Don't expect this to have anything in common with the MC Honky release of
this spring. It's a soundtrack, first and foremost, and it pretty much qualifies for the
highest praise one can give a soundtrack these days, it can stand alone as
music apart from the film it was scored to.
It's a sparse listen, to be sure. Neck-pickup guitars and Rhodes piano
provide much of the backbone, and distortion of any kind has decided not to
make an appearance. There's not much in the way of rhythm going on, either,
even on the two Eels songs included (which sound like they could be b-sides
from Electro-Shock Blues release from 1998). And at barely 35 minutes, you'd
better fill the 5-changer if you're putting it on to do housework. But it's
overall economy is what makes it a consistent listen, and it's got enough
ideas to keep it from being mere landscape.
It's not an Eels record, which may disappoint some, but on the other hand, it
doesn't sound like a bunch of unfinished songs either, which some pop
crossover soundtrack composers can be found guilty of. Much of it actually
comes across like a distant cousin between some of Michael Nyman's recent
work (like Gattaca) or Carter Burwell's Being John Malkovitch, if one was
searching for comparisons.
Definitely a tea record, rather thatsbright sunshiny-day.
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