SOUNDTRACK: JUNO Soundtrack (2007).
Late on the bandwagon with this soundtrack. But then, I only really watch movies on TV these days, so I’m often late to the bandwagon.
Anyhow, this soundtrack was a darling in the alternative universe, and with good reason. It’s a charming collection of mellow rockers, and it suits the film quite well.
The main artist here is Kimya Dawson, formerly of the Moldy Peaches. She contributes six solo tracks and one song with the Moldy Peaches. Kimya’s solo work is very lo-fi, it sounds like she’s singing in her bedroom. Her voice has a tone that she doesn’t care if she’s in tune, and yet she always is. There’s usually some kind of multi-tracking on each song (backing vocals or some such) that belie the lo-fi-ness of the songs, and yet they all sound like they were done in her bedroom. Her lyrics are either overtly political or broken hearted/relationshippy. Since those were pretty much the only songs i didn’t already know, I was a little unsure about them at first, but I have grown to like them.
The rest of the disc comprised a great line-up of previously released songs: The Kinks: “A Well Respected Man” (this also sets the tone for the record); 2 Belle and Sebastian songs; Mott the Hoople: “All the Young Dudes” (probably my favorite song by a band that I don’t think I’ve ever heard another of their songs); The Velvet Underground: “I’m sticking with You” (the least representative song of a band ever…it’s charming and cute). And, what you would think would blow the tone of the album: a song by Sonic Youth. And yet that song is a cover of the Carpenters’ “Superstar.” It’s one of their mellowest songs and one of my favorite cover tracks ever. The effects they wrangle out of their instruments are great, the tone is amazing, and it even got me to investigate the Carpenters further.
Chances are if you like any of this music, you own most of these songs, but it’s still a great collection of, dare I say it, twee folk rock songs.
[READ: March 4, 2009] “The Invasion from Outer Space”
This was a very short (one and a half pages) story. It begins with everyone watching the skies in anticipation of an imminent invasion from outer space. The anticipation builds as they see lights in the sky. And then a fine yellow powder is dropped all over the earth.
The yellow powder is the extent of the invasion and the townspeople feel somewhat disappointed that the invasion wasn’t more dramatic. That gives away a bit of the story, but really it’s the details that make it rewarding. I rather enjoyed this one.
SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-The Reality of My Surroundings (1991).
This was my first real exposure to Fishbone (except for John Cusack wearing the fish skeleton shirt in Say Anything, of course–which, no images available on the web? How is that possible?). At 60 minutes it’s one of the first really long alternative discs to come out. It does run a little long, but there’s so much packed into it that it’s easy to forgive their self indulgences.
SOUNDTRACK: CARLA BOZULICH-Evangelista [CST041] (2007).
This record comes from the mighty 
She has a very strong voice, and sounds not unlike Diamanda Galas, meaning she can hit the high notes, and the powerful notes, and the screechy notes, and tends to be a bit scary from time to time. In the context of the Geraldine Fibbers, it was really an amazing thing to behold.
SOUNDTRACK: COHEED & CAMBRIA-
one would tend to think that deep dark heavy metal is contained within. In fact, I was pretty sure that I was in for a heavier sort of Dream Theater. The imagery of this collection is very dark/scary/spooky, and I was told many times that the band was quite prog-rockish, often sounding like Rush. Oh, and the singer sounds like a woman.
SOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987).
My friend Al, who introduced me to Marillion, also introduced me to Hüsker Dü (go figure). And he did so with this album. I think for big time Hüsker fans, this is something of a sellout, but for me, it is such a great poppy punk record. And it is clearly a lead-in to Bob Mould’s far more commercial solo stuff. I guess what is amazing to me is how it’s a pretty noisy album, and yet it was considered a sellout. By today’s standards, sure, it’s pretty commercial, but back in 1987, it was still cutting edge.
SOUNDTRACK: TORI AMOS-American Girl Posse (2007).
I had been pretty down on Tori records since Scarlett’s Walk, which I felt was kind of blah. The Beekeeper followed and it didn’t do that much for me either. So, I was basically not that excited when this latest record came out. I probably would have gotten it eventually, but then my wife bought it for me for my birthday. Thank you!
I Just Read About That... 