I saw the movie Crazy Heart on Friday. It was very unimpressive. Jeff Bridges did great work (when does he not?) as an alcoholic former country star, but the plot was so predictable and formulaic that it distracted from his performance.
The one redeeming quality of the film was the stellar soundtrack, which was produced by none other than T. Bone Burnett (the mastermind behind the AHMAAAZING “O Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack and countless other records). The soundtrack contained some original country-western tracks sung by Bridges and co-star Colin Farrell. Both men have surprisingly great voices (also surprising was Farrell’s pitch-perfect Southern accent in the movie) and they shine while singing Burnett’s compositions. Possibly the best original track is Ryan Bingham’s “The Weary Kind,” a world-weary acoustic tune that will hopefully pick up an Oscar come March.
The soundtrack also contains material from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, and Burnett’s supremely talented wife Sam Philips.
Overall, it’s a great collection of folky western music. Another win for Burnett! Too bad the movie sucks. So just instead of plunking down $10 on the ticket, pick up this disc.
New video for VCR- The xx
My favorite song (Actually, my favorite of the album changes week to week, but for today…) off of The xx’s stellar wonderful beautiful debut album “XX,” “VCR,” finally has a music video! And it’s great! Check it out HERE on pitchfork.tv.
Speaking of The xx, check out Sasha Frere-Jones’s piece on the band from this week’s New Yorker. Like everything SFJ writes, it’s right on point and sums up the band brilliantly. While I’ve never caught The xx live (Hopefully in the near future though!! Hopefully!!), my experience with The xx was pretty similar. First I just didn’t get them and found the album boring, but per my trusted friend’s request, I listened more. After a few rotations, it hit me. It’s a minimalistic record where the silences carry as much weight as the notes. As SFJ states, it’s a wonder that such a young band has mastered the art of restraint. Check out the piece HERE.
Music Videos
The xx