Music Contents (05-04-98)

Volume I, Issue 48
May 4 - May 11, 1998

Music

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Due Recognition
A fond reflection on the life of country great Rose Maddox. [2]
Randy Fox, Ron Wynn, and Jim Ridley

Instant Soundtrack!
When it comes to movie music, money and baser instincts often speak louder than art. [3]
Stephen Grimstead

Singled Out
Ed Porter's Loverly label releases vinyl singles by a community of musicians, malcontents, composers, and characters who thrive on the fringe of the Memphis music scene. [4]
Jonathan Perry

Artist Profiles
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Trawling Panthalassa
Legendary musician/producer Bill Laswell takes on Miles Davis. [5]
David Lynch

Basking Lizard
An interview with the band and a look at its new album. [6]
Dave Chamberlain

A Close Personal Friend
Would the real Robert Johnson please stand up? Not the legendary bluesman, but the near-Rolling Stone who's lived a rock-and-roll fantasy. [7]
Matt Hanks

Album Reviews
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Trauma Queen
Tori Amos has figured out how to be pop's model confessional singer/songwriter without actually confessing anything. [8]
Matt Ashare

Basic Bonnie
Bonnie Raitt's latest CD combines the intimacy of a laid-back studio project with the depth and richness of a major album. [9]
Ted Drozdowski

Second Childhood
Bonnie Raitt's back, and she brought her guitar. [10]
Michael McCall

Note Perfect
A new Columbia collection, "Miles Davis Quintet 1965-'68," recalls "abstract" jazz pieces with the concision and immediacy of pop hits. [11]
Jon Garelick

Now What?
If you go gaga over the sultry smoothness of a symphonic glissando, just wait till you experience our transitions to cool and useful music links on the Web. [17]

ovie soundtracks don't get no respect. Shunned as lightweight by fans of classical, deemed too boringly orchestral by rock-and-rollers, movie soundtracks tend to lurk quietly on the periphery of the music world.

That recently changed with James Horner's soundtrack for "Titanic." The soundtrack CD has proliferated to the point where they're practically giving them away as coasters. Some might say its success is due to the lack of any other marketable materials (there are no "Titanic" action figures, sadly), but the real selling point is the soundtrack's ability to regenerate the emotional impact of the movie.

This article goes further into the recent history of movie soundtracks, specifically coming down on filmmakers who sacrifice creative approaches for easily marketable pop songs. I can't agree more: Who needs another movie soundtrack full of Motown tunes, or '80s retro, or flavor-of-the-month alternative songs? Give me a quirky collection of eclectic tracks anyday, like the "Reservoir Dogs" soundtrack, or the oddball pieces David Lynch chose for "Lost Highway."

If you're interested in original approaches to movie music, check out Bernard Herrmann's music for "Taxi Driver," "Psycho," "Cape Fear," or "Obsession." Check out Jerry Goldsmith's "Planet of the Apes" or "Our Man Flint," and John Barry's "Goldfinger," "Midnight Cowboy" or "Chaplin."

Better yet, try listening to Jurgen Knieper's music for "Wings of Desire," Zbigniew Preisner's "The Double Life of Veronique," Michael Kamen's "Brazil," Vangelis's "Blade Runner," Peter Gabriel's Middle Eastern concoctions for "The Last Temptation of Christ," or Miles Davis's sultry, sexy "Siesta" music.

Now that's music.