The High Fidelity Soundtrack is appropriate to kick off the year because it reminds me of a time when I was immersed in music and some of my favorite bands and sounds: The Kinks, Velvet Underground, Stereolab, and lo-fi bands like Smog (Bill Callahan). (I must give a nod to Dave for helping to steer me in this direction. In typical fashion, I had too many ideas for a year-long project to choose.)
I am listening to the Beta Band track while writing this (and Dave and Wren are building a Lego Star Wars Jedi Interceptor). This is the central song of the movie and soundtrack for me, personally. I was in a similar situation when my ex and I discovered Beta Band, and I remember an awkward and bitter train ride to see them play, but it was an amazing show. Maybe it is the combination of the horns and the refrain, “I will be alright, I will be alright,” with which this song wraps itself around your heart, and you’ll never want to be free of it.
The soundtrack is a great collection of influential artists that serves as an extension of the movie, rather than repetition. It is like a separate soundtrack for thinking about the movie, or the book, if you read it. (I didn’t read it; I feel like I should have read Nick Hornby in the 90s, and now it is too late.)
Interesting note that I didn’t know: Elvis Costello’s “Shipbuilding,” is a song about the tragic irony of the Falklands War reviving the shipbuilding industry in northern Britain, while sending youths to their deaths in that war. And, in Costello’s very cool collaboration with The Roots, the song, “Cinco Minutos con Vos” (“Five Minutes with You”) was written in answer to “Shipbuilding.”
In the artists I didn’t really know category are Sheila Nicholls (not really interested) and Royal Trux (yes, please).
1. You’re Gonna Miss me When I’m Gone – 13th Floor Elevators
2. Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy – The Kinks
3. I’m Wrong About EWverything – Joh Wesley Harding
4. Oh! Sweet Nothing – Velvet Underground
5. Always See Your Face – Love
6. Most of the Time – Bob Dylan
7. Fallen for You” – Sheila Nicholls
8. Dry the Rain – The Beta Band
9. Shipbuilding – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
10. Cold Blooded Old Times – Smog
11. Let’s Get It On – Barry Jive & The Uptown Five (Jack Black)
12. Lo Boob Oscillator – Stereolab
13. The Inside Game – Royal Trux
14. Who Loves the Sun – The Velvet Underground
15. I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) – Stevie Wonder
Sandy Lashin-Curewitz 