Monthly Archives: October 2009

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Song of the Day #461: ‘Lucha de Gigantes’ – Nacha Pop

amoresperrosAlejandro Gonzalez Iñarrítu isn’t really known for the use of music in his films. He’s a modern filmmaker, certainly, but not a modern pop filmmaker in the way Quentin Tarantino or Wes Anderson are. He’s far more meat and potatoes, even as he explores boundary-pushing narrative techniques.

I read an interview where he was asked how much of a debt his debut film, Amores Perros, owed to Pulp Fiction (both films follow three storylines out of sequence) and Iñarrítu said that, though he’s a fan of Tarantino, he never made the connection… he was too busy trying to steal from William Faulkner.

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Song of the Day #460: ‘Nothing in This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl’ – The Kinks

rushmoreWes Anderson is one of the best directors around when it comes to the use of songs in films. He’s different from Quentin Tarantino, who just about exclusively uses existing material to score his films (including, often, the scores of previous films). Anderson blends recorded songs with original film scores (by Mark Mothersbaugh, of Devo fame) and both are an integral part of his movies.

I can’t imagine The Royal Tenenbaums without Mothersbaugh’s baroque score, but neither can I imagine it without Nick Drake’s ‘Fly’ or The Rolling Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday.’ And the same goes, maybe even more so, for Rushmore, still Anderson’s best film.

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Song of the Day #459: ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’ – Ennio Morricone

missionI have a philosophical objection to movie soundtracks. It traces back to my album fixation… I feel that if you’re introduced to some new songs you like via a movie soundtrack, it’s your responsibility to seek out those songs from the original source. Movie soundtracks are just a step above greatest hits collections in my book.

But I do have exceptions. And this week I’ll highlight a handful of songs from film soundtracks I’ve owned over the years.

The distinction I make between a worthy soundtrack and an unworthy one is this: a good soundtrack is not really about the songs, it’s about the movie.

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Bob Dylan – Christmas in the Heart

christmasintheheartJust what everybody was clamoring for… an album of Christmas classics sung in the dulcet tones of Mr. Bob Dylan! In a career of head-scratching surprises, on the surface Bob Dylan’s latest release, Christmas in the Heart, might just be the head-scratchingest.

Here are 15 traditional Christmas songs — everything from ‘Little Drummer Boy’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’ to ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ — played totally straight, complete with a choir of backup singers that make Frank Sinatra’s “j-i-n-g-l-e bells” seem downright gritty.

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Song of the Day #458: ‘Lovely Rita’ – The Beatles

pepper2One of my other favorite tracks on Sgt. Pepper is Paul’s charmingly kinky ‘Lovely Rita.’ The Beatles had a knack for populating their songs and albums with colorful characters like this. On Sgt. Pepper alone, they gave us Rita, Lucy, Mr. Kite and of course Ringo’s alter ego Billy Shears.

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