Kill Bill Vol. 2
Movie Soundtrack
As a rule, Quentin Tarantino’s films feature excellent and sometimes incredible soundtracks. Pulp Fiction is one of the best stand-alone movie soundtracks ever made and all of his previous films have their moments. “Kill Bill Vol. 2” is no exception.
An unholy and wholly disconnected mess of an album, “Kill Bill” is over-packed with producers: Rick Rubin, Luis Enrique Bacalov, Ennio Morricone and The Rza (in a nebulous, unclear role) just to name a few.
Morricone’s hand is most evident through his own orchestra creations, of which there are three spaghetti-western-ish songs, while Rubin brings his famous collaborator Johnny Cash to the table. Cash’s lesser-known “A Satisfied Mind” is a lithe and perfect song that fits well into the collection as a whole and neither overshadows nor disappoints.
The real stars of the album are two vastly different but remarkable songs: Malcom McLaren’s (early manager of the Sex Pistols) rich and gorgeous trip-hop piece “About Her” – itself a remake of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” – is absolutely captivating, and Shivaree’s “Goodnight Moon” has the sexy lounge-mood of some yesteryear saloon.
The rest of the album moves nicely, and while it is a little heavy on real movie music and light on pop music, this is forgivable given the quality of music that appears here.
As usual, the movie-dialogue sound-clips are poorly integrated and interruptive. But given the release date of the soundtrack – just three days before the movie’s Columbus opening – the dialogue may satisfy impatient cinephiles dying for the next installment.
The album is a must-have for any fan of the movies and – typical of Tarantino’s soundtracks – any fan of esoteric and excellent pop music.
Ben Jelen
Give It All Away
Jelen’s melodic and truly beautiful voice cannot circumvent the sometimes weak arrangements.
However this album contains the potential – like Howie Day, Michelle Branch and Vanessa Charlton – to be a chart-busting big seller that reintroduces simple guitar or piano pieces into the hip-hopped world of popular music.
Semisextile
Below the Surface
Local rock-star four-piece Semisextile has put together a new album that while borrowing heavily from modern rock staples, is totally devoid of contrivance.
The sheer earnestness of the offering requires further listening. However, Bernie’s or Andyman’s may suit the band better than any boom box or radio signal.
