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
"Who is this Loretta Lynn chick, anyway?". Jack White, in a skintight,
red cowboy suit, seemed a little nervous when he came out to introduce his opening act. So nervous, in fact, that the White Stripes frontman offered a cautionary preface of sorts to the massive huddle of young fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. "Now I want you all to be very nice to my next guest. I think
she's the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century,". The crowd looked around at each other, visibly puzzled.
In White,
Loretta Lynn has found her
Rick Rubin. Finally. Much like the producer who
revitalized the
late Johnny
Cash's career with
spare, homespun recordings, White has raised the notion of
Loretta Lynn as a hip, renegade country artist. The transformation is of the same magnitude as
Emmylou Harris's ethereal work with Daniel Lanois in the mid-'90s.
more inside
posted by matteo
on Apr 27, 2004 -
33 comments
In the wake of the tornados and armageddon, perhaps some happy news is in order. The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have released the
third volume in their
Will the Circle Be Unbroken series. This series which
began 30 years ago and continued with
Volume 2 in 1989, features the boys in the Dirt Band getting together with country legends like
Johnny Cash, members of the
Carter Family and
Vassar Clements and inheritors like
Emmylou Harris and
Ricky Skaggs and doing some astonishing versions of old traditional tunes, hymns and a few originals.
I'm listening to Vol. 3 right now, which features first timers like
Dwight Yoakam, the lovely
Iris Dement and even
Tom Petty, and I'm tellin' ya, it's a worthy addition to the tradition, my freinds.
Traditional music is enjoying a revival right now and that's great, but these folks have done an enormous amount to keep it alive and vital between the vogues and created some music for us in the bargain.
posted by jonmc
on Oct 2, 2002 -
17 comments
