There are two important things to note about this blog. First, this is not the third post on Zeppelin I and second, this is a movie soundtrack. I wanted to take my time with the final Led Zeppelin blog and I was working with a lot of new material, this LP is one I know well from movie and music.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World
I would generally avoid buying movie soundtracks on vinyl, but there is something different about this movie, this movie is about music. On the back of the record sleeve Edgar Write says that the music leaps off the pages of the original source material and also that these songs became the soundtrack for the lives of all the people involved with the movie. The movie sets itself in the middle of the Toronto indie rock scene therefore this soundtrack lives there. I know what you’re saying, “There were so many better option to start with, why didn’t you start with the Blues Brothers or Spinal Tap,” well there is a good answer to that, I don’t have a copy of the Blues Brothers and I didn’t really care for “This Is Spinal Tap.” And I probably wouldn’t have started there anyway, if you think they are so great write your own blog.
I should also say on the front end that I am not a movie critic, I base the goodness and badness of movies on whether I walked away saying, “That was fun I liked that.” Unless of course it was a sad movie then I base it off of the statement, “That movie explored deep issues and was important.” I make this clarification because for some reason critics didn’t like this movie and many thought Michael Cera gave a week performance, to those things I say very clearly, “Eh maybe but, the music was great and Michael Cera did what Michael Cera does.” But then I am not here to talk about some movie that came out forever ago, instead I am going to talk about the LP. I will probably mention the movie on more than one occasion but then this is a soundtrack.
I noticed something when I watched this movie, I liked the band Sex Bob-Omb. I don’t just mean the characters but also the music. The great thing is that was before I found out that the actors were playing and Beck wrote their songs. I have never been a big fan of indie-rock rock per-say but I would have loved seeing these shows, when I was younger and before I found my own Ramona Flowers. The music, as I move through the record, is so diverse and there is a tone that makes fun of itself. I walked away singing about going for a ride on a garbage truck… truck truck truck truck.
Spinning Pilgrim
These songs and the scenes being described remind me of the time from college to my late 20’s when I was catching live shows like they were going out of style, of course, I could list them off but you’ve probably never heard half of them. The difference between my scene and Toronto was the style of music, sure there was weird rock, but I was out mostly listening to blues, swing, and Rock-a-Billy. I spent a lot of time in Bars and Juke Joints, don’t get me wrong I would order a drink, but I was there for the live music and the dancing.
Of course not all the music is Indie and Beck, for instance “Under My Thumb” recorded by the Rolling Stones. The stones provide great anchor point, of course if you are looking for that sound throughout you may want to look into something else. The fact is, if you are an old feller who can’t open up to different styles you may want to just buy something else. This music was very different than my normal music that was why I loved the album.
One of the things I love about the physical construction of the album is the color, red. Or at least some weird variant thereof. The LP has a great look even though it was made with thin vinyl. That is normal with first issue releases. Most bands aren’t going to start with 180 gram vinyl until they have a big enough base to support them and with this record being a soundtrack it would have to garner major support. I do, however, believe that this record is important in any collection if you are a fan of the genres represented, if not however, don’t worry about it, you will only miss out on some great indie-rock and Beck, but if you are looking for a good music that will make you feel bad and think about stuff, you should check out this album.