Soundtracks that were better than the Movie - Underworld 2003 (Lakeshore Records)

Genres: Alt-rock, Alt-metal, Goth-rock, Prog-rock

Underworld from 2003 was a film about Kate Beckinsale in sexy clothes. Every single reflection on the movie will involve this fact no matter how you slice it, Kate Beckinsale looks great in costume. There was also a running time of 121 minutes filled out by some nonsense with vampires and werewolves but that was only an attempt to force Kate Beckinsale into situations that make her look cool while also being sexy in a faux-BDSM way. The film is about style and an image. The producers wanted a franchise and modern franchises are about getting the same over and over again. This may limit choice and be only a business exercise rather than an artistic one but it limits arguments when you are trying to choose what film to see. It is better the devil you know. Underworld was not much artistically but it made enough money to warrant 3 other films  in the franchise with the latest being Underworld: Awakening from 2012 which has Kate Beckinsale looking sexy while shooting certifiable humans instead of supernatural humans that are otherwise identical.

What was memorable about this film is its soundtrack.The soundtrack involves a lot of collaborations and remixing but sounds of a whole. It maintains the slightly sexy goth-tinged rock and heavy metal throughout with even the calculated departures from that mood seeming to blend with the rest in sequence. There is also incidental music that it little more than squelchy ambient stuff but listened to as a whole these make sense in this context of creating mood. If anything, this soundtrack is a good marketing exercise that actually ticks a few boxes on the artistic column.

David Bowie has his song 'Bring me the Disco King' from his 2003 album Reality reworked by John Fruschante (Red Hot Chili Peppers and solo work) , James Maynard Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifier) and Danny Lohner (nine inch nails, Puscifier) to sound far more dramatic and climactic. This is the best song on the disc though only a re-imagining. The Dillinger Escape Plan have the best departure from the formula with 'Baby's First Coffin' sounding pissed-off rather than a little conflicted and frustrated liked the rest, it appeared later on their 2004 album Miss Machine. The band between Danny Lohner and James Maynard Keenan called Puscifier turns in the best completely original cut with 'Rev 22:20' that sums up the sexiness and frustration without seeming like caricature, referencing the main Kate Beckinsale sexy but dangerous vampire  character with lyrics such as 'Glady, now, suck me dry' and a few religious allusions. The collaboration between Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit, Bigdumbface, Black Light Burns) Danny Lohner, Richard Patrick (nine inch nails, Filter) and Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle) named The Damning Well turn in a worthy contribution with the album opener 'Awakening'. Milla Jovavich (!?!) teams up with Danny Lohner to create the moody song 'Rocket Collecting' and what is surprising is that is one of the albums highlights. There are two remixes of fine material from A Perfect Circle by Danny Lohner that don't improve the songs but make them work within the frame of the album. Page Hamilton (Helmet) turns in a fair effort with help from Charles Clouser (nine inch nails) called 'Throwing Punches' that continues what came before without hitting a home run. Skinny Puppy turn in a weird track called 'Optimissed' that is a slight departure from the norm but isn't very memorable.

This soundtrack seems to be Danny Lohner's baby and I'm glad is saw the light of day despite being attached to the film.

Below is a fan made video link that will play the David Bowie remix (with James Maynard Kennan, John Fruschante, Danny Lohner) 'Bring me the Disco King'. Enjoy!

Here is link to the Underworld soundtrack playlist on youtube. Some of the videos have been deleted and others are blocked by copyright. Shame, really.

Soundtracks that were better than the movie - Daft Punk - Tron Legacy 2010 (Walt Disney)

I feel that soundtracks should be able to standalone from what they support. Most of the time soundtracks are filled with incidental music and snippets played at certain cues within their main feature. Sometimes the soundtracks have fully fledged arrangements that weren't heard in their entirety because there is only limited time available in a feature film. Sometimes soundtracks are meandering wastes of time to listen to without pictures to punctuate their meaning. Sometimes the soundtracks outshine the main feature. 

Tron Legacy is one such case where the soundtrack outshines the thing it supports. The movie is a remake of an early-eighties film starring Jeff Bridges entering a computer world to fight the good-fight. It was applauded at the time for its special effects and restored some faith in the Disney brand that a forward looking film could be made under their watch. This obscures the fact that the characters were forgettable and it was ultimately a hollow shell of an excuse to show pretty graphics. The updated version, Tron Legacy, starring Jeff Bridges in two roles, is the same sort of thing. Forgettable plot and eye-candy.

The problem with the new film is this, flashy special effects with no real new ideas on why they are happening are par-for-the-course in 2010. In modern times we are meant to go to movies as if they are spectacles and not because they are worthy stories. The eighties Tron was released in a time when this sort of movie-making was not as commonplace and thus the lack of plot or recognizable characters didn't bother as much. Tron was still only for kids.

Daft Punk, purveyors of fun and interesting dance music, created this score. What is of note is that this doesn't sound like one of their albums or a collection of their singles - it sounds like a movie score. The music here is miles ahead of the original's score that melded electronic and organic instruments to varying results. The music by Daft Punk works as whole by finding interesting variations on a single memorable theme. It stands apart from the film as an engaging listen throughout. Tron Legacy works as music on its own feet without the flashy gimmicks of the movie. Listen below!

Here is the Tron Legacy page on youtube showing all the soundtrack plus remixes

Below is a youtube link to play 'The Grid' which acts as the real introduction to the world of the soundtrack. 

Tomahawk - Oddfellows - released Jan 2013 (Ipecac Records)

Genres: Experimental Rock, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal

Not overly serious music is made by these guys but they still inject moodiness and occasional sinister posturing into these 13 tracks that keep it fresh and entertaining. The band seems to get-off on the idea that they will never be huge on the radio and it's all the better for it. Tomahawk have fun with pop-music and this album may be their best.

Tomahawk are something to get excited about, old alternative music standouts like Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, etc.) Duane Dennison (The Jesus Lizard) and John Stainer (Helmet, The Mark of Cain, Battles) join forces with Patton's sometime cohort Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Secret Chiefs 3) to create an album of straight ahead weirdness. Dunn's presence on this album gives the whole thing cohesiveness and drive which can sometimes be the downfall of this band that is prone to excursions that favour one band member more than others. Tomahawk's last album was 2007's Anonymous that featured a bizarre concept of using rhythms and songs from Native American songwriters who were listed only by the label 'anonymous'. That album was 'something-else' but it was probably an experimental dead-end, here the band have gone back to music that sounds similar to 2003's Mit Gas. 

Mike Patton continues his current trend of numerous projects with the aid of effects put on his voice to colour the surrounding music. This can give new life to fully fledged songs but also weigh down ideas that don't stand up in a 3 minute pop-song format. Thankfully, Tomahawk, as a band, have written these ones and it shows. Every song has a definite structure.

The lead single 'Stone Letter' sounds like it was an idea left over from Faith No More's 1995 album King for A Day, Fool for a Lifetime which was a stripped down album for them.  'Stone Letter' is probably too unhinged for Faith No More to do respectfully but Tomahawk benefit from the straightforward attitude.

RATING : 4/5 stars (recommended)


Below is the single 'Stone Letter' by Tomahawk. It's making the rounds right now. 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away - released Feb 2013 (Bad Seed Ltd.)

Genres: Post-Punk, Singer-Songwriter, Alternative Rock

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Push the Sky Away is a decent effort and well worth the listener's time. This is not to say that the album is their best as it offers a stark change of pace to their last more wild and more varied album Dig Lazarus Dig !!! from 2008.

The songs of Push the Sky Away are all very languid and subdued, almost to a fault. They sound like one very long song. Towards the middle of selection I found it hard to distinguish songs like 'Mermaids' and 'We Real Cool' at all. The music was too lulling to be interesting at these moments. The best moments are bookends - The starting four songs 'We No Who U R', 'Wide Lovely Eyes', Water's Edge' and 'Jubillee Street' are all memorable and great. They use the limited selection of instruments and tones to provide a lot of focus on the interplay of the words and music. The Last two songs 'Higgs Boson Blues' and 'Push the Sky Away' are worthy of the Bad Seeds best material.  

The problem lies in the fact that these don't really feel like fully fleshed out Bad Seeds songs, in the tradition that the Bad Seeds through their many lineup changes have pursued. They sound like Nick Cave and Warren Ellis songs. This isn't a completely bad thing, Warren Ellis has been along on some of Cave's best projects such as Grinderman and some superb soundtrack work - it's just it works in a different way than what you'd expect. The creators of the music may have structured it this way and on that level it works. Possibly this is because this record was released by Bad Seeds Ltd. Cave was allowed more creative control and this is the type of music he has wanted to release for a while. 

All in all, the album is rewarding but definitely of its kind - 3.5/5 stars 

Here is a link to the Bad Seeds offical youtube page so you may listen to Push the Sky Away album yourself.

Below is a player for the lead single 'We No Who U R'. Check it out.