REVIEW: Soundtrack, A Life Less Ordinary (A&M UK / London)
- Bob Gajarsky
Most soundtracks are composed with a cut and paste mentality; put a couple choice singles here, a couple other older songs there, and some random tracks tossed in - without having a specific target audience. R&B and rap fans have been spared, slightly, as soundtracks to those genres have tended to remain a bit more consistent - and outstanding sales have followed. A Life Less Ordinary breaks that trend, by being an album that contemporary alternative music fans can relate to.
Newcomers Alabama 3 (simply named A3 in the States because of legal complications from the country act Alabama) pull off one of the pleasant surprises of A Life Less Ordinary with "Peace In The Valley". Featuring Errol Thompson, this track is somewhat akin to a country band playing on a city street corner in front of an open church window, choir singing in full force with a youth scratching his records in the next apartment. Somehow, this strange brew works to perfection and is representative of the entire collection.
The Sneaker Pimps' "Velvet Divorce" continues the trip-hop realm notably featured on "6 Underground", and similarly Beck brings his unique form of drum machine/guitar/keyboards to the table with "Deadweight". Coming off the success of the huge "Born Slippy", Underworld were finally able to produce a worthy followup with the diverse instrumental "Oh". And leaving their teenage years behind, Ash contribute a title track that asks the question 'I'll sell my soul / what is it worth?' and re-establishes the fact that the band will be reckoned with long after their age is no longer called into question.
Although the Squirrel Nut Zippers' "Put A Lid On It" has already been long-released (from Hot ), the inclusion on this soundtrack is somewhat fitting; the swing-jazz feel offers a change from nearly anything which is somehow 'traditional'. That's another theme that runs through the songs; while each of them fits into any pre-conceived notions of what the band might perform, each of the acts on this compilation (with the exception of Elvis and Bobby Darin) have spent a considerable amount of their music life outside of the mainstream. This forces the creative juices to flow, and helps produce a soundtrack less ordinary than the disposable releases.
With the Trainspotting soundtrack and now the companion piece to A Life Less Ordinary , the team of director Danny Boyle, and producer Andy Macdonald are poised to be to alternative fans of the 90s what John Hughes ( Some Kind Of Wonderful , Pretty In Pink ) was to the 80s - a producer whose name sells the soundtracks to his movies.
TRACK LISTING: Beck - Deadweight, Luscious Jackson - Love Is Here, Ash - A Life Less Ordinary, Sneaker Pimps - Velvet Divorce, Folk Implosion - Kingdom Of Lies, R.E.M. - Leave (New Version), Faithless - Don't Leave, Underworld - Oh, Cardigans - War, Elvis Presley - Always On My Mind, A3 Feat. Errol Thompson - Peace In The Valley, Bobby Darin - Beyond The Sea, Squirrel Nut Zippers - Put A Lid On It, Dusted - Deeper River, Prodigy - Full Throttle
