Doin' the Friday Shuffle

Been a little while.

1. "Keep on the Sunny Side" - The Whites - O Brother Where Art Thou? (Soundtrack)
Pleasant bluegrass for the non-bluegrass fanatic (me).

2. "Beetlejuice" - Danny Elfman - Music for a Darkened Theater (Vol 1)
One of the most inspired fits of theme to film ever composed. The goofy, jaunty, loping theme fits the goofy, unserious tone of the film and character just right.

3. "I'm a Boy" - The Who - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
Early Who--melodic, high-harmonied rock.

4. "Imperial Starfleet Deployed/City in the Clouds" - John Williams - The Empire Strikes Back (Film Score)
Mixed-bag cut from the second Star Wars score.

5. "Darling Pretty" - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
Straight-ahead, no frills rock (after a pretty acoustic-guitar and fiddle intro) with that wonderful trademark Knopfler guitar sound.

6. "Out of My Sight" - Andrew Lippa - John & Jen (Original Cast Recording)
I was surprised by how little I like this score--Lippa's Wild Party has some great stuff in it.

7. "Pugilism" - Thomas Newman - Cinderella Man (Soundtrack)
I love Newman, but he's starting to shade into James Horner territory - every score is starting to sound the same. Without the title staring me in the face, I couldn't have told you if this was from Cinderella Man or The Green Mile.

8. "Dialogue: 'So it is you, Benjamin Barker'" - Hugh Wheeler - Sweeney Todd Live in Concert (2000)
The Lincoln Center concert from 2000; this dialogue takes place right after Sweeney is re-introduced to Mrs. Lovett.

9. "Poor Fractured Atlas" - Elvis Costello - All this Useless Beauty
A sad, beautiful song, cleverly built from the primary piano figure from Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata.

10. "Mountain Duet" - Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - Chess (1986 London Concept Cast)
Grand, sweeping pop opera in the best sense of the term.

Until Whenever