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
[Absolute Beginners] has a glossy immediacy, and you can feel the flash and determination that went into it. What you don't feel is the tormented romanticism that made English adolescents in the 70s swear by the novel the way American kids had earlier sworn by The Catcher in the Rye. -
Pauline Kael [more inside]
posted by Trurl
on Dec 12, 2011 -
15 comments
Regardless of the outcomes and foreshadowing, the lethal combination of the sudden musical revival and the roller disco fad that was freshly in the cultural air in the late 70’s was still too good to pass up. It was only inevitable that someone somewhere would make the explosive connection….and at this intersection, Xanadu would happen... [more inside]
posted by Trurl
on Nov 14, 2011 -
55 comments
As he sings, the walls of the apartment begin to move off, and
the city walls surrounding them begin to close in on them. Then
the apartment it self goes, and the two lovers begin to run,
battering against the walls of the city, beginning to break
through as chaotic figures of the gangs, of violence, fail around
them. But they do break through, and suddenly-they are in a world
of space and air and sun. They stop, looking at it, pleased,
startled, as boys and girls both sides come on. And they, too,
stop and stare, happy, pleased. Their clothes are soft and pastel
versions of what they have worn before. They begin to dance, to
play: no sides, no hostility now; join, making a world that Tony
and Maria want to be in, belong to, share their love with. As
they go into the steps of a gentle love dance, a voice is heard
singing. [more inside]
posted by silby
on Oct 9, 2011 -
11 comments
From the Salon review: "There [is] all kinds of pop culture iconography floating around in Walter Hill's "Streets of Fire": rock stars; outlaw biker gangs; neon marquees; Dick Tracy-style police cars; diners that serve up coffee in Syracuse china; silent, tough-guy heroes; bars that are rowdy dives and bars meant for quiet, solitary drinking; leather; a battered wallet photo of someone's sweetheart; lovers' reunions; lovers' breakups; dusters; convertibles; pompadours; guns. "Streets of Fire" is nothing but iconography, an attempt to boil down 30 years of pop to its familiar essence and then contain the whole thing in a comic-strip B movie... If chrome could bleed, it would look like the colors that run together in the streets of this movie." [more inside]
posted by I_Love_Bananas
on Sep 7, 2011 -
62 comments
From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of
South Park, and Robert Lopez, of
Avenue Q, comes the new Broadway show
"The Book of Mormon." The
show "tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent off to spread the word in a dangerous part of Uganda" while gently (and no so gently) lampooning organized religion and traditional musical theatre.
The entire show is now streaming on NPR. Songs are extremely Not Safe For Work.
posted by ColdChef
on May 9, 2011 -
84 comments
On March 14th,
the 26th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will add 5 new performers to the growing list of well-known musicians. As
previously discussed, the 2011 inductees are Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Tom Waits and
Darlene Love. Though the last name may not be as famous as the four fellows, the chances are you know her voice, from
Monster Mash,
Rockin' Robbin, or
Da Doo Ron Ron. Except
her name wasn't credited first on any of those recordings, if it was mentioned at all.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Feb 18, 2011 -
23 comments
This week, the world will finally get its first look at Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
. But the most expensive musical in Broadway history has already had an epic run—battling bankruptcy, broken wrists, unruly technology, and one comic villain disguised as a Post columnist. And at the center of it all, perched over her “God mike,” is the relentless and inventive Julie Taymor. (previously)
posted by Joe Beese
on Nov 23, 2010 -
49 comments
"We are Nirvana The Band , the live musical that will never play the same show twice. To not let us play on your stage would be a terrible mistake. We are Nirvana The Band. For now; forever; for better; for worse. Four -- times four -- is sixteen."
posted by JohnMarston
on Oct 1, 2010 -
17 comments
Opening Night: October 8, 1985 at the
Barbican in London. It scored mixed reviews, but word of mouth still took hold. In the 25 years since that first show, 45,000 performances have been produced in 42 countries, 308 cities and 21 languages that have been seen by 56 million people. It is the third-longest running show in Broadway history. 40 cast recordings have been released. And on October 30th, 2010, a special concert production of the play based on the book
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
will take place at The 02 Arena in North Greenwich.
(YouTube Video) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 7, 2010 -
46 comments
Dude. Articles on the failed musical
Dude by
Hair cocreator
Gerome Ragni. Where to start? Well, there is
this summary of the disaster by the New York Times, which is just mind-boggling: "He also made demands, phoning Adela Holzer at 2 A.M. to say he wanted a hundred butterflies let loose into the audience before each performance. No? Well then what about having a couple of oinking pigs and chickens run down the aisle at intermission?"
[more inside]
posted by Astro Zombie
on Jun 20, 2010 -
27 comments
Only 325 days until Broadway's Hilton Theater hosts the first preview of
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a $40 million musical directed by Juliet Taymor with music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge of U2. Investors hope it will fare better than
another big-budget pulp adaptation.
posted by Joe Beese
on Feb 25, 2009 -
35 comments
"To make off with hubby's fortune, yea, I think I heard of that happenin' once or twice around L.A. And… you want me to do what exactly?" He found the paper bag he'd brought his supper home in and got busy pretending to scribble notes on it, because straight-chick uniform, makeup supposed to look like no makeup or whatever, here came that old well-known hard-on Shasta was always good for sooner or later. Does it ever end, he wondered. Of course it does. It did. Thomas Pynchon's next novel, the 416-page
Inherent Vice, is
described by Penguin Press as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog." While we wait for its August 4 publication, we can read
an essay on the dystopian musical he co-wrote at Cornell or watch
a clip of that movie they made of Gravity's Rainbow.
[more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Feb 6, 2009 -
76 comments
