Consequence of Sound » Medicine http://consequenceofsound.net Think Fast, Listen Slowly Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:10:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Reissue: Drone Your Own Way http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/01/the-reissue-drone-your-own-way/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/01/the-reissue-drone-your-own-way/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Reissue-thumb-5-200x200.jpg Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:44:15 +0000 Jeremy D. Larson http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=183967

 

The Reissue is a brand new feature, taking a monthly look at four albums from 10, 20, 30, and 40 years ago, all of a certain ilk, aesthetic, genre, or style. Some of these albums are not widely available for purchase on vinyl, and some have been reissued at some point. More importantly, these are the albums that we should be talking about in 2012 — again. The first installment is all about the Drone.

“Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?” –John Cage

My father would call this music “lazy music for lazy people.” He’s certainly wrong about the first part and the second part is, well, dubious. It’s not that Drone music is lazy, it’s just that it doesn’t require much thought. But to try to listen to drone music is to be doing it wrong because there is no try — there’s only not trying. Ambient/drone music has a unique trait about it that makes it challenging in its own way: how you listen to it is less about reaching out to the music, and more about letting it come to you. The idea of submitting to the order of something else is not an idea music listeners are too keen on, especially if we’re keeping in mind the other, more pejorative definition of  ”a drone”. Being defined after the figurative definition of “drone” is, in some part, essential to enjoying it.

But once you surrender to the guile of ceaseless repetition, the drone has the power to transubstantiate into something meditative. Or violent. Or sexual, or contemplative, or joyful. Whatever form it takes, it always remains volatile, and any number of emotions can escape via this trance state and that’s one of the many reasons that makes drone music so alluring and addictive. It is one of the most ancient tonalities of music, pre-dating civilization itself back to the most basic forms of communication. Its evolution through the last 40 years has been focused on trying to recapture that primal, womblike state from a constant vibration and sound. From Indian ragas all the way up to Bossgaze, the drone exists to drown out consciousness in favor of another state, regressive or transgressive.

And to assist in that drowning, I prefer these four albums to be played at stupid volumes.

40th Anniversary Edition

The Taj-Mahal Travelers – July 15th, 1972 (1972)

Led by Japanese avant garde composer and violinist Takehisa Kosugi, The Taj-Mahal Travelers aimed to make their music a living, breathing thing. Through improvised incantations, the eight-person ensemble — comprised of violin, harmonica, bass, tuba, trumpet, synthesizer, mandolin, and various percussion — brewed some pyschy shit.

Kosugi worked with the 60′s neo-dada performance art collective Fluxus (along with John Cale, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, et many al.), and carried their free-associative, anti-pop ideas into TMT. As the album title suggests, it was recorded live on July 15th, 1972, similar to their other albums.  It really is a grab-bag of psychedelic flavors, from throat-singing to copious amounts of delay to the requisite 25 min jam sesh, but amid the Bacchic chaos there is an underlying form that separates TMT from your average drum-circle. Little moments of cohesion and and melody counteract the atonal stretches of space-synths and jazz-trumpet trills. If you forgive some out of focus meandering here and there, the explorations of sound and space on this recording acts as a precursor for Eno’s work in the late 70′s, and Kraftwerk as well.

30th Anniversary Edition

Brian Eno – Ambient 4: On Land (1982)

There are some who claim Eno invented “ambient”, including Eno himself. Holders of that opinion need only to look to the previous paragraph to hear a blend of spatial electro-organic experimentations predating Eno’s work (not to mention all of the 60′s avant composers like La Monte Young, John Cage, Philip Glass, et many al.) So while Eno may not have invented ambient, his Ambient series is certainly bellwether of the game. Ambient 4: On Land stands minutely apart from the other three albums in the Ambient series as a terrestrial and environmental piece, in a way breaking off a lot of what the Taj-Mahal Travelers were doing. Only where TMT were improvising on the spot, Eno cut and pasted sounds from his entire career into On Land and stands as a testament to Eno’s studio prowess.

In the liner notes, Eno talks about recording Ghana’s soundscape from his porch at night. “The effect of this simple technological system was to cluster all the disparate sounds into one aural frame; they became music.” This synthesis of organic environment and digital music brings the album to life in the most beguiling and subtle ways. There’s never any gentle lapping of white-noise in the background; rather it’s a colony of sounds interacting with each other, moving around like organisms under a microscope, all energized above a magnetic drone. And still there’s some great “fuck yeah!” moments, like the little bass riff in “Tal Coat” or the ethereal tone-clusters of the coda, “Dunwich Beach, 1960″.

Listen on Spotify, purchase on iTunes.

20th Anniversary Edition

Medicine – Shot Forth Self Living (1992)

When Shoegaze hit in the late 80′s, the drone was no longer of the bass clef, but off in the upper reaches of the treble clef, clad in distorted guitars, feedback, and reverb forming drone’s new embrace. Taking cues from Phil Spector’s infamous “Wall of Sound” production, UK bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, all were working within the Shoegaze scene in some sub-style or another. Meanwhile in LA, a band called Medicine were trying to carve their UK influences into a comically diminutive space on a wall that was too crowded by the emerging Grunge scene. It’s no surprise the trio went relatively unnoticed, but their debut album Shot Forth Self Living is a severely underrated effort that employs The Jesus and Mary Chain noise-rock and My Bloody Valentine Shoegaze to hide dream-pop jewels all across the record.

“It’s easy for us to write a pop song and it’s easy for us to make a cool noise,” said guitarist/main man Brad Laner in a 1994 interview with Creem. “Guitars can do anything. They’re just pieces of wood with some metal wires stretched across. So I just sit down and make a noise and what comes out, I use. I’m lucky if I can duplicate it.” Laner’s guitar work on this album is gnarly. They’re all gained-up, and I’d wager 80% of the notes on this album are played above the 10th fret, often at tremolo-picking pace. The feedback and noise work wrings the brit-pop out of the tracks, and the compositional Shoegaze element works to obfuscate the whispy melodies of singer Annette Zalinskas. It’s just as fun to play around in as TMT or Eno — only there’s a bit more structure and rhythm. The album is bookended by “One More” and “Christmas Song”, two half-speed cinematic anthems that hint at the forthcoming post-rock boom from Mogwai, Múm, and Explosions in the Sky five years down the road.

Listen on Spotify (and it looks like a reissue is happening soon).

10th Anniversary Edition

Sunn O))) - Flight of the Behemoth (2002)

And if Shoegaze is the highest, etherial frequency of drone, Sunn O))) is the nether depths. They live in the bowels of the aural spectrum, making the music’s sine waves look like someone shaking out a filthy rug in super slow motion. There’s no muddying the issue: Sunn O))) fall squarely under metal more than any sort of avant ambient genre (they actually locked a band member in a coffin during the recording of an album, which is categorically a pretty metal thing to do.) The duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson are acolytes of the 90′s drone-metal kings Earth only where Earth sounds detuned and dirge-like, Sunn O))) sounds untuned and dead.

Flight of the Behemoth is the nadir of tempo and melody, which alternately creates the apex of volume and intensity. The initial rev of “Mocking Solemnity” kick-starts the engine, there is no respite from the overdriven, undertuned pressure that builds for 50 minutes. In fact, it isn’t until well over 20 minutes into the album that a different sound other than a drone is heard. “O))) Bow 1″ adds a distant piano and some serious Metal Machine Music to compliment the gyrations below — it’s jarring, like the dust from the rug suddenly flying toward your eyes. Still, the album clamps down tighter and sinks deeper until the final fading tones of “F.W.T.B.T.”, a nightmarish cough syrup reinterpretation of Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls”.

It’s not exactly like the others. Sunn O))) is more than likely not “fun to listen to”, but Flight of the Behemoth is as meticulous and powerful as any of the other albums on this list. It’s weighted down from all corners of the sound — truly the heaviest of metal. And that metal edge — the threat that there’s something even louder or lower or scarier just on the horizon –is what makes the album continue to persevere. While the force and nature of Sunn O))) may vary greatly from their earliest predecessors, it’s all part of the same current that rolls underneath so much music. A drone is a rhythm just like any drum beat, only its the one that closes resembles the rhythm of human interaction — a continual hum of energy we exist above every day. Even at its most darkest and grim, it’s still one of the most accurate reflections of life in music.

Listen to much of the album on Spotify.

]]> The Reissue is a brand new feature, taking a monthly look at four albums from 10, 20, 30, and 40 years ago, all of a certain ilk, aesthetic, genre, or style. Some of these albums are not widely available for purchase on vinyl, and some have been reissued at some point. More importantly, these are the albums that we should be talking about in 2012 -- again. The first installment is all about the Drone. "Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?" --John Cage My father would call this music "lazy music for lazy people." He's certainly wrong about the first part and the second part is, well, dubious. It's not that Drone music is lazy, it's just that it doesn't require much thought. But to try to listen to drone music is to be doing it wrong because there is no try -- there's only not trying. Ambient/drone music has a unique trait about it that makes it challenging in its own way: how you listen to it is less about reaching out to the music, and more about letting it come to you. The idea of submitting to the order of something else is not an idea music listeners are too keen on, especially if we're keeping in mind the other, more pejorative definition of  "a drone". Being defined after the figurative definition of "drone" is, in some part, essential to enjoying it. But once you surrender to the guile of ceaseless repetition, the drone has the power to transubstantiate into something meditative. Or violent. Or sexual, or contemplative, or joyful. Whatever form it takes, it always remains volatile, and any number of emotions can escape via this trance state and that's one of the many reasons that makes drone music so alluring and addictive. It is one of the most ancient tonalities of music, pre-dating civilization itself back to the most basic forms of communication. Its evolution through the last 40 years has been focused on trying to recapture that primal, womblike state from a constant vibration and sound. From Indian ragas all the way up to Bossgaze, the drone exists to drown out consciousness in favor of another state, regressive or transgressive. And to assist in that drowning, I prefer these four albums to be played at stupid volumes. 40th Anniversary Edition The Taj-Mahal Travelers - July 15th, 1972 (1972) Led by Japanese avant garde composer and violinist Takehisa Kosugi, The Taj-Mahal Travelers aimed to make their music a living, breathing thing. Through improvised incantations, the eight-person ensemble -- comprised of violin, harmonica, bass, tuba, trumpet, synthesizer, mandolin, and various percussion -- brewed some pyschy shit. [youtube RSNtVrwZA8M 500 25] Kosugi worked with the 60's neo-dada performance art collective Fluxus (along with John Cale, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, et many al.), and carried their free-associative, anti-pop ideas into TMT. As the album title suggests, it was recorded live on July 15th, 1972, similar to their other albums.  It really is a grab-bag of psychedelic flavors, from throat-singing to copious amounts of delay to the requisite 25 min jam sesh, but amid the Bacchic chaos there is an underlying form that separates TMT from your average drum-circle. Little moments of cohesion and and melody counteract the atonal stretches of space-synths and jazz-trumpet trills. If you forgive some out of focus meandering here and there, the explorations of sound and space on this recording acts as a precursor for Eno's work in the late 70's, and Kraftwerk as well. 30th Anniversary Edition Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land (1982) There are some who claim Eno invented "ambient", including Eno himself. Holders of that opinion need only to look to the previous paragraph to hear a blend of spatial electro-organic experimentations predating Eno's work (not to mention all of the 60's avant composers like La Monte Young, John Cage, Philip Glass, et many al.) So while Eno may not have invented ambient, his Ambient series is certainly bellwether of the game. Ambient 4: On Land stands minutely apart from the other three albums in the Ambient series as a terrestrial and environmental piece, in a way breaking off a lot of what the Taj-Mahal Travelers were doing. Only where TMT were improvising on the spot, Eno cut and pasted sounds from his entire career into On Land and stands as a testament to Eno's studio prowess. [youtube -UshqCpk36I 500 25] In the liner notes, Eno talks about recording Ghana's soundscape from his porch at night. "The effect of this simple technological system was to cluster all the disparate sounds into one aural frame; they became music." This synthesis of organic environment and digital music brings the album to life in the most beguiling and subtle ways. There's never any gentle lapping of white-noise in the background; rather it's a colony of sounds interacting with each other, moving around like organisms under a microscope, all energized above a magnetic drone. And still there's some great "fuck yeah!" moments, like the little bass riff in "Tal Coat" or the ethereal tone-clusters of the coda, "Dunwich Beach, 1960". Listen on Spotify, purchase on iTunes. 20th Anniversary Edition Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living (1992) When Shoegaze hit in the late 80's, the drone was no longer of the bass clef, but off in the upper reaches of the treble clef, clad in distorted guitars, feedback, and reverb forming drone's new embrace. Taking cues from Phil Spector's infamous "Wall of Sound" production, UK bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, all were working within the Shoegaze scene in some sub-style or another. Meanwhile in LA, a band called Medicine were trying to carve their UK influences into a comically diminutive space on a wall that was too crowded by the emerging Grunge scene. It's no surprise the trio went relatively unnoticed, but their debut album Shot Forth Self Living is a severely underrated effort that employs The Jesus and Mary Chain noise-rock and My Bloody Valentine Shoegaze to hide dream-pop jewels all across the record. [youtube zmT12GyXBbc 500 25] "It's easy for us to write a pop song and it's easy for us to make a cool noise," said guitarist/main man Brad Laner in a 1994 interview with Creem. "Guitars can do anything. They're just pieces of wood with some metal wires stretched across. So I just sit down and make a noise and what comes out, I use. I'm lucky if I can duplicate it." Laner's guitar work on this album is gnarly. They're all gained-up, and I'd wager 80% of the notes on this album are played above the 10th fret, often at tremolo-picking pace. The feedback and noise work wrings the brit-pop out of the tracks, and the compositional Shoegaze element works to obfuscate the whispy melodies of singer Annette Zalinskas. It's just as fun to play around in as TMT or Eno -- only there's a bit more structure and rhythm. The album is bookended by "One More" and "Christmas Song", two half-speed cinematic anthems that hint at the forthcoming post-rock boom from Mogwai, Múm, and Explosions in the Sky five years down the road. Listen on Spotify (and it looks like a reissue is happening soon). 10th Anniversary Edition Sunn O))) - Flight of the Behemoth (2002) And if Shoegaze is the highest, etherial frequency of drone, Sunn O))) is the nether depths. They live in the bowels of the aural spectrum, making the music's sine waves look like someone shaking out a filthy rug in super slow motion. There's no muddying the issue: Sunn O))) fall squarely under metal more than any sort of avant ambient genre (they actually locked a band member in a coffin during the recording of an album, which is categorically a pretty metal thing to do.) The duo of Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson are acolytes of the 90's drone-metal kings Earth only where Earth sounds detuned and dirge-like, Sunn O))) sounds untuned and dead. Flight of the Behemoth is the nadir of tempo and melody, which alternately creates the apex of volume and intensity. The initial rev of "Mocking Solemnity" kick-starts the engine, there is no respite from the overdriven, undertuned pressure that builds for 50 minutes. In fact, it isn't until well over 20 minutes into the album that a different sound other than a drone is heard. "O))) Bow 1" adds a distant piano and some serious Metal Machine Music to compliment the gyrations below -- it's jarring, like the dust from the rug suddenly flying toward your eyes. Still, the album clamps down tighter and sinks deeper until the final fading tones of "F.W.T.B.T.", a nightmarish cough syrup reinterpretation of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls". [youtube IRLBCeC-uCk 500 25] It's not exactly like the others. Sunn O))) is more than likely not "fun to listen to", but Flight of the Behemoth is as meticulous and powerful as any of the other albums on this list. It's weighted down from all corners of the sound -- truly the heaviest of metal. And that metal edge -- the threat that there's something even louder or lower or scarier just on the horizon --is what makes the album continue to persevere. While the force and nature of Sunn O))) may vary greatly from their earliest predecessors, it's all part of the same current that rolls underneath so much music. A drone is a rhythm just like any drum beat, only its the one that closes resembles the rhythm of human interaction -- a continual hum of energy we exist above every day. Even at its most darkest and grim, it's still one of the most accurate reflections of life in music. Listen to much of the album on Spotify. ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/01/the-reissue-drone-your-own-way/feed/ 0 M83 to release double album this fall http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/06/m83-to-release-double-album-this-fall/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/06/m83-to-release-double-album-this-fall/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/06/m83_2.jpg Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:49:43 +0000 Danielle Fowler http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=126587 Anthony Gonzalez has a trend of putting a few years between his band’s albums. Judging the distance between 2005′s Before the Dawn Heals Us and 2009′s Saturdays = Youth, we’re about due for more gauzy, dream pop tunes from Gonzalez’s M83. After a move from his native Antibes to Los Angeles, a relocation that made him reel with adolescent freedom, Gonzalez has announced that he is preparing a double LP for this October.

“It’s mainly about dreams, how every one is different, how you dream differently when you’re a kid, a teenager, or an adult. I’m really proud of it,” Gonzalez told SPIN Magazine. “If you’re doing a very long album, all the songs need to be different and I think I’ve done that with this one. Overall, it’s pop — and very epic. Anyone who loved M83 before, they’ll love this album even more. People that hated me, they’re going to hate this, too.”

Gonzalez also discussed how he hopes to merge the two sounds of two previous albums together by fusing the concise, 80s-tribute feel of Saturdays = Youth with the ambient, raucous tyranny of Before the Dawn Heals Us. To aid him in the process, he’s employed the help of some new and old faces for vocals, including Zola Jesus, Brad Laner of Medicine, and Morgan Kibby. Of course, this doesn’t mean Gonzalez will be taking a backseat to belting out some lyrics.

“All the vocals on older records was very quiet and whispery,” he said. “This time, I feel more like a singer, even if I’m not a great singer. There’s so much improvement in my vocals. People will be surprised.”

Gonzalez also had help from Beck and Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the bassist of Nine Inch Nails. With his team of collaborators, he has recorded the albums and just finished mixing two weeks ago.

So far, there are no names for songs or the album yet, but the double record is slated for October, with a supporting tour to follow. After that, Gonzalez plans on busting his chops on more composing projects in hopes that he will soundtrack more films following his theatrical work on l’Autre Monde (Black Heaven).

Until then, you can make plans to see him play at MoogFest, which runs from October 28th to 30th in Asheville, North Carolina.

]]> Before the Dawn Heals Us and 2009's Saturdays = Youth, we're about due for more gauzy, dream pop tunes from Gonzalez's M83. After a move from his native Antibes to Los Angeles, a relocation that made him reel with adolescent freedom, Gonzalez has announced that he is preparing a double LP for this October. "It's mainly about dreams, how every one is different, how you dream differently when you're a kid, a teenager, or an adult. I'm really proud of it," Gonzalez told SPIN Magazine. "If you're doing a very long album, all the songs need to be different and I think I've done that with this one. Overall, it's pop — and very epic. Anyone who loved M83 before, they'll love this album even more. People that hated me, they're going to hate this, too." Gonzalez also discussed how he hopes to merge the two sounds of two previous albums together by fusing the concise, 80s-tribute feel of Saturdays = Youth with the ambient, raucous tyranny of Before the Dawn Heals Us. To aid him in the process, he's employed the help of some new and old faces for vocals, including Zola Jesus, Brad Laner of Medicine, and Morgan Kibby. Of course, this doesn't mean Gonzalez will be taking a backseat to belting out some lyrics. "All the vocals on older records was very quiet and whispery," he said. "This time, I feel more like a singer, even if I'm not a great singer. There's so much improvement in my vocals. People will be surprised." Gonzalez also had help from Beck and Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the bassist of Nine Inch Nails. With his team of collaborators, he has recorded the albums and just finished mixing two weeks ago. So far, there are no names for songs or the album yet, but the double record is slated for October, with a supporting tour to follow. After that, Gonzalez plans on busting his chops on more composing projects in hopes that he will soundtrack more films following his theatrical work on l'Autre Monde (Black Heaven). Until then, you can make plans to see him play at MoogFest, which runs from October 28th to 30th in Asheville, North Carolina.]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/06/m83-to-release-double-album-this-fall/feed/ 1 Cinema Sounds: The Crow http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/05/cinema-sounds-the-crow-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/05/cinema-sounds-the-crow-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 19:15:04 +0000 David Buchanan http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=15042 Look, we’re a music site through and through. However, that doesn’t mean we’re not film enthusiasts. Therefore, we came to an agreement, one that makes total sense. We’re going to focus on film soundtracks. Personally, I feel that in the wake of file sharing and digital downloads, film’s soundtracks are swept under. That wasn’t always the case. The truth is, a film’s soundtrack is a sacred, sacred thing, and it’s something that still exists today (e.g. this year’s Adventureland). Therefore, we’re going to give them back the much deserved spotlight. We’re calling it Cinema Sounds and each week, god willing, we’re going to spotlight a film’s soundtrack, analyzing its successes or its faults. To start it off, writer David Buchanan decided to digress on the 1994 comic to film adaptation, The Crow. So, without further ado, let’s get the ball rolling. Oh, and feel free to give us your suggestions, too. -Michael Roffman, Editor-in-Chief

For a moment in time, picture yourself in the throes of 1994. Alternative and industrial music were in the mainstream while youths everywhere nursed their emotional wounds left by Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Up and coming hip-hoppers found escape in Nas as he brought forth the classic Illmatic to kick gangsta rap in the head. Meanwhile, California surfer punks boosted The Offspring’s Smash (or even Green Day’s Dookie) to record setting sales. Even aging rockers had their share in the madness, perhaps indulging in Pink Floyd’s final tour. That same year, however, another icon was lost too soon, thereby glossing over an already grim, classic film with even more tragedy — and one hell of a killer soundtrack.

The Crow is one of those universal tales of duality — of revenge and love, rules and rebellion, Gods and men. While the film did lend itself to a generation of teenagers with goth subculture and budding emo tendencies abound, The Crow always had a viable story to tell. In fact, the story’s illustrator and writer James O’ Barr originally conceived the project as, “a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver.” When Eric Draven, the tragic main character who’s brought back to life, avenges the death of his girlfriend Shelly, O’Barr could only relate with pen, paper and tattered memories. What’s more, this tragic backstory only continues.

Towards the end of the film’s shoot, actor Brandon Lee suffered a fatal wound from one of the prop guns. What should have been a blank was actually a loaded gun and the actor died right on set — in fact, in the very scene that Draven is shot and killed. Most attribute the comic’s inspired and amassing Goth culture to this on-set death. Regardless of the parallels between Lee and Draven, the acclaimed anti-hero had already become the icon of Goths everywhere, long before the film came to fruition. In a sense, O’Barr’s comic portrayal seems like a beacon for everything and anything that is Goth culture, and much of that has to do with music.

The comic’s dark and macabre storyline is littered with countless references to post-punk groups popular throughout the eighties. Some of The Cure’s lyrics are even featured within the novel itself, which explains the spill over into the film’s soundtrack five years later. A self professed fan of O’Barr’s work, Robert Smith penned the anthemic “Burn” specifically for the film and its corresponding soundtrack. While the novel had its own musical accompaniment entitled Trust Obey: Fear and Bullets, it’s the film soundtrack that later played host to the alt-rock themes of the early ’90s and then some.

Immediately following the film, the corresponding soundtrack hit shelves with much applause and praise, even topping the Billboard 200. Despite its eclectic mix of artists, the soundtrack was a cohesive and concise representation of both the film and its core themes. The Cure’s “Burn”, which opens the album, carries with it an assortment of emotions. There’s a sense of despair and loneliness, yet also a subdued bitterness that’s awash in rage and lust. It’s melancholy, but driving. It’s moody, but poppy. This schizophrenic-juggernaut style sets the bar for the remaining thirteen tracks, and while most songs hardly hit the watermark that Smith sets, they come pretty damn close. It’s an epic ride, really.

But mostly, it’s a surprising one. Bands that would otherwise have no place on this type of soundtrack really blend, the most obvious example being The Violent Femmes. While the lyrics this Wisconsin act have come up with in the past could be thought of as foreboding or even taboo (“Country Death Song”, “Black Girls”), “Color Me Once” is perfectly suited on this album as the imperfect balance of balladeer blues and clumsy alternative a la Weezer’s “Undone” or “El Scorcho”.  Somehow while the Femmes may not have worked on this album, they fit here with a sound that comes off like watching a car crash in slow motion, and it is quite possibly the band at its finest (not counting the extremely addictive, “Freak Magnet”).

Industrial enthusiasts find the most solace here. Between the Machines of Loving Grace’s “Golgotha Tenament Blues” and Nine Inch Nail’s brilliant cover of Joy Division’s classic “Dead Souls”, there’s enough here for seconds. The latter is a prime track, though. For anyone who is a fan of Trent Reznor’s early catalog, it’s blatant how much influence both English rock band Joy Division and its post-Curtis formation New Order had on Reznor. During the mid-90s, industrial was becoming more and more mainstream, thanks in part to Lollapalooza and also in light of Reznor’s signature stage presence, too. Due to this fact, his addition is a blessing in disguise. The industrial guru essentially amps up the English tune, nearly making it his own. On film, its gloomy beats serves its purpose, but on the soundtrack, it’s just one rocking vibe to ride for a good five minutes.

Of course, we couldn’t chalk this soundtrack up without mentioning its biggest hit, the Stone Temple Pilots’ alternative rock staple, “Big Empty”. Everyone who has ever turned on a radio past eight ‘o clock will surely recognize the morbid blues of this tune, a feature rather welcome here amongst the overall gloom and doom. Originally debuted acoustically on MTV Unplugged, the studio cut of “Big Empty” made its way to The Crow before copping a place on the Pilots’ successful sophomoric effort, Purple. This would explain the soundtrack’s Billboard appearances.

The subdued rage gets literal, however, with the inclusion of the slightly more upbeat but no less tempered track from Rage Against The Machine, appropriately titled “Darkness”. While admittedly not a band to fit the Goth-type culture, the tune does go hand in hand with the film’s Devil’s Night introduction. “Darkness” is a dose of anarchy that makes its presence known, and it’s properly placed considering only half the song is chaotic while the other half sports guitarist Tom Morello’s infamous threading, which he does here in a rather somber subconsciousness.

It is easy to tell how brilliantly cohesive the first half of this soundtrack is as it’s filled with morbid fluidity and silent worship that occasionally gets the shake up from powerful choruses and memorable riffs or beats. Some fans may be torn between which half is better, while others may listen from beginning to end without a problem. Given the strong and popular band roster, the first half is easy to love, even though the latter end brings forth astonishing inclusions by ’90s alternative staples like Rollins Band and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Some metal slips in too, with chaotic tracks like Pantera’s cover of Poison Idea’s “The Badge” and Helmet’s “Milquetoast”. Closing the album, jazz singer Jane Siberry brings life and sobriety to the charming song “It Can’t Rain All The Time” which, carved into the film’s storyline, is an original tune written and composed by Eric Draven himself. It’s a proper end and a fitting tribute to both Brandon Lee and all the elements that make up The Crow.

Collectively, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is timeless in its efforts of preserving both the film’s vivid imagery and the memory of mid-to-late ’90s modern rock acts. Save for the Stone Temple Pilots, no band overshadows another here, and that’s what should define a great soundtrack. What’s more, the album’s diverse song selections parallel the main character’s almost split personality and the chaos thriving within him. That’s not only a successful trait, it’s a remarkable feat. That being said, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is our most appropriate first pick for Cinema Sounds.

The Crow Tracklist:
1. “Burn” – The Cure
2. “Golgotha Tenement Blues” – Machines of Loving Grace
3. “Big Empty” – Stone Temple Pilots
4. “Dead Souls” – Nine Inch Nails (Joy Division cover)
5. “Darkness” – Rage Against the Machine
6. “Color Me Once” – Violent Femmes
7. “Ghostrider” – Rollins Band
8. “Milktoast” – Helmet
9. “The Badge” – Pantera (Poison Idea cover)
10. “Slip Slide Melting” – For Love Not Lisa
11. “After the Flesh” – My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
12. “Snakedriver” – The Jesus and Mary Chain
13. “Time Baby III” – Medicine
14. “It Can’t Rain All the Time” – Jane Siberry

]]> Look, we're a music site through and through. However, that doesn't mean we're not film enthusiasts. Therefore, we came to an agreement, one that makes total sense. We're going to focus on film soundtracks. Personally, I feel that in the wake of file sharing and digital downloads, film's soundtracks are swept under. That wasn't always the case. The truth is, a film's soundtrack is a sacred, sacred thing, and it's something that still exists today (e.g. this year's Adventureland). Therefore, we're going to give them back the much deserved spotlight. We're calling it Cinema Sounds and each week, god willing, we're going to spotlight a film's soundtrack, analyzing its successes or its faults. To start it off, writer David Buchanan decided to digress on the 1994 comic to film adaptation, The Crow. So, without further ado, let's get the ball rolling. Oh, and feel free to give us your suggestions, too. -Michael Roffman, Editor-in-Chief For a moment in time, picture yourself in the throes of 1994. Alternative and industrial music were in the mainstream while youths everywhere nursed their emotional wounds left by Kurt Cobain's suicide. Up and coming hip-hoppers found escape in Nas as he brought forth the classic Illmatic to kick gangsta rap in the head. Meanwhile, California surfer punks boosted The Offspring's Smash (or even Green Day's Dookie) to record setting sales. Even aging rockers had their share in the madness, perhaps indulging in Pink Floyd's final tour. That same year, however, another icon was lost too soon, thereby glossing over an already grim, classic film with even more tragedy -- and one hell of a killer soundtrack. The Crow is one of those universal tales of duality -- of revenge and love, rules and rebellion, Gods and men. While the film did lend itself to a generation of teenagers with goth subculture and budding emo tendencies abound, The Crow always had a viable story to tell. In fact, the story's illustrator and writer James O' Barr originally conceived the project as, "a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver." When Eric Draven, the tragic main character who's brought back to life, avenges the death of his girlfriend Shelly, O'Barr could only relate with pen, paper and tattered memories. What's more, this tragic backstory only continues. Towards the end of the film's shoot, actor Brandon Lee suffered a fatal wound from one of the prop guns. What should have been a blank was actually a loaded gun and the actor died right on set -- in fact, in the very scene that Draven is shot and killed. Most attribute the comic's inspired and amassing Goth culture to this on-set death. Regardless of the parallels between Lee and Draven, the acclaimed anti-hero had already become the icon of Goths everywhere, long before the film came to fruition. In a sense, O'Barr's comic portrayal seems like a beacon for everything and anything that is Goth culture, and much of that has to do with music. The comic's dark and macabre storyline is littered with countless references to post-punk groups popular throughout the eighties. Some of The Cure's lyrics are even featured within the novel itself, which explains the spill over into the film's soundtrack five years later. A self professed fan of O'Barr's work, Robert Smith penned the anthemic "Burn" specifically for the film and its corresponding soundtrack. While the novel had its own musical accompaniment entitled Trust Obey: Fear and Bullets, it's the film soundtrack that later played host to the alt-rock themes of the early '90s and then some. [youtube JVrU7ljI43E] Immediately following the film, the corresponding soundtrack hit shelves with much applause and praise, even topping the Billboard 200. Despite its eclectic mix of artists, the soundtrack was a cohesive and concise representation of both the film and its core themes. The Cure's "Burn", which opens the album, carries with it an assortment of emotions. There's a sense of despair and loneliness, yet also a subdued bitterness that's awash in rage and lust. It's melancholy, but driving. It's moody, but poppy. This schizophrenic-juggernaut style sets the bar for the remaining thirteen tracks, and while most songs hardly hit the watermark that Smith sets, they come pretty damn close. It's an epic ride, really. But mostly, it's a surprising one. Bands that would otherwise have no place on this type of soundtrack really blend, the most obvious example being The Violent Femmes. While the lyrics this Wisconsin act have come up with in the past could be thought of as foreboding or even taboo ("Country Death Song", "Black Girls"), "Color Me Once" is perfectly suited on this album as the imperfect balance of balladeer blues and clumsy alternative a la Weezer's "Undone" or "El Scorcho".  Somehow while the Femmes may not have worked on this album, they fit here with a sound that comes off like watching a car crash in slow motion, and it is quite possibly the band at its finest (not counting the extremely addictive, "Freak Magnet"). Industrial enthusiasts find the most solace here. Between the Machines of Loving Grace's "Golgotha Tenament Blues" and Nine Inch Nail's brilliant cover of Joy Division's classic "Dead Souls", there's enough here for seconds. The latter is a prime track, though. For anyone who is a fan of Trent Reznor's early catalog, it's blatant how much influence both English rock band Joy Division and its post-Curtis formation New Order had on Reznor. During the mid-90s, industrial was becoming more and more mainstream, thanks in part to Lollapalooza and also in light of Reznor's signature stage presence, too. Due to this fact, his addition is a blessing in disguise. The industrial guru essentially amps up the English tune, nearly making it his own. On film, its gloomy beats serves its purpose, but on the soundtrack, it's just one rocking vibe to ride for a good five minutes. [youtube Y8kEDXVSEK0] Of course, we couldn't chalk this soundtrack up without mentioning its biggest hit, the Stone Temple Pilots' alternative rock staple, "Big Empty". Everyone who has ever turned on a radio past eight 'o clock will surely recognize the morbid blues of this tune, a feature rather welcome here amongst the overall gloom and doom. Originally debuted acoustically on MTV Unplugged, the studio cut of "Big Empty" made its way to The Crow before copping a place on the Pilots' successful sophomoric effort, Purple. This would explain the soundtrack's Billboard appearances. The subdued rage gets literal, however, with the inclusion of the slightly more upbeat but no less tempered track from Rage Against The Machine, appropriately titled "Darkness". While admittedly not a band to fit the Goth-type culture, the tune does go hand in hand with the film's Devil's Night introduction. "Darkness" is a dose of anarchy that makes its presence known, and it's properly placed considering only half the song is chaotic while the other half sports guitarist Tom Morello's infamous threading, which he does here in a rather somber subconsciousness. It is easy to tell how brilliantly cohesive the first half of this soundtrack is as it's filled with morbid fluidity and silent worship that occasionally gets the shake up from powerful choruses and memorable riffs or beats. Some fans may be torn between which half is better, while others may listen from beginning to end without a problem. Given the strong and popular band roster, the first half is easy to love, even though the latter end brings forth astonishing inclusions by '90s alternative staples like Rollins Band and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Some metal slips in too, with chaotic tracks like Pantera's cover of Poison Idea's "The Badge" and Helmet's "Milquetoast". Closing the album, jazz singer Jane Siberry brings life and sobriety to the charming song "It Can't Rain All The Time" which, carved into the film's storyline, is an original tune written and composed by Eric Draven himself. It's a proper end and a fitting tribute to both Brandon Lee and all the elements that make up The Crow. [youtube MU1jCwyDgxw] Collectively, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is timeless in its efforts of preserving both the film's vivid imagery and the memory of mid-to-late '90s modern rock acts. Save for the Stone Temple Pilots, no band overshadows another here, and that's what should define a great soundtrack. What's more, the album's diverse song selections parallel the main character's almost split personality and the chaos thriving within him. That's not only a successful trait, it's a remarkable feat. That being said, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is our most appropriate first pick for Cinema Sounds. The Crow Tracklist: 1. "Burn" - The Cure 2. "Golgotha Tenement Blues" - Machines of Loving Grace 3. "Big Empty" - Stone Temple Pilots 4. "Dead Souls" - Nine Inch Nails (Joy Division cover) 5. "Darkness" - Rage Against the Machine 6. "Color Me Once" - Violent Femmes 7. "Ghostrider" - Rollins Band 8. "Milktoast" - Helmet 9. "The Badge" - Pantera (Poison Idea cover) 10. "Slip Slide Melting" - For Love Not Lisa 11. "After the Flesh" - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult 12. "Snakedriver" - The Jesus and Mary Chain 13. "Time Baby III" - Medicine 14. "It Can't Rain All the Time" - Jane Siberry]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/05/cinema-sounds-the-crow-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/feed/ 4