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From Seu Jorge to The OC
BY MATT ASHARE
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It didn’t seem like much at the time: just a little absurdist comic relief courtesy of director Wes Anderson in the form of strummed acoustic-guitar interpretations of Ziggy Stardust–era Bowie tunes from a crew member aboard Bill Murray’s good ship lollipop in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. That crew member was Brazilian troubadour Seu Jorge. Like Jonathan Richman’s performances in the Farrelly Brothers’ There’s Something About Mary, Jorge’s were unusually prominent in the film. And his Portuguese covers of those Bowie tunes, which rub shoulders with the original Bowie recordings on the film’s soundtrack, were a canny way to introduce a relatively unknown Brazilian artist to an international audience. His 2004 album Cru was subsequently released in the US by Wrasse with two bonus cuts and a couple more covers: the Elvis Presley–popularized Leiber & Stoller tune "Don’t" and Serge Gainsbourg’s naughty "Chatterton." Likewise, Music From Broken Flowers (Decca), the soundtrack to the new Jim Jarmusch movie (which also stars Bill Murray), is a showcase for Ethiopian artist Mulatu Astatké, who’s best known for the 14 jazzy soul-funk instrumentals on Éthiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974 (Buda). Three of his hypnotic instrumentals are included on the Broken Flowers soundtrack with more-garage-rocky tunes by the Greenhornes (with indie songstress Holly Golightly singing), a Marvin Gaye number, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Dandy Warhols kiss-off "Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth." By the time Astatké recently made his second visit to Boston to play with the Either/Orchestra, he was an international star. There’s nothing new about labels using soundtracks from films and, more recently, hit TV shows and video games as a promotional tool. But as radio formats have tightened and competition from other entertainment media (video games included) has intensified, soundtracks and "music inspired by . . . " compilations have become even more valuable marketing tools. It’s rare for a director to be given as much say in the content of a soundtrack album as Jarmusch had with Broken Flowers and Anderson with The Life Aquatic, though the presence of those Bowie originals probably helped sell Hollywood on all those Portuguese-sung Jorge tunes. More typical is Music from the Motion Picture Elizabethtown (RCA). Produced by Cameron Crowe and subtitled "A Collection of Music To Drive and Live By," the disc is packed with familiar, money-in-the-bank artists — Elton John, Tom Petty, the Hollies, Patty Griffin, Lindsey Buckingham. There is one pleasant surprise, however, a track by the Boston-based indie band Wheat. But the real state of the art in the soundtrack business is the OC franchise. The Warner Bros. OC "mixes" have spread the word about indie-going-major artists like Spoon (Mix 1), Death Cab for Cutie (Mix 2), and Matt Pond PA (Mix 4). (Mix 3 was a holiday-themed Have a Very Merry Chrismukkah comp featuring Jimmy Eat World, Low, and the Raveonettes.) The next installment, due November 8, is the most adventurous yet. Along with LCD Soundsystem’s "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and Stars’ "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead," Mix 5 introduces a much-hyped new band who won’t have their proper full-length out on Warners until early 2006. As a Warners spokesperson told me, "They wanted to be the first to break the Subways in the US." Indeed, the Subways’ first single, the glam-punkish "Rock & Roll Queen," kicks off Mix 5. This isn’t the first time a label’s used a soundtrack to set up an album by a new artist. But this may be the first time that ploy actually works.
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