4Play

April 5, 2006

Various Artists - Elizabethtown - Volume 2 - RCA
Several months back, a review of the first Elizabethtown soundtrack surfaced in this very column. That’s right - the first. This one is the second, with more of the hand-picked tunes that Cameron Crowe uses to help suffuse his movies with extra emotion.  A former writer for Rolling Stone magazine, Crowe has wide-ranging yet selective taste in tunes, and this set, like the first disc, proves to be both an enjoyable companion to the movie and a great standalone listen, too. Included here are songs from The Concretes (their version of “You Can’t Hurry Love”), My Morning Jacket (“Same in Any Language”), Lindsey Buckingham (“Big Love”), Pinback (“Loro”), a pair from Ryan Adams (“English Girls Approximetely” and “Words”), and, of course, one from Crowe’s wife, former Heart singer Nancy Wilson, who contributes “River Road.”

The Sounds - Dying to Say This To You - Scratchie/New Line Records
Mixing up Swedish punk with American pop to craft their own brand of Euro-New Wave, The Sounds, fronted by the strong and sassy Maja Ivarsson, produced this, their second effort, with an eclectic variety of contributors, including Killers producer Jeff Saltzman, Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and Pixies mixie - er, make that mixer - Paul Kolderie.  So how could The Sounds go wrong?  The answer is, they didn’t - this is an aggressive and attitude-filled collection of songs that nicely traps the band’s current growth and distills it into their songs. Among the highlights are tunes “Tony the Beat,” “Running Out of Turbo,” “Queen of Apology,” and “Night After Night,” all of which also actually manage to put across some of the energy of this ambitious band’s live show.

The Sounds - Dying to Say This To You - Scratchie/New Line Records
Mixing up Swedish punk with American pop to craft their own brand of Euro-New Wave, The Sounds, fronted by the strong and sassy Maja Ivarsson, produced this, their second effort, with an eclectic variety of contributors, including Killers producer Jeff Saltzman, Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and Pixies mixie - er, make that mixer - Paul Kolderie.  So how could The Sounds go wrong?  The answer is, they didn’t - this is an aggressive and attitude-filled collection of songs that nicely traps the band’s current growth and distills it into their songs. Among the highlights are tunes “Tony the Beat,” “Running Out of Turbo,” “Queen of Apology,” and “Night After Night,” all of which also actually manage to put across some of the energy of this ambitious band’s live show.

Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors - Sanctuary Records
Manchester, England’s Morrissey has seen his fanbase continue to expand, even after the demise of The Smiths, the band that he fronted for years.  But you’d never know that he’s a success by listening to his lyrics.  On his latest album, he tells tales of his existence, in which he’s beyond sad - the poor guy can’t see anything good in himself (or much in anyone else, for that matter), and some of his lyrics even verge on sinister as he vents his disgust with the world.  But that’s the bizarre beauty of Morrissey - he gets out his angst so you don’t have to.  Guitars, violins, synth drums, and catchy melodies coexist with Morrissey’s witty, tormented vocals on songs like “Dear God, Please Help Me,” “Life is a Pigsty,” and “At Last I Am Born.” Petulant agony may never have sounded this compelling before.