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| Soundtrack Review: High Fidelity |
The Score
November 28, 2009 |
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A Movie for Music Junkies,
about Music Junkies
‘Which came first, the music or the misery?’ Rob Gordon, the misanthropic lead of the pseudo-classic movie High Fidelity (2000), ruminates on his Top 5 Most Memorable Breakups amidst the motherlode of all vinyl collections, right after his most recent ex Laura (Iben Hjelje) moves out. The fresh post-breakup apocalypse is accompanied by the The Thirteenth Floor Elevators’ uppity ‘You Miss Me.’ Aside from this track, the movie comes with a host of songs for a soundtrack set that blends in exquisitely with the tale’s progression - not too jarring, but not just ambient either.
A snobbish, pre-hipster hipster, John Cusack’s antihero mostly inhabits a dingy downtown record store named Championship Vinyl, which he owns and operates with like-minded employees Barry (Jack Black) and Dick (Todd Louiso). One unexpectedly busy weekend, he sells three copies of an album on the spot, using a practiced MO: after putting on the song ‘Dry the Rain’ by The Beta Band, he crosses his arms and waits. Rob then nods to a shopper who comments on the slow-roll slide guitar and keyboards. They’re good, shopper opines. I know, Rob smugly agrees.
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To wring the depression outta him, mopey Rob goes to a small bar with the Musical Moron Twins to watch a certain artist reputedly reminiscent of ‘Sheryl Crow… crossed with a post-Partridge Family, pre-L.A. Law Susan Dey… but black.’ Is that fucking Frampton, he asks the doorman before entering the bar, as snippets of ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ waft into the street. He enters, sees origin of said song: cool-hot Marie De Salle (Lisa Bonet). The trio falls in lust with her, although all found the original song atrocious. I wanna date a musician, Barry says. Just be in the liner notes somewhere, sighs Dick, as the plaintive acoustic take on the prom staple progresses. The song is apparently enough of an aphrodisiac that the cynical lead character proceeds to sleep with the artist. Sadly, the rendition is not included in the actual OST.
A collaboration with young skater hoodlums who attempt to finagle a few items out of his store inventory results in Dance Music for Old People, a demo which contains a dance track with overly synthesized vocals and a steady backbeat (a raw electronica slice by Royal Trux entitled ‘Inside Game’). At the album launch, Jack Black’s Barry Jive and the Uptown Five cover a sweet, tongue-in-cheek version of sex anthem ‘Let’s Get It On.’ The movie closes with an ending that’s a tad predictable (with Gordon back in the arms of the erstwhile ex-amore) but a song that’s just hopeful enough to work. Into the rolling credits swells the toned-down love funk refrain of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever).’
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The songs are mostly jangly and down-home charming, and properly nostalgic, with none of the electronica or rap or industrial rock that usually pervades movie soundtracks. Some are clever, some scathing, and all glib – depending on the degree you relate to the events in the movie. The album is consistent, unified by a generally poignant and ‘vintage’ air that works well with the movie’s mood and development. Reread the Hornby novel and you’ll find the provocative tunes running in your head, with The Kinks’ Beatle-esque ‘Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy,’ Elvis Costello’s languorous ‘Shipbuilding,’ and Bob Dylan’s atmospheric ‘Most of The Time’ popping up in the chapters. In the end, Rob never really figures out the answer to his question, but he does successfully organize his vinyl collection (and his adult life). He doesn’t do this alphabetically, nor chronologically, but ‘autobiographically.’ Aces.
Rating: 4/5
- Carl Allmusicjunkies
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