| Step Up | | Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 6:11:40 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | While Disney has successfully cornered the market for younger teens with its Disney Channel musicals, Step Up shows the company (through its Buena Vista subsidiary) addressing the older high-school set with equal flair. Directed and choreographed by Anne Fletcher (choreographer of the excellent Bring It On), the musical depicts a clash between kids representing "street" and more formal dance, though its soundtrack is resolutely turned toward the R&B/hip-hop/dancehall axis. The CD starts off with three fab collaborations: "'Bout It" by Yung Joc and 3LW, Ciara and Chamillionaire's fantastically elastic "Get Up" (which may be even better than Ciara's smash hit "1, 2"), and Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole's "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me." But the three most dance-inducing tracks are solo ones: Kelis is at her funkiest on "80's Joint," and it's practically impossible to stay still during Drew Sidora's bouncy "Til the Dawn" (including an Earth, Wind & Fire sample) and Jamie Scott's Prince-esque "Made." Don't miss, tucked toward the end, Deep Inside's "Lovely" and Gina René's "U Must Be," two wickedly catchy slow songs. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | Music From the Film the Illusionist | | Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:12:11 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Unlike his popular score for 2002's The Hours, which was intimate and performed by a small ensemble, the music Philip Glass came up with for The Illusionist is quite opulent. Its old-world ambiance befits Neil Burger's movie, a suspenseful period piece set in 1900 Vienna, but the score, performed by the Czech Film Orchestra, easily stands on its own as well. Glass's trademark waxing and waning is present of course--the most Glass-esque tracks include "The Orange Tree" and "The Secret Plot" (in which delicate brushed drums drive the beat against a dull pounding echo). But most rewarding is finally hearing non-stereotypical actions/suspense cues: "The Accident," "A Shout from the Crowd," "The Search" or "The Chase" make you wish Hollywood thought outside the box more often, and called Glass instead of the usual go-to guys when in need of a composer for big-budget action flicks. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | The Cheetah Girls | | Posted Wednesday, August 30, 2006 8:11:34 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Meet the Cheetah Girls: four New York teens facing the challenges of growing up as they dance and sing their way toward that elusive record deal. Raven (That's So Raven) stars alongside Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan (The Bold and the Beautiful). As the girls are gearing up to rehearse for the school talent competition, they're discovered by famous record producer Jackal Johnson. But the feisty foursome soon learns that their big break is not what they expected. Jackal wants to remake them into something they're not. Ultimately, the path to stardom challenges their friendship and the girls must find a way to come together in order to achieve their dreams. Packed with hot songs and cool moves, these darling divas steal the show in this hit Disney Channel movie.... | |
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| | | Snakes on a Plane: The Album | | Posted Sunday, August 27, 2006 8:11:31 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Once in a while, the Hollywood marketing machine is made redundant by the viral campaign that develops, seemingly on its own, around a movie. In 2006, such a web phenom surrounded Snakes on a Plane months before its summer release. The movie was cool before it even opened, and that status is reflected on the kind of musicians on its soundtrack. For starters, it's co-released by Decaydance, the label run by Fall Out Boy's bassist Pete Wentz; this isn't a coincidence, as most of the bands involved belong to the same musical universe, including several with a connection to former FOB label Fueled by Ramen (The Academy Is…, Panic! At the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, the Hush Sound). The vibe is happy-go-lucky and exuberant, a feeling bolstered by the fact that while most of the songs aren't original, they've been remixed for extra-oomph by the likes of Tommie Sunshine and Teddybears. Among the few originals are the title track by Cobra Starship (an ad hoc "supergroup" made up of members of The Academy Is…, Gym Class Heroes, and The Sounds) and "Ophidiophobia" by Cee Lo Green, on loan from Gnarls Barkley. Finally, the cool factor is compounded by snippets of movie dialogue between tracks, Tarantino-like. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | The Last Kiss | | Posted Friday, August 25, 2006 8:11:36 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Repeating the feat that accompanied his directorial debut, Garden State, Zach Braff has again put together a tastefully assembled compilation of music. The track listing reads like a cherry-picked bouquet of refined American singer-songwriters (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Rufus Wainwright, Ray Lamontagne), sprinkled with literate-yet-popular UK combos (Snow Patrol, Athlete, Turin Brakes) and the lone international megaband (Coldplay, already on Garden State). Based on the selection, Braff is the kind of guy who isn't afraid to show his sensitive side (that'd be the American songs, especially Apple's "Paper Bag" and Aimee Mann's "Today's the Day"), but who also likes to hang out at soft-rock clubs with his cool mates (that'd be the British songs, especially Snow Patrol's "Chocolate" and Turin Brakes' Simon & Garfunkel-like "Pain Killer"). Really, it's a win-win combination-except for those who prefer their rock more rocking, since the mood is, overall, really mellow. (Note that Michael Penn score isn't represented here.) --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | Miami Vice | | Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2006 6:11:43 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Like the film itself, the soundtrack to Miami Vice is no 1980s retro-ride. Sure, it opens with "In the Air Tonight," but it's a cover by nü metal band Nonpoint taken from their 2004 album Recoil. Director Michael Mann's slick revisionist aesthetics are confirmed on two types of tracks. First, there are the dancefloor-friendly ones like "One of These Mornings" (a collaboration between Moby and Patti Labelle) and a house remix of Nina Simone's "Sinnerman" by Felix da Housecat. Then there are the more atmospheric offerings, such as a couple instrumentals by Scottish band Mogwai and the last four tracks, that suggest the kind of steel-blue ambiance Mann is so good at creating (especially John Murphy's "Mercado Nueva" and Klaus Badelt & Mark Batson's "A-500"). Odder is the lack of local flavor: there's only a pair of Latin-flavored tracks, Arranca and Emilio Estefan, for instance. Not to mention that if ever there was a soundtrack that should have included at least one Miami bass song, it's this one. As for those who still associate Miami Vice with pastel colors and the 1980s, they're better off checking out the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City--a video game that's actually more faithful to the spirit of the TV series than the movie that bears its name. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | Cheetah Girls 2 | | Posted Thursday, August 10, 2006 6:11:38 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | The Disney Channel hits paydirt again with this new musical featuring the popular Cheetah Girls. Led by Raven-Symoné as Galleria (she gets three solo tracks), the aspiring pop stars hit Barcelona this time, and use the opportunity to sing a lot of catchy songs. The younger fans of High School Musical will dig this, especially since the movie's helmed by the same director, Kenny Ortega, and most of the songs are written by the same team. The kids perform most of the tracks together, Spice Girls-style: "Why Wait" is a zippy tune that's a little like Kelly Clarkson Lite, while "Step Up" incorporates R&B backings into an anthem-like chorus and several songs integrate Latin spices and additional vocals from guest Belinda Peregrin, a fab Mexican singer. Sounds like Disney is on a roll. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man | | Posted Wednesday, August 02, 2006 2:11:41 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | This soundtrack features powerful performances of Cohen masterpieces by an outstanding array of today's top singer-songwriters. The tracks on the CD were recorded live at Hal Willner's "Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening of Leonard Cohen Songs", at the Brighton Dome as part of the Brighton Festival 2004 and at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival 2005, except "Tower of Song"featuring Leonard Cohen and U2.... | |
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| | | The Devil Wears Prada | | Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 2:11:36 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Fashion shows tend to be set to pretty cutting-edge music these days, but you'd hardly know it based on the soundtrack to this movie on life at a fashion mag: Not only does it start with Madonna, but the song is "Vogue"--pretty much the single most obvious choice there could be. That said, "Vogue" remains a great track: It hasn't aged one bit since its 1990 release, and fits in well with the first of two variations on dance music offered here: club anthems (see also DJ Colette's "Feelin' Hypnotized," David Morales and Tamra Keenan's "Here I Am") and sophisticated lounge (Bitter:Sweet's "Bittersweet Faith," Mocean Worker's "Tres Tres Chic"). The latter style also feeds directly into Theodore Shapiro's score, which is represented only on the jazzy suite that concludes the CD. The balance of the tracks is made up of elegant, well-crafted songs that feel perhaps a bit too… polite (Alanis Morissette's cover of Seal's "Crazy," Moby's "Beautiful"). It would have been nice to get more curve balls, like the aforementioned Mocean Worker and Azure Ray's lovely "Sleep," which fans of Imogen Heap should dig. --Elisabeth Vincentelli... | |
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| | | 50 First Dates | | Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 2:11:39 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | The Cure and a reggae beat certainly make strange bedfellows as, one assumes, do Adam Sandler and a girl with no short-term memory. In that sense, the 50 First Dates soundtrack is a good accompaniment to a fluffy romantic comedy in which one of the main characters is perpetually living in the past. It's also a fitting follow-up to that other Sandler/Barrymore vehicle, The Wedding Singer. (Take a set by Robbie Hart, add a topical shirt, and voilá: a new soundtrack is born.) To those who can't get enough of '80s hits like Bryan Ferry's "Slave to Love" and the Cars' "Drive," setting them to a island beat will likely seem whimsical, charming, and perfect for barbecue weather. For those who are glad the '80s are gone, this CD is a pass. And for Sandler-completeists who crave lighthearted, comic tunes like "Forgetful Lucy," well, you obviously own this already. --Leah Weathersby... | |
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