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The Lone Sharks
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Moneyland
Various Artists
I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack)
Various Artists
Home Before Dark
Neil Diamond
Toby Keith's 35 BIGGEST Hits
Toby Keith
It's A Shame About Ray (Collector's Edition)
The Lemonheads
About a Son
Otis Blue (Collector's Edition)
Otis Redding
Loaded
Wood Brothers
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Various Artists
Perhaps the oddest thing about being a music reviewer is the way that it causes such a social imbalance in my life. The average person watches a lot of television, sees two or three movies each month, and listens to whatever pleases them. I, however, watch very little television, virtually never go to the movies, and listen to dozens of albums that mean virtually nothing to me. It causes a social imbalance that ultimately renders my opinions on music obtuse, because I am clueless regarding most aspects of pop culture. I bring this up because I’m fairly certain that I will never see the movie “Catch and Release,” but I’ve listened to the soundtrack a few times now, and I think it’s great.
As a soundtrack, “Catch and Release” features some of the most intelligent and tuneful pop music I’ve heard in a while. You’d expect as much from Death Cab for Cutie and Gomez, but it’s the more obscure acts who really bring something special to this collection. I’ve never heard of Blinker the Star, or The Magic Numbers, or Gary Jules, but if this is representative of their work, I want to hear more by them. The songs they contribute here are bright, imaginative and impossible to forget.
As soundtrack fodder, the material is excellent. As a mix-tape of cleverly chosen and challenging music, it’s virtually faultless. Foo Fighters kick off the disk with one of their best acoustic-based tracks ever, a pensive, moody piece called “Razor,” and the pace continues for the next seventeen tracks. Besides the above, other highlights include The Lemonheads (“My Drug Buddy”), New Radiant Storm King (“The Winding Staircase”) and Paul Westerberg (“Let the Bad Times Roll”), interspersed with surprisingly addictive obscurities by Peter Maclaggan (“Leaving the Ground”), Alaska (Resistance”), Steve Durand (“Electrified and Ripe”), and Sky Signal (“L’Audible”), ending with a beautifully melodic rocker by The Doves called “There Goes the Fear.”
Who are these people? It is stunning to hear how well this soundtrack works as a complete listening experience. Why did I need a soundtrack album to introduce me to these artists? That used to be radio’s job, but we all know we can no longer rely on the radio to introduce high quality new music. Apparently, that job has been assigned to film soundtracks.
I may never see this movie, but I’m willing to bet that “Catch and Release” will be the best soundtrack album of 2007. I need to get out more.
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