A Mighty Wind: The Album
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Free Music Notes for A Mighty Wind: The Album
Free Music Review: True love lasts forever...
Hit: 5 Stars
As great as the other songs are (even though they are cheesy, try listening to authentic folk music and try and tell me some of that isn't cheesy), the true stars are Mitch and Mickey a.k.a. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. From the film to the soundtrack, the course of true love never does run smooth and sometimes doesn't run at all or gets knocked out in the case of M&M. Their love transpires on the film and also on the great soundtrack. Of course who could play a formerly married couple that left true love bitterly, come back together and sing better than Eugene and Catherine who go back thirty years? Their love is certainly apparent in the film (I have to admit I cried when they did not get back together) and certainly on the soundtrack. I actually love the songs they wrote (whether it be together or not) and feel that if they ever get sick of acting, etc. they should get together and grab Mary Margaret O'Hara (Catherine's sister) and make a career jump to music. Like their love, their songs are bittersweet more so than the other songs. The Folksmen songs (The Skeletongs of Quinto in particular) deal with serious issues in a serious composition with a not so serious performance. And with The New Mainstreet Singers, well, some of their songs don't even make sense and more so for fun rather than serious composing. But the songs of M&M are serious, poignant and at times can even bring a tear to the eye of the listener especially with the case of "One More Time", my favourite song on the soundtrack. If this song had been kept instead of replacing it with "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" there would have not been a dry tear in the audience and certainly the screen would have been covered in popcorn or pop. It fits so perfectly the story of M&M that even listening to it, it makes you wish they got back together (it was even composed by both of them). At the same time it's a beautiful song that probably could have even made it in the mainstream music world (at least for us folk music fans). The harmonies are distantly beautiful and their voices blend all too well.
I guess the soundtrack, even with the film out there, exposes the raw and true talents of Chris and co. The soundtrack is a fine gem with the amazing abilities of all the stars. Just think they not only starred in the film, but improvised all their lines, learned all the instruments and the songs, and then make their own soundtrack. Sort of scary how talented they all are and yet America just hands out Oscars like their chocolate. I say Chris and Co. try for a BAFTA instead of an Oscar next time...
Free Music Review: This is quality music
Hit: 5 Stars
While the movie A Mighty Wind may not be as funny as Christopher Guest's other movies (though I personally think it is), it might actually be a better movie, largely due to the music. Yes, it's supposed to be a parody, but the music is very enjoyable.
The tunes by the Folksmen (Guest, McKean, Shearer) could almost be taken completely seriously, but they do throw in a couple of jokes in their songs. I love their sound. Blood on the Coal by the Folksmen doesn't appear in the movie, but it's one of their best songs. Loco Man and Old Joe's Place are also great. I would love to see full length releases from the Folksmen. I greatly prefer the Folksmen to Spinal Tap (featuring the same 3 actors/musicians). I'm really sad that all we have from this group are a few songs on this soundtrack.
Mitch and Mickey (Levy and O'Hara) can be taken completely seriously. I don't find any jokes in their songs and they're all love songs. The harmony between Levy and O'Hara is beautiful. A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow is probably the best song on the CD and it was nominated for an Academy Award. That song and the situation in the movie creates a very poignant mood. The Ballad of Bobby and June is also particularly good, in which Bobby tries to make it back from the Civil War to his June. I believe this is another awesome song not featured in the film. I would also love to see real releases from Mitch and Mickey.
The New Main Street singers are very goofy and their songs aren't as good. There's nothing serious about this group. I love Potato's in the Paddy Wagon, featuring Jane Lynch and Parker Posey sharing the verses. The Good Book Song, written and lead by John Michael Higgins, is also great due to its hilarious "what if" questions of the Bible. It could use one more verse, though. I don't care for their other songs very much.
The title track performed by the entire cast is great. The Folksmen and Mitch and Mickey each sing one verse and the song is perfect because its a classic folk song that would have been a huge hit in the 60s until a subtle joke at the end. I love it! You've read the reviews and you know that everyone that has this CD loves it. These actors have more musical ability than most pop/rock musicians today and certainly more than actors turned musicians. The songs were all written or co-written by the actors. Do not hesitate to buy it. It will leave you wanting more from the groups. I understand that these groups went on a small tour when the movie came out and I'm very sorry that I missed it.
Free Music Review: Stands on its own
Hit: 5 Stars
Christopher Guest and company are known for their abilities to take beloved institutions and make hilarious fun of them. Most of these films have layers that often go unnoticed. This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind are all musicals in some form. These songs have to be written and performed and must mirror the styles they mock while retaining a love for the form. Thus the soundtracks to these films stand on their own. A Mighty Wind's collection of seventeen folk songs take the archetypal styles of the 1960s folk period replicate them marvelously. Guest has been making fake folk songs since his days with the National Lampoon (two good examples can be found on Gold Turkey).
"When You're Next to Me" by Mitch & Mickey is a beautiful love song that works because it retains its beauty in spite of the humor of the surrounding film. It could easily become a standard, if allowed to survive out of context. However, in context, it takes on an entirely new layer with the characters.
The different bands each have a distinctive style that is captured with panache: the love ballads of Mitch & Mickey, the light and airy ditties of the New Main Street Singers, and the mixture of death and humor of the Folksmen. Arranged in such a way that you don't get tired of one style before going on to the next, they make for a full experience that can be repeated multiple times. Songs by the Folksmen blending into those of the New Main Street Singers and Mitch & Mickey, it feels a bit like the concert that ends the film, complete with the final title song sung by all three bands.
I especially like that the filmmakers were not afraid to put two versions of the same song on the album as the versions of "Never Did No Wanderin'" by the Folksmen and the New Main Street Singers are different enough that I didn't notice on first listen.
Folk fans needn't feel that their beloved music is being jabbed injudiciously. The actors are all accomplished musicians so these songs are quality examples of the form. A Mighty Wind's soundtrack is at least as entertaining as the film, without the flaws that it has. And you'll never hear the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" the same way again.
Free Music Review: Sublime, Silly Listening Pleasure
Hit: 5 Stars
I have always loved Christopher Guest's movies, and his hilarious and spot-on caricatures of musical movements, particularly the heavy metal mocumentary, "This Is Spinal Tap", which I think is the best movie about rock music ever made. When I heard that "A Mighty Wind" was coming out, I couldn't wait to go see it, and was not disappointed. Among the things I consider most amazing about Mighty Wind is the genuine talent the performers have. Here the singing and musicianship is very good indeed, and the charm and finesse with which they sing and play is hard to beat. All three groups have hilarious songs, but in many (if not most) cases, the songs are genuinely fun to listen to. A particular joy is the contrasting of the two different versions of "Never Did No Wanderin'".
Being a long time Spinal Tap fan, it's no surprise that I like the Folksmen numbers best, especially "Old Joe's Place", the extremely infectious "Loco Man", courtesy of Harry Shearer, and "Skeletons of Quinto", which, while not a hugely amusing subject for a song, nevertheless evokes smirks during Guest's Spanish recitative ("Los tentaculous plateados de los/Rayos de la luna me persiguen...").
The New Main Street Singers songs are all happy, upbeat tunes, very like their models from the 1960s, and are uniformly difficult to remove from your head. This is particularly true of "Potato's in the Paddy Wagon", which was stuck in my mind for two entire weeks in Iceland, as it was the last music I heard in English before leaving the US.
The Mitch and Mickey stuff is generally a bit too much of a sentimental downer for me, but I will still listen to them once in a while. An enormous oversight was the exclusion of "The Catheter Song" from the CD. That is the one major oversight for which Sony Music should be reprimanded.
Overall, buy this CD if you liked the movie, the recordings are all crisp, and the songs are largely happy, upbeat ditties sure to improve your mood.
Free Music Review: Unique-- both funny & poignant-- WELL WORTH EXPERIENCING!
Hit: 5 Stars
Having caught a fragment of an ad for the upcoming film A MIGHTY WIND on TV, I dabbled around online until I found out more about it. This included this soundtrack CD, so I have enjoyed the music BEFORE the film has been released nationwide. I am certainly looking forward to it.This CD is unique. So much so that there is really nothing to compare it with, and my 5-star evaluation reflects my being tremendously impressed, perhaps more than its musical accomplishment (although it is quite good).
A MIGHTY WIND is a "mockumentary", but by definition this is a mock documentary, not necessarily a mocking one. Indeed, the satire is pointed, but fairly gentle, and there is about the whole experience as much the quality of a tribute as there is of comedy.
It is the soundtrack which pulls this off. The creators (Guest, Levy, et al) have gone out of their way to fashion a credible backstory, complete with truly original songs, performed (sung AND played, often live) by the actors who play The Folksmen (based on a bizarre combination of The Kingston Trio, Limeliters, Brothers Four, Highwaymen), The New Main Street Singers (a very loose mix of the New Christy Minstrels, Back Street Majority, Serendipity Singers), and Mitch & Micky (Ian & Sylvia, Sonny & Cher gone folk, with a bit of skewed John Phillips in the Mitch character). Still, none of these comparisons can be taken literally, as they are all leavened with a considerable dose of the creators' perverse sense of humor.
As for the songs, OF COURSE they are parodies. Anyone familiar with the 60s folk genre has but to listen carefully to the lyrics. But they are performed so sincerely, so seriously, that at first you don't notice: you just enjoy the pleasant, somewhat nostalgic harmonies. When you finally figure it out, the straightforward (nothing coy or wink-wink about it) presentation makes it all so much more effective and brilliant.
The soundtrack alone is both poignant and funny-- well worth experiencing.
Again, I can't wait to see this movie.