‘Brokeback’ tunes moving, evocative
Various artists
“Brokeback Mountain” (Verve Forecast) •••
There is a movement in some quarters of the gay community to push the “Brokeback Mountain” soundtrack to make a statement in support of a movie some are overselling as the gay “Gone With the Wind.”
That’s missing the point of both Ang Lee’s movie and its wonderfully evocative country music accompaniment. These songs, like the film, convey romantic longing in subtle shadings without turning mawkish or melodramatic.
Willie Nelson’s moving “He Was a Friend of Mine,” Emmylou Harris’ crystalline read of “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” and Teddy Thompson’s affecting country waltz “I Don’t Want to Say Goodbye” are tender and thoughtful, conveying universal emotions.
Newcomer Mary McBride brings to mind the spirit of Patsy Cline on the torch-‘n’-twang “No One’s Gonna Love You Like Me” and The Gas Band’s blazing fiddle instrumental “An Angel Went Up in Flames” puts the devil back in Georgia.
iPod users can further improve upon things by moving Nelson’s tune to the end (where, thematically, it belongs) and adding two songs heard in the movie but left off the CD: Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and the Allman Brothers’ “Melissa.”
Howard Cohen, Miami Herald
Imogen Heap
“Speak for Yourself” (RCA Victor) •••
You may have heard her on the “Garden State” soundtrack (as singer of Frou Frou’s “Let Go”) or via “The O.C.,” but with her sophomore solo effort, Imogen Heap seems poised for a critical, if not commercial, breakthrough that will put a name with that often-haunting voice.
The 27-year-old Brit’s self-produced record – she refinanced her London flat to pay for it – shows off not only her ethereal vocals (think Dido with a kick) but also her dreamy, electro-pop melodies, which incorporate layers of swirling keyboards, bells and drum machines.
In a series of intimate, breathy vignettes about love embraced and discarded, highlights include the darkly sensual “Headlock,” the hymnlike “Hide and Seek” and the rhythm-fueled “Loose Ends,” whose driving synchs are offset by Heap’s moody meditation on a collapsing relationship.
Nicole Pensiero, Philadelphia Inquirer
Morningwood
“Morningwood” (Capitol) • 1/2
Imagine some record-company heavy cruising MySpace.com and checking out “The O.C.,” trying to gauge what the kids are into these days.
“They want a mix of hooks, promiscuity and some of that grimy New York rock,” he surmises.
Then his 13-year-old son suggests the perfect band name: Morningwood.
New York’s Morningwood may not have been assembled that way, but when ex-members of the Wallflowers, Cibo Matto and Spacehog team with a potty-mouthed punk siren like Chantel Claret, and the results sound like a mash-up of Hole and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, it feels like opportunism knocking.
Opportunism occasionally produces candy-coated goodness like “Nth Degree” (just try deleting it from your memory). Then try keeping a straight face for flaccid bedtime stories like “Babysitter” and scenester-baiting rants sung by someone who’s probably cleared out a few karaoke parties in her day.
Patrick Berkery, Philadelphia Inquirer
Emma Roberts
“Unfabulous and More” (Sony) •• 1/2
The daughter of actor Eric Roberts, and niece of Julia, this 14-year-old Nickelodeon star is as well-connected as she is precocious. But the modest charms of her debut lie in the unaffected youthfulness she brings to buoyant confections such as “Say Goodbye to Jr. High” and the single “I Wanna Be.”
With so many adolescent stars being promoted as budding Lolitas, it’s refreshing to hear from someone who enjoys being a girl.
Elysa Gardner, USA Today