VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Hollywood Records
· Wes Anderson: master of the modern soundtrack.
Props have always been given to Martin Scorsese for his amazing sense of timing and placement when it comes to music in film (albeit a reputation more than a little tarnished by plopping U2 over that shit-awful end montage of New York City in Gangs of New York), but a close competitor has arrived in the form of Wes Anderson.
Already responsible for two note-perfect soundtracks (The Royal Tenenbaums re-introduced the likes of Nico and Emitt Rhodes to moody lovelorn twentysomethings everywhere and Rushmore’s spotlight on the British Invasion was just as good), Anderson continues the hat trick with the idiosyncratic hand-picked tunes from The Life Aquatic.
Largely composed of Seu Jorge’s Portuguese reworkings of classic ’70s David Bowie (although Anderson hilariously doubts whether any of the translations are remotely direct in the liner notes) and Norwegian composer Sven Libaek’s compositions for the films of an Australian oceanic explorer, it’s a surprisingly cohesive collection of quirk and tuneful whimsy.
And heck, who says Joan Baez’s amazing Ennio Morricone co-write "Here’s To You" doesn’t fit perfectly next to one of Mark Mothersbaugh’s instrumentals and Iggy and the Stooges’s "Search and Destroy"? Now, at least in Anderson’s head and mine, it certainly does.
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