thrills here or thundering orchestral
hits--the sheer absence of them is unsettling."
Lastly, the fascinating Wes Anderson has done what he does best in sequencing and selecting songs for the film The Darjeeling Limited.
The set is a collection of Kinks essentials ("Strangers," "Powerman")
traditional Indian ragas, obscure folkie Peter Sarstedt, and my
favorite--themes from Merchant Ivory Bollywood films, including Bombay Talkie. I can't get enough of "Typewriter Tip, Tip, Tip" sung by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle. Here's a clip from that film:
~Gabi
