A decade on, the Coen brothers' woefully underrated
O Brother, Where Art Thou? [alt] is remembered for
a lot of things: its sun-drenched, sepia-rich
cinematography (a pioneer of
digital color grading), its
whimsical humor,
fluid vernacular, and
many subtle references to Homer's
Odyssey. But one part of its legacy truly stands out:
the music.
Assembled by
T-Bone Burnett, the soundtrack is a cornucopia of American folk music, exhibiting everything from
cheery ballads and
angelic hymns to
wistful blues and
chain-gang anthems. Woven into the plot of the film through radio and live performances, the songs lent the story a
heartfelt, homespun feel that echoed its cultural heritage,
a paean and uchronia of the Old South.
Though the multiplatinum album was recently
reissued, the movie's medley is best heard via famed documentarian
D. A. Pennebaker's
Down from the Mountain, an
extraordinary yet
intimate concert film focused on a night of live music by the soundtrack's stars (among them
Gillian Welch,
Emmylou Harris,
Chris Thomas King, bluegrass legend
Dr. Ralph Stanley) and wryly hosted by
John Hartford, an accomplished
fiddler,
riverboat captain, and
raconteur whose struggle with terminal cancer made this his last major performance. The film is free in its entirety on
Hulu and
YouTube -- click inside for individual clips, song links, and breakdowns of
the set list's fascinating history.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 22, 2011 -
107 comments
Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley so it seems somewhat appropriate that we remember not only
The man King but his music as well, including
Jailhouse Rock,
Love Me Tender,
In The Ghetto,
Unchained Melody,
Always on My Mind,
Burning Love,
Suspicious Minds,
Return to Sender,
Blue Christmas,
Heartbreak Hotel,
It's Now Or Never,
Hound Dog,
My Way,
Don't Be Cruel,
Way Down,
Are You Lonesome Tonight,
Amazing Grace,
You've Lost That Loving Feeling,
Promised Land,
Viva Las Vegas and
many more.
Here's the lyrics if you want to sing along to any of those. Not a fan of his music? Fair enough. Why not go make yourself
a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich? Just don't eat 12 to 15 of them in one sitting!
posted by Effigy2000
on Aug 15, 2007 -
78 comments
Doctor Ammondt. When
Jukka Ammondt is not too busy teaching European Romantic Literature at Finland's
Jyväskylä University, he enjoys recording rock'n'roll covers in Latin. For Dr. Ammondt's 1997 CD, "
Rocking in Latin", he has covered, among others,
Shake, Rattle and Roll (Quate, Crepa, Rota) and
All Shook Up (Nunc Distrahor). More recently, Dr. Ammondt has released
an EP in which he sings Sumerian, featuring a cover of the Elvis hit "Blue Suede Shoes" ("E-sír kusv-za-gìn-g-á", which roughly translates to "On my sandals of sky-blue leather do not step!"). Live, he wears a leather kilt, blue sandals and is "
backed up by musicians dressed as Sumerian governors". He has received the Pope's Medal in 1994. Ammondt will release a single,
Codex Fluitans, and dedicate it to the Pope on the day of his funeral. (Previous Metafilter mention
here.)
posted by ori
on Apr 7, 2005 -
1 comment
Cutting up the King: This seems sacrilegious, even if the tapes
are deteriorating. They're planning to cut up some of Elvis Presley's original master tapes from Sun Studio and
sell them as collectibles. I suppose one could email the
publicity contact if this bothered them. The snipping starts tomorrow.
posted by bendybendy
on Jan 26, 2004 -
8 comments
Is The King Finally Dead, After 25 Years? Elvis Presley died on 16 August 1977 and, silly season or not,
The Observer, kicking off with
Nik Cohn's above-linked essay, has assembled a cracking collection of articles, interviews and humorous pieces about the controversial crooner, mainly directed (I'd say) at
non-fans. To my mind, the most enjoyable are
Nigel Slater's brave attempt to make the famous
Presley sandwich; the weird interview with
Larry Geller, his
hairdresser and spiritual advisor; the account of Elvis's only (secret)
visit to Britain;
Michael Odell's funny set of instructions on
how not to behave at an Elvis party; an
interview with George Nichopoulos, the doctor who wrote out more than 10,000 prescriptions for him; a round-up of ludicrous
ex-girlfriends' memories and, as an after-thought, a collector's report on locating that legendary first
"Uh-huh" of his. It's all good stuff but one has to ask whether, in this day and age, it isn't, er,
overkill. Is Elvis Presley still that relevant or is he slowly becoming a figure of fun? Whether or not he's actually dead, of course, is entirely another matter...
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Aug 11, 2002 -
22 comments
More Elvis Goodness from Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi, who recently released a CD of his favorite Elvis tunes. What's next, a collection of Dubya's favorite Garth Brooks tracks?
posted by dogmatic
on Aug 23, 2001 -
3 comments
