marathonpacks’ Year-(Fri)end Bonanza, Volume V: Jon Hertzberg
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
This is, of course, not a 2008 music release. It’s a somewhat obscure 1982 drama written and directed by Robert Towne that was finally released on DVD in early 2008. (You can read my extended thoughts on the film here.) Not only is it one of the finest films about athletic competition, it is also an invaluable time capsule of the late 1970s and early 1980s, bolstered immeasurably by its bouncy, positively “yacht-y” soundtrack. In one of the film’s most inspired moments, a collection of world class female athletes play a spirited game of touch football to the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes.” Other highlights include: “Rosalinda’s Eyes” (Billy Joel), “It’s Over” (Boz Scaggs), “You Make Loving Fun” (Fleetwood Mac), and “You Don’t Know Me” (Kenny Loggins). In addition, the original score is by one of my personal heroes, Jack Nitzsche who uses snippets from his classic St. Giles Cripplegate album.
Dennis Wilson Pacific Oean Blue
Clearly someone was reading my
Various Artists
Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1976-1983Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band, Aural Exciters: August Darnell had a hand in all of these offbeat disco projects centered around the downtown New York scene of the early 80s. For those who enjoyed the Ze reissues (Mutant Disco, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, the Contortions, NY No Wave), which overlap a bit with this release, this is an essential purchase. Kid Creole’s back catalog is back in print, but for those who want a taste, this is a good primer.
David Byrne/Brian Eno Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
A far cry from their first collaboration, the new Byrne and Eno album finds them in terrain more similar to latter day Talking Heads. Eno wrote the music and Byrne provided lyrics. It’s not as a significant a statement as My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but it is a fine, upbeat and melodic record.
Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977-1985
Another fine compilation from Strut. This one will appeal to fans of Moroder and Cerrone and the like and is a nice companion to the 2007 After Dark compilation released by Italians Do It Better and Morgan Geist’s now out-of-print Unclassics compilation from 2004.
Cut Copy In Ghost Colours
I was sorry these guys got held up at the airport and missed much of their Pitchfork slot. Colours is an assured, soaring pop record that will be music to the ears of new wave aficionados. Production by DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy is an asset.
Elmer Bernstein Heavy Metal: The Score
No, not the double LP rock soundtrack, but the glorious original score by Golden Age maestro Elmer Bernstein, finally available on CD after years of subpar bootlegs. Bernstein had just begun his fruitful collaboration with director/producer Ivan Reitman, when he composed the score to the often ridiculous, but always entertaining Heavy Metal. Befitting the omnibus structure of the film, Bernstein’s score traffics in a variety of styles (heroic, comedy, horror, adventure) to great effect. As usual, FSM’s reissue contains the requisite in-depth liner notes, extra tracks, and cleaned-up sound.
Various Artists La France: Chansons
This is a 2007 release, but since it and the film it belongs to have received such little exposure in the States, I’m including it here. Serge Bozon’s WWI-era film is based around a ragtag, A.W.O.L. band of French soldiers who periodically break into an anachronistic ’60s pop outfit. Former DJ and avid record collector Bozon has used cult figure John Pantry (later to engineer Bee Gees records) and his song “Gospel Lane” as the thematic basis for the film’s original tunes sung in French and English.
TV on the Radio Dear Science
I’m going to be like everyone else and include the consensus top album of 2008 on my list. Some call it overrated (inevitable), but this is a driving, pulsating record with groove, which at the same time retains an ominous tone and a politically astute sensibility.
Hercules and Love Affair S/T
Aided by pros like Antony and !!! bassist Tyler Pope, Andrew Butler is the creative force behind Hercules and Love Affair, a neo-disco project which owes a lot to the likes of Arthur Russell, Patrick Cowley, Bronski Beat, and Sylvester. It’s so meticulously and creatively conceived that it becomes much more than a derivative revivalist work. Filled with energy, hooks, and groove, this is an essential dance album.