Livin' a Movie

Kanye West - Livin' a Movie (Unreleased) [mp3]

Raise your inner Comic-Con geek if you're excited for The Watchmen movie! It's been a long time coming, seeing as we got teaser trailers for the epic over a year ago. At that time, everyone who hadn't heard The Smashing Pumpkins rarity "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" before, went ape bananas over the track. And rightfully so.

I've always maintained that the simple pairing of images to sound is one of the most powerful conduits between sensory processing and emotional output. That's why music supervision is so badass. Like a scientist playing with test tubes of combustibles, if you are perceptive enough to pair the perfect sensor and actuator, your chemical formula can provoke an emotional response from your audience. Even more BA (badass) is the certainty that your handiwork will illicit varying results among individuals. You work hard to produce one final product (like the trailer below), but combined with the unique, and usually unpredictable chemistry of different people, you get amazingly diverse receptions. Think of your favorite music moments in movies and TV. You're most likely not alone in your selections. And yet even those who agree with you on a scene/song's effectiveness, probably feel something entirely unique in response.

Now that I've gone all formulaic on your asses, how's about we take a peek at the official Watchmen Soundtrack, hitting stores March 3rd.

Twelve songs deep, the album mostly calls on classics from the past with a cover lead-in from My Chemical Romance. Although I am already prejudiced towards MCR (passionately not a fan), I can say subjectively that their reworking of Bob Dylan's classic "Desolation Row" makes itself easy to dismiss. Not only is Dylan's recording superior on all levels, but MCR's attempt to turn the lengthy Highway 61 Revisited classic into a punk-rock/life-as-a-teennager-is-so rough anthem (does this band make another kind of song?) makes my ears hurt. Just watch the video and you'll know I ain't lying.

Lucky for us, it's all uphill after track one. Powerful recordings from Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix, and Dylan himself, more than make up for any initial disapppointment. In other words, if this soundtrack were a red carpet, it's full of all A-listers. At moments nostalgic, and other times romantic, I'm impressed by the daring production decision to allow classic songs to narrate a futuristic world. Not only that, but nearly all the tracks inspire a calm you might not expect to find in a movie about BA superheroes who get fed up with protecting the world. A movie we know will have plenty of explosions, carnage, and all that good vs. evil havoc.

Watchmen Track Listing
01. My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row
02. Nat "King" Cole - Unforgettable
03. Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin
04. Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence [mp3]
05. Janis Joplin - Me & Bobby McGee
06. KC & The Sunshine Band - I'm Your Boogie Man
07. Billie Holiday - You're My Thrill
08. Philip Glass - Pruit Igoe & Prophecies
09. Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah [mp3]
10. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
11. Budapest Symphony Orchestra - Ride of the Valkyries
12. Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny [mp3]

Sidenote: Love that they threw in Wagner's classic "Ride of the Valkyries." Yours truly played a nibelungen (slave child) in the Seattle Symphony production of The Ring when I was a kid. Going to hair, makeup, and wardrobe everyday when I was too young to appreciate it = golden memories.

So if I was peeing in my pants to see this movie before, the soundtrack has only exacerbated an unpleasant situation. Billie Holiday has only added to my excitement of seeing Billy Crudup all blue and superhuman. Bring on the inner geek! Who am I kidding? I've never been able to keep that sucker in.

Peace, Love, Soundtracks, and more of the Zack Snyder we love,
LTK