Much to the consternation of Ice T twitter followers everywhere, the next disc is chock-a-block full of Aimee Mann.
Fortunately for me, I really like Aimee Mann.
Disc 181 is...Magnolia Soundtrack
Artist: Various
Year of Release: 1999
What’s Up With The Cover?: Like most movie soundtracks, I think this is a variation on the movie poster. It is a magnolia leaf (I determined this with my keen powers of deduction - I'm not that good with flowers). In the petals you can see the faces of some of the main characters in the film - William H. Macy, Julianne Moore and some other folks I don't feel like going on about.
How I Came To Know It: In two ways I believe. Firstly, the usual way - liking the movie, and enjoying the music. Secondly, because I knew the album featured a lot of Aimee Mann songs, and I dig Aimee Mann.
How It Stacks Up: I have around 23 soundtracks. "Magnolia" is way up there on that list - I'll say top five, but it is hard to say exactly where.
Rating: 4 stars.
For those who haven't seen the movie, "Magnolia" is a beautiful film by Paul Thomas Anderson, a gifted director also responsible for "Boogie Nights" and my favourite movie of his, "Punch Drunk Love."
He is very adept at capturing emotional disconnect in characters, and this is on fine display in Magnolia; a loosely connected series of stories that deal with a variety of characters each going through their own journey with isolation and loneliness. It is a depressing movie in the main, but thankfully the film's heart is rescued at the end by the frogs. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven't go see it. And yes - I like the frog ending.
The soundtrack of "Magnolia" has more to do with the movie than usual. A lot of soundtracks are just a collection of songs that may (or may not) even go well with the film.
With "Magnolia" PT Anderson was actually adapting Aimee Mann's music into a screenplay. I expect he was listening to the album from earlier that year, called "Bachelor No. 2". At least that's the story I've heard, and I heard it from an expert - my wife! Also, the liner notes confirm it's true.
The album has four repeats from "Bachelor No. 2", including "Deathly", "Driving Sideways", "You Do" and an instrumental-only version of "Nothing Is Good Enough". They have a slightly different production, but they're all just as good (OK - I prefer "Nothing Is Good Enough" with words).
Of these, the one that stands out is "Deathly" a song where the singer warns a new person off, for fear that falling in love can only lead to pain (remember - emotional disconnect). The singer is certain conquest will only end the relationship:
"Now that I've met you
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again
'Cause I can't afford to
Climb aboard you
No one's got that much ego to spend."
Like the movie, the album is a bit of a downer, but it is a beautiful downer. Rarely does a soundtrack relate so well to a film, or have such consistently strong songwriting. It was a rare treat from the soundtracks section.
Her signature song from the album is "Save Me" a five star song about misfits trying to find love which was honoured with an Academy Award nomination. Here the story takes a truly tragic turn.
In an incredibly competitive field, "Save Me" was beaten - but not by fellow strong nominees like the South Park movie's "Blame Canada" (comedically brilliant); not even by Randy Newman's song from Toy Story 2, "When She Loved Me" (I defy you to watch that scene in the movie and keep a dry eye).
No - Mann was beaten by the irredeemably bad song, "You'll Be In My Heart", inflicted upon our world by Phil Collins for the Disney Tarzan movie. As songs go, there isn't much worse - I guess Nickelback, but after that, everything would only manage to equal this song's awfulness.
There is a bit of a happy ending here, though. Trey Parker and Matt Stone viciously pilloried Collins in an episode of South Park (depicting Phil Collins walking around with an Oscar statue as Timmy upstages him by fronting a heavy metal band). It should embarass Phil Collins enough that he won an Oscar for that song - but now he can be reminded of it with South Park reruns for years to come.
After all, no one likes to be constantly reminded they won something they don't deserve. Do they, Reggie Bush?
But I digress - let's get back to the record. After nine Aimee Mann songs, I always find the final four tracks jarring.
The first two are famous Supertramp songs, ""Goodbye Stranger" and "Logical Song". I love these songs, but I prefer them on "Breakfast In America". Their seventies rock vibe meshes poorly with Mann's more haunting and modern pop music.
Two more songs follow by artists I've never heard of - although Jon Brion, who writes the title track, does colloborate with Mann on some of her songs, so I'll give him a pass, even though his solo entry is a bit dull. That said, when I'm listening to this album unfettered by CD Odyssey rules, I usually just stop playing the disc after Track 9.
Even with this minor fault, "Magnolia" remains a great soundtrack, and a perfectly acceptable introduction to Aimee Mann - and if you don't have "Breakfast In America" you can consider the Supertramp songs a bonus (and then stop listening after Track 11).
Best tracks: Deathly, Driving Sideways, You Do, Wise Up, Save Me.
Fortunately for me, I really like Aimee Mann.
Disc 181 is...Magnolia Soundtrack
Artist: VariousYear of Release: 1999
What’s Up With The Cover?: Like most movie soundtracks, I think this is a variation on the movie poster. It is a magnolia leaf (I determined this with my keen powers of deduction - I'm not that good with flowers). In the petals you can see the faces of some of the main characters in the film - William H. Macy, Julianne Moore and some other folks I don't feel like going on about.
How I Came To Know It: In two ways I believe. Firstly, the usual way - liking the movie, and enjoying the music. Secondly, because I knew the album featured a lot of Aimee Mann songs, and I dig Aimee Mann.
How It Stacks Up: I have around 23 soundtracks. "Magnolia" is way up there on that list - I'll say top five, but it is hard to say exactly where.
Rating: 4 stars.
For those who haven't seen the movie, "Magnolia" is a beautiful film by Paul Thomas Anderson, a gifted director also responsible for "Boogie Nights" and my favourite movie of his, "Punch Drunk Love."
He is very adept at capturing emotional disconnect in characters, and this is on fine display in Magnolia; a loosely connected series of stories that deal with a variety of characters each going through their own journey with isolation and loneliness. It is a depressing movie in the main, but thankfully the film's heart is rescued at the end by the frogs. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven't go see it. And yes - I like the frog ending.
The soundtrack of "Magnolia" has more to do with the movie than usual. A lot of soundtracks are just a collection of songs that may (or may not) even go well with the film.
With "Magnolia" PT Anderson was actually adapting Aimee Mann's music into a screenplay. I expect he was listening to the album from earlier that year, called "Bachelor No. 2". At least that's the story I've heard, and I heard it from an expert - my wife! Also, the liner notes confirm it's true.
The album has four repeats from "Bachelor No. 2", including "Deathly", "Driving Sideways", "You Do" and an instrumental-only version of "Nothing Is Good Enough". They have a slightly different production, but they're all just as good (OK - I prefer "Nothing Is Good Enough" with words).
Of these, the one that stands out is "Deathly" a song where the singer warns a new person off, for fear that falling in love can only lead to pain (remember - emotional disconnect). The singer is certain conquest will only end the relationship:
"Now that I've met you
Would you object to
Never seeing each other again
'Cause I can't afford to
Climb aboard you
No one's got that much ego to spend."
Like the movie, the album is a bit of a downer, but it is a beautiful downer. Rarely does a soundtrack relate so well to a film, or have such consistently strong songwriting. It was a rare treat from the soundtracks section.
Her signature song from the album is "Save Me" a five star song about misfits trying to find love which was honoured with an Academy Award nomination. Here the story takes a truly tragic turn.
In an incredibly competitive field, "Save Me" was beaten - but not by fellow strong nominees like the South Park movie's "Blame Canada" (comedically brilliant); not even by Randy Newman's song from Toy Story 2, "When She Loved Me" (I defy you to watch that scene in the movie and keep a dry eye).
No - Mann was beaten by the irredeemably bad song, "You'll Be In My Heart", inflicted upon our world by Phil Collins for the Disney Tarzan movie. As songs go, there isn't much worse - I guess Nickelback, but after that, everything would only manage to equal this song's awfulness.
There is a bit of a happy ending here, though. Trey Parker and Matt Stone viciously pilloried Collins in an episode of South Park (depicting Phil Collins walking around with an Oscar statue as Timmy upstages him by fronting a heavy metal band). It should embarass Phil Collins enough that he won an Oscar for that song - but now he can be reminded of it with South Park reruns for years to come.
After all, no one likes to be constantly reminded they won something they don't deserve. Do they, Reggie Bush?
But I digress - let's get back to the record. After nine Aimee Mann songs, I always find the final four tracks jarring.
The first two are famous Supertramp songs, ""Goodbye Stranger" and "Logical Song". I love these songs, but I prefer them on "Breakfast In America". Their seventies rock vibe meshes poorly with Mann's more haunting and modern pop music.
Two more songs follow by artists I've never heard of - although Jon Brion, who writes the title track, does colloborate with Mann on some of her songs, so I'll give him a pass, even though his solo entry is a bit dull. That said, when I'm listening to this album unfettered by CD Odyssey rules, I usually just stop playing the disc after Track 9.
Even with this minor fault, "Magnolia" remains a great soundtrack, and a perfectly acceptable introduction to Aimee Mann - and if you don't have "Breakfast In America" you can consider the Supertramp songs a bonus (and then stop listening after Track 11).
Best tracks: Deathly, Driving Sideways, You Do, Wise Up, Save Me.
1 comment:
Eat a hot bowl of dicks, Aimee.
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