Though they sing about the twenty-first night of September, this song creates the atmosphere of summer, in a vivid, joyful world. Recently I saw the film Intouchables in which Earth, Wind & Fire's music is featured. It is an awesome film. I liked very much the free, glad behaviour of Driss (above) and this music was perfectly suitable to his personality. He tried to show Philippe the happy side of each thing and for this, one of his most important methods was music.
A few days ago I watched one of the Steve Carrell's films, Dinner for Schmucks which is actually a remake of the 1998 french film Le diner de cons. It proved to be better than my expectations were. No doubt that I really like his acting, both in The office and in his films, but did not expect such a cool story and nice atmosphere. It is really a sweet film - and funny as well.
Its soundtrack, which we can hear in the perfect mice-dream-world intro and the closing title is Beatles' Fool on the hill. For a very long time I haven't heard such a clever and witty lyrics. This beautiful song was perfectly suitable for the film, and, if we are from the same kind, hearing these words can be a delight for our souls.
Day after day,
Alone on a hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still
Have you ever seen Malcolm in the middle? The crazy and funny family which should be an ordinary family but maybe they have too much eccentricites. Yes, Malcolm is in the middle but just because he's telling us their story, the story of his parents and three brothers.
I've liked the intro for the very first time. Pictures of their life as seen in an older version in tv, pictures of cartoons and so on. Starting with the unmistakable "Yes, no, maybeee... I don't know... can you repeat the question?" lyrics. It's Boss of me by They might be giants. Enjoy!
Being an Up in the air fan, the song playing in one of the trailers kept floating in my mind and I felt I had to investigate a little bit. As it isn't part of the soundtrack, I couldn't get the title, but they sing I am the passenger, so YouTube immediately helped me as almost always. It turned out to be an Iggy Pop song which surprised me, because I thought it plays harder music, like metal. Now it's part of my home radio station in iTunes. Or on my iPod, when I'm a passenger...
Today during my walk I was listening to the soundtrack of the movie Jackie Brown (by Quentin Tarantino) and realized again that how cool is the song Across the 110th street by Bobby Womack. It has a very nice lyrics which I hadn't noticed before. Again about the poor childhood, the circumstances, "anything I had to do to survive..."
First it was written for the 1972 crime-drama film Across 110th street but had become much more serious. Later it was also used for Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.
Quentin Tarantino reinterpreted film music. His flicks wouldn't be those movies without those songs. He always chooses older songs, not actual hits. Well-known songs and less well-known ones which create perfect atmosphere for his films. What is this atmosphere like? Funny. Cool. Loose. Entertaining. Nice. Nostalgic. Romantic... and so on.
If you hear Pulp fiction, you immediately start to hum Misirlou in your head, but the soundtrack is much more. For example, I was introduced to the genre "surf" by Tarantino soundtracks. Bustin' surfboards and Surf rider are surfing with you for a short time, but there're Let's stay together by Al Green, Jungle boogie by Kool & The Gang, Girl, you'll be a woman soon by Urge Overkill, and the classic twist contest song, the You never can tell by Chuck Berry. And I haven't talked about the film excerpts which paint even more colours on this album. It's not a coincidence that Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta have been chosen for one of the fifteen greatest pairs of pop culture by Entertainment Weekly. Their memorable dialogues will always be with us, for example talking about the burgers in America and France, the morning scene when they murder the boys having breakfast, and Jules's monologue quoting from Ezekiel 25:17 which is the closer track of the album. Don't say what again, listen to this album...
...and if you liked it, start with the Jackie Brown - Music from the Miramax motion picture. That's my favourite Tarantino movie music.
Up in the air surprised me in the pleasant meaning of this word. The movie had been nominated for several Oscars but didn't won any - unfortunately. That's something which could have been deserved at least one - in spite of the "big" films, which nowadays the Academy and people concentrate on. But it's not a movie blog so I make it short: it's 9 of 10 for me and a memorable and soon repeatable experience of the movies of third millenium.
Let's talk about its soundtrack. Now I concentrate on its intro again, with the landscapes photographed from the air and the mood and lyrics of the music in the background: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - This land is your land (on the album Naturally, 2005 - can you imgaine it?). The connection is perfect. As the lady keeps singing the lands of America (in the original song it's only in the first verse but the soundtrack is a modified version), we can observe them from the air, and the editing is absolutely perfect.The titles and rhythm is playful and set a cool starting atmosphere for the film. Do we need more? It's worth to watch its intro (below).
If you read this blog, you know how I got to know the main song of this album, it's a funny story (read it here). In that moment I immediately fell in love with it, so I clicked on Amazon to listen to the other songs and realized: I need it, it would be a great album on my shelf next to Hot buttered soul. Days passed by and soon I found the package in the letter box and it was a really notable moment when the first sounds filled the room. Since that moment it's a very close thing in my mind and an always re-appearing inspiration for humming in my daydreams.
It starts with the main theme of course. The melody and the arrangement is simply genious, but if you saw the first scene of the film where it plays in the background, that would be the time when the picture becomes complete in your head. That's the perfect score.
And there are many soundtrack albums which are only interesting because of the main themes. Now it's a nice exception, all of the songs are lovable. My favourites are Bumpy's lament and Ellie's love theme (and of course the main theme), but I can't help noticing again that blackish melody & mood combination which I always been surprised by, that strange difference to "other" music. It broadcasts something different, and it's usually the mix of feelings like (light) melancholy and peace at the same time, hope and looseness. As we walk through the scenes of the film by listening to the soundtracks, after the almost 20 minutes long Do your thing we reach the beautiful closing theme (The end theme) which is a shorter variation of the main theme. I have a special edition and it also contains a 2009 mix version of the main theme, so I have it after the closing theme - it's very good. I think it's not a coincidence that Isaac Hayes won the Oscar prize for the best soundtrack in that year, so this album is not "only" a soundtrack album. It's something more.
At last I learned who is the man that would risk his neck for his brother man by watching the American movie Shaft (1971) which theme is written by Isaac Hayes. The movie is a nice thing, and its music perfectly matches to the pictures. It was also released in 2000, with Samuel L. Jackson in the main role.
Still staying at films... the main aim of this blog was always to show something new and something which takes real effect on us, an effect which can't be described, to know it - you have to live it. That's the most fantastic thing in music, that incomprehensibleness.
One of my favourite films is Solaris directed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, based on the novel Solaris written by the Polish science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem in 1961. I both like the novel and the film, they are both beautiful. They say it's science-fiction, and yes, but just because that sort of environment (another planet, space base). The real topics are human emotions and thoughts. The film is a milestone in film art, and with the book it tells me a lot of things about this world, and a lot of thoughts which - as I mentioned it - can't be described. About the future, the smallness of mankind and the huge aimless which is floating around us and which we cannot understand, just always suffer from it.
The main music theme of this film is BWV 639 Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ by Johann Sebastian Bach. BWV is a categorization of all the pieces by Bach (BWV: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis). I have a strange feeling about this music. Sometimes I feel, that a song is both about hope and hopeless. That's irreal, but maybe possible - as I said some time ago, music can contain everything at the same time.
The long and exciting quest of Two and a half men has been lastly resolved: when Charlie and Alan are joined by the big guy from the neighbourhood, the pizza guy and Herb, and get drunk a little bit, they sing a song which my father knew that he knew it and had it on cd at home, but which cd... we couldn't figure it out on that lazy, warm, nothing-to-do summer night. But the day before yesterday we saw again that episode and (after some research) it turned out that the song is the main theme of the movie Shaft and is on the following album: Isaac Hayes - Shaft. Isaac Hayes is a big name in soul music, he was the first afro-american Oscar prize winner (for the best original song). I have one album by him, but didn't know this cool song yet. Enjoy!
This is the first post with the label: film and music (where good films and good music meet).
It's the movie Inland empire, directed by David Lynch in 2006. Now, I would keep the analysis of it for film experts and real fans, but to sum up, it's an extremity. Extremity by maybe every part of it. At a point I don't care about the storyline yet (if we can talk about it), I was just fascinated by the pictures. Let's get fascinated you too, if you dare, or if you are in a very special mood, with its almost 3 hours length. And in the ending scene, and behind the cast information, with well-known song of Nina Simone, Sinnerman, full of energy. Its original version can be found on the album Pastel blues, a little bit more than 10 minutes of pure enjoyment. We can also hear a remix version of it in the film.
5 minutes before lying down... just enough time to discover something new from this world. This is a blog of music reviews and commendatories. Amongst the labels you find mostly record labels, genres and there are some posts which match to one of the seasons - these are the labels which start with the word "season". I won't help you in downloading.
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Choose a season
There are music of course which can be connected not only to one, but two adjacent seasons, and music which is "out of these categories". This classification is mostly based on my mind, my experiences, lyrics and song titles.
THE CALENDAR is a long project by me: a 365 day - 365 album review calendar where every day has an album to listen to. It will be ready in a few years' time. Until that time I make year-calendars. The first one is coming at the end of February, 2010.
Music is a very elusive media, which goes around you, above you, and under you. First you get to know it by hearing, you just draw to it. This meeting is very pleasant, then you'll live your whole life by chasing the melody. Soometimes you think you've just got it, you reach out your hands, but you only grab a little part of it. The others hear it, and say: Yes, this is the end. Well, you know, this is the end for sure, but not the total end. So you continue it, because you want more of this thing. So you chase the melody again. You lie down and wake up with it. You're always on the track of something.
About music (Kraftwerk)
- What kind of music do you hear? - We hear only Sounds.
About music (John Coltrane)
I would like to bring to people something like happiness. I would like to discover a method so that if I want it to rain, it will start right away to rain. If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to play a certain song and he will be cured; when he'd be broke, I'd bring out a different song and immediately he'd receive all the money he needed.
5MBLD's top5 jazz standards
1. Summertime
2. Good morning heartache
3. Autumn leaves
4. Autumn in New York
5. Lil' darlin'
