VARIOUS ARTISTS / Wild at Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [1990]

The soundtrack to director David Lynch's batshit crazy road-trip rom-com Wild at Heart has been a staple in my music collection since it's 1990 release.
Dramatically opening with a suitable snippet from Strauss' swan song Four Last Songs, the album is quick to bounce all over the musical map.  There's tongue-in-cheek speed metal, the obligatory finger-snapping Badalamenti jazz, Chris Isaak oozing sultry drama over reverberated guitars, scrappy rockabilly toe-tappers, lush orchestrated string pieces and all topped off with actor Nicolas Cage crooning like The King.  As incohesive as it all sounds it's still a tight little package of dreamy madness that reflects the schizophrenic nature of the film itself.

5 psalms from the Old Testament out of 5

Songs of Note: RUBBER CITY / Perdita; CHRIS ISAAK / Blue Spanish Sky

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Blue Velvet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [1986]

Like the 1986 David Lynch masterpiece, the original soundtrack album for Blue Velvet is a grand mixture of the beautiful and bizarre.
Marking the first collaboration between the director and composer Angelo Badalamenti, the score is a dark nod to Bernard Herrman's neo-noir works with it's romantic combination of lush string writing and an ominous brass section.  The other half of the album transports you into the unspecified forgotten era of the film with a series of both modern and classic pop songs, a series of sound effects and some cool cat jazz numbers.  It's a nice little piece of audio memorabilia from the film but misses several musical moments that cries for an updated deluxe version on it's 30th Anniversary.  

4 songs that aren't This Mortal Coil out of 5

Songs of Note: Main Titles; Mysteries of Love (performed by Julee Cruise)

The Animatrix: The Album (2003)

There are a few extremely nice, balmy hits of diversity present here, which is fitting given the source material. Though, a number of tracks would have benefited from a more strict editorial hand, sticking around long past their welcome as they do. This is ironic considering the appalling brevity of some of the cues elsewhere on these soundtracks. The elephants in the room are Red Pill, Blue Pill and The Real. Were they serious with these? I’m aware of the technique of sampling audio but when EVERY Game Grumps remix I’ve ever heard is better than these, something is horribly wrong.

Songs of Note: Blind Tiger; Under the Gun

2 Sultry Shuffle-beats out of 5

The Matrix: Music From the Motion Picture (1999)

This is the antithesis of the film's score (as initially released at retail). Hard rock, electronic music (don't ask me to split hairs on genre terminology; I'm not equipped), metal, and nu-metal mingle to create a really listenable and exhilarating album. Alright, the nu-metal sucks, but it's the Deftones song I can tolerate the most, so I'll allow it. Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Rob Dougan, and Rage Against the Machine. Check, check, check, and motherfucking check.

Everything I need from a licensed Matrix release and a lot more, to be honest, as it captures—no, CREATES—the feel and atmosphere of much of the first movie.

Songs of Note: Mindfields; Wake Up

4 Windows All of Us Have Yet To Look Through out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Gyakuten Saiban Sound Box (2012)

This omnibus release collects the original in-game audio of the Phoenix Arc into three concise discs. When presented as such, it’s clear to see that there are strict checklists in place for each game: trial prologues, variations on the courtroom standard Pursuit, character themes, and somber recollection pieces for when the true murderers are revealed. The special releases previously covered on this blog are especially fitting as many of these tracks are either comfortable jazz murmurs or as faux-orchestrated as the sound-chips of Nintendo’s handhelds can manage. And yet, somehow this near-singular, formulaic approach does little to detract when you’re familiar with the personalities associated with each strain and melody.

Does your heart often tire of racing, breaking, and soaring? Mine usually doesn’t.

Songs of Note: Happy People; Fire-Carved Scars; Elise Deauxnim ~ Gentle Melody

4 Hidden Proclivities On Display out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / The Matrix Revolutions: Music from the Motion Picture (2003)

Akin to its predecessor’s album, Revolutions’ stand-alone musical offering opens well, with rapid-fire, churning percussive elements that crest from quieter idylls, hitting in scintillating fits and swells. Without the pacing provided by the film proper, however, the center’s more generic stretch unfortunately becomes somewhat shrill. The final quarter of the track listing is where things get exciting, with Smith and Neo’s own take on Sephiroth’s One Winged Angel, and a roiling, expansive suite-unto-itself, which incorporates that track’s forceful chants as well as Indian vocals and scripture, over bubbling electronic undertones. Ultimately, though, while I’d argue this is a more tidy listen than Reloaded’s fractured smorgasbord, I can really only recommend this particular release to completist fans.

Songs of Note: Tetsujin; Navras

NOTE: A 2-disc, limited edition version was released last year.

3 Nodes on a Larger Circle out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / The Matrix Reloaded: The Album (2003)

The first disc hits hard out of the gate and finishes strong. It’s the nu-metal filled chasm between Rob Dougan’s masterful, pseudo-symphonic cool and Rage Against the Machine’s grounding contribution that destroys any chance of this being an uninterrupted listen. I’m fairly incapable of separating the score from the visuals and concepts of the film itself and, consequently, while it's commercially presented as brief tracks and a singular suite, I’m still surprisingly content. Don Davis and Juno Reactor’s duels result in both terse and spacious interludes that sometimes build and sometimes jump between demanding of you subtle, DJ-worthy grooving and wide-grinned heart palpitations. Only slightly less gripping than the film, because what flies, soars, turds be damned.

Songs of Note: Furious Angels; Calm Like a Bomb

3 Bands Who Think They Get It, But They Do Not out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas (2009)

Meatwad is somehow able to afford the studio time necessary to make a Christmas album and his perfect balance of naivety and inanity indeed makes for a savory flavor of Christmas subversion when paired with Master Shake’s outright blasphemy. Frylock doesn’t try particularly hard to reign them in and that’s all for the better. Boxxy Brown is the only cast member who gets to contribute outside of the main four and while disappointing it does lend focus when paired with the stated rationale for the endeavor.

This both turns the holiday on its ear and delivers about three episodes worth of the show’s delightfully absurdist content. It’s so much of what Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics isn’t.

Songs of Note: Feliz Navidad; I Sure Hope I Don’t Have to Beat Your Ass This Christmas

4½ Elf Boogies out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)

I’m no great fan of Christmas and albums that go well out of their way to subvert it are unsurprisingly something I can get behind. Still, much like South Park itself, I’ve found myself liking this far less over the years. The price of hyper topicality is an abbreviated shelf life if that tightrope isn’t tread very carefully. I tend to enjoy the less pointed songs here, as a result.

Am I going soft? No. It’s simply that pitchfork waving isn’t enough on its own, anymore. I need there to be enjoyable substance related to the property in question when I look behind the torchlight.

Songs of Note: Christmas Time in Hell; Swiss Colony Beef Log

2 Summer Sausages Eaten Like Henry VIII out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Natural Born Killers (1994)

As you'd expect, NBK is a collection of songs from different artists. But unlike most film soundtracks, there's been some actual thought and care put into structuring them. Custom edits and audio clips from the film itself are used often to connect tracks into a more story-style structure than is usually the case.
It was compiled by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who referred to it as a "collage of sound," which I guess is as good a description as any. It's the kind of thing many of us used to do back when all we had was a double tapedeck and a VHS collection.
Don't judge it solely on my choice of songs (below), there are a variety of styles on offer from many different musical eras.

Songs of Note: Cowboy Junkies / Sweet Jane (Edit); Nine Inch Nails / Something I Can Never Have (Edited and Extended)

4½ warm, violent places out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Silent Hill Downpour: Radio Songs (2012)

An unmistakeable trademark of the Silent Hill series is its ability to wrap every tiny nuance of a game around its protagonist. With Murphy Pendleton, this expands farther into the musical realm than for any of the others by way of the radios scattered along his path. Outlaw country and more contemporary indie-country allude to his geographic past and cast the light of meaning on the locations he must visit before reaching the town proper. Less mainstream endeavors evoke his tumultuous relationships, especially those by Anna Ternheim. Save one example, this collection organically conveys specific information that enriches Murphy as a character and Downpour as a game.

It magnificently excels where Jonathan Davis utterly fails on the main soundtrack.

Songs of Note: Words of Love; If I Had A Boat

The complete playlist can be viewed here.

4½ Truths to Set You Free out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Josie and the Pussycats: Music from the Motion Picture (2001)

It’s unfathomable how the stars aligned to make this possible. Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds was executive producer, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne produced and wrote, and even the goddamn Duritz himself got a writing credit. Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo brings Josie to effervescent life on tracks that offer empowerment without being self-righteous or needlessly heavy-handed. There’s an exquisite ballad but most of this is nothing more than unashamed power-pop. The covers make sense in context and the Du Jour tracks are priceless. Just as the movie itself was unafraid to dabble in intentional pussy humor, the fictional boy band brilliantly deliver a blatant ode to anal-penetration. 

A success on every level, even those exclusive to perverts like me.

Songs of Note: 3 Small Words; You Don’t See Me

5 STS-Worthy Ladies out of 5

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Gyakuten Meets Orchestra (2006)

The Ace Attorney orchestrated album serves as a stellar companion piece to its sister album, Jazz Soul. Replacing the staccato keys and resounding basslines are swelling strings, clashing brass, and even some traditional Japanese instrumentation. Oo-edo Soldier Tonosaman goes from a watered down ghost of itself to its most gloriously fleshed-out, final form. The story at the heart of the Phoenix Arc is conveyed beautifully through justified, yet still somewhat understated pageantry. When the central refrain of the Turnabout Sisters Theme triumphantly emerges from the complexity of Kurain’s Geneology, I’m brought to tears even now.

Songs of Note: Oo-edo Soldier Tonosaman; Kurain’s Geneology

4½ Resilient Souls out of 5

AMERICAN IDIOT ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST / American Idiot (2010)

If this show had simply placed tracks from American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown side-by-side, it would have only been the sum of its parts. Instead, they went for an integrated approach: they incorporated verses of Idiot songs into ones from Breakdown, combined songs outright, included b-sides and their contribution to Rock Against Bush, and added an entirely new track to the mix. On top of that, the new, fresh voices, including those of several women, serve to completely reinvigorate these missives. I love the boys, and Idiot is one of the absolute best albums I've ever heard, but even still this breathes an entirely new life into this era of their career and is completely indispensable.

Songs of Note: Letterbomb; Too Much Too Soon

5 Favorite Sons and Daughters out of 5

Nutted by Neg (who never lacks a better word)

VARIOUS ARTISTS / The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)

A soundtrack album that collects together good old Country music songs from the good old comedy film of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of a stage musical. The big draw is that it features the wonderful Dolly Parton, who lends her vocal talents to a number of tracks. She even does a duet with the moustachioed Burt Reynolds! That alone should be reason to check it out.

Songs of Note: A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place; Sneakin' Around

3 wipes with soap and water out of 5

MIKE PATTON & VARIOUS ARTISTS / The Place Beyond The Pines: Music From The Motion Picture [2013]

Being a celebrated vocalist in a number of outlandish music projects it's interesting that Mike Patton would choose to score voiceless film scores.
With 2013's crime drama The Place Beyond The Pines being his 3rd feature length score it's even more interesting seeing as the film is so low-key, Patton's usual aggressive and flamboyant sound is nowhere to be heard.  Instead we're treated to a non-conventional film score that's eerily seductive and melancholy which perfectly reflects the lonely images it's meant to compliment.  Layered with Morricone-esque guitar twangs, haunting piano stings, a sampled choir, icy string arrangements and intimidating percussion work, Patton works with a compelling and creative palate of sounds to conjure up an impending sense of doom and mystery.

4 sharpened teardrops out of 5

Songs Of Note: The Snow Angel; Handsome Luke

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust: A Toast To Oingo Boingo [2006]

The 2006 Oingo Boingo tribute album, Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust is the perfect example of how a tribute album can executed with grace and quality.
Instead of trying to please the youth of today by using modern pop-rock acts, we're treated to a variety of independent artists covering a plethora of musical genres, including bluegrass, country, jazz, hip-hop, punk, R&B, cabaret and even a piano ballad.  Not every take is my cup of tea but they're all done with creativity and a passion for the original and sits fine with me.

3½ instrumental pedophiles out of 5

Songs Of Note: JACK THE ORIGINAL / Heard Somebody Cry; SICK / Nasty Habits

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Dead Bands Party: A Tribute To Oingo Boingo [2005]

Like every other tribute album, 2005's clumsily titled Dead Bands Party is a hit & miss collection of Oingo Boingo covers.
Gathering together a host of contemporary indie artists, the compilation has quite a few respectable takes on the originals giving it their own twist while remaining true to them as well.  However there's a few tracks on here that sound like the band heard the song a few times, rehearsed it twice and hit record.  Including such acts as Reel Big Fish, Finch, Plain White T's, The Aquabats seems comfortably fitting for such a record.   Even with a few questionable electronic pop bands on the bill as well, it's not quite as bad as it could be.

3 Willie Dixons out of 5

Songs Of Note: REEL BIG FISH / We Close Our Eyes; THE AQUABATS / Controller

RICK SMITH & VARIOUS ARTISTS / Trance: Original Soundtrack [2013]

Director Danny Boyle always takes delicate care in choosing the music in his films and 2013's psychological thriller Trance is no exception.

With regular Boyle collaborator, Underworld's Rick Smith on score composing duties you're pretty much guaranteed something slick and pleasant to the ears.  Dropping his usual electronica dance beats, Smith explores a vast spectrum of sonic colors and textures to create something that's at times euphoric and then smoothly transcends into something driven by paranoia, very reminiscent of John Murphy's work on Sunshine & 28 Days Later.  The source tracks, including Moby & U.N.K.L.E., blend in quite well, making for a well-rounded album presentation.  

4 dreams out of 5

Songs Of Note: RICK SMITH / Solomon; RICK SMITH / Cannon Fall

VARIOUS ARTISTS / Tribute Of The Year: A Tribute To Faith No More [2002]

Tribute albums are always a mess of carbon copies of the original and hugely unrecognizable reworkings all of which can occasionally be quite interesting. 

With Faith No More almost always kicking ass at covering other people's songs, I was eager to hear what others would do with their songs on the 2002 tribute album, Tribute Of The Year.  With the exception of Tub Ring, Bile and Hate Dept., I wasn't really familiar with any of the other independent acts featured here.  Sadly most of the 2 disc set is an awful jumble of crap sloppily thrown together that at times seems more like a lazy insult than a proper tribute.  

The dust will collect nicely on this one.

1 too many copies of the same song out of 5

Songs Of Note: TUB RING / Mouth To Mouth; HATE DEPT. / Edge Of The World