The soundtrack to a Cameron Crowe movie is always an event, regardless of the quality of the movie itself. The great love-it-or-hate-it film of 2005, Elizabethtown (RCA) arrives with a typically nothing-to-do-but-love it soundtrack album. Clearly handpicked by the music-loving director, it mixes tracks from Ryan Adams with half-forgotten Elton John songs, a contribution from Elizabethtown house-band My Morning Jacket, and a fantastic Hollies obscurity called "Jesus Was A Crossmaker." All that and fans can listen to it without having to watch Orlando Bloom dance alone in the woods…
Much less varied, but just as satisfying, the Thumbsucker (Hollywood) soundtrack album mixes an original choral score by The Polyphonic Spree with some Elliott Smith rarities. Before his death, Smith was supposed to provide an all-covers soundtrack, and while this is, of course, a monstrously uneven trade, his absence allows for a compelling musical tug of war between his downcast musings and the Spree's relentless positivity…
Ah, the music of Belize. What? Never heard any? The sixth release from the always-notable reissue label Numero Group hopes to change that with Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up, which compiles a cross-section of Belizean music from the late '60s through the disco era. Tracks by Lord Rhaburn, Soul Creations, and others combine American soul with calypso and other tropical rhythms. How fantastic does it sound? Suffice to say that a group called The Professionals finds a way to invest funk into the theme from The Godfather…
In 2002, Joe Henry reminded the world what a tremendous soul treasure it had in Solomon Burke with the comeback album Don't Give Up On Me. I Believe To My Soul (Work Song / Rhino / Hear Music) attempts to extend that mojo to five more soul legends: Ann Peebles, Billy Preston, Mavis Staples, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint (who serves as bandleader). I Believe isn't quite the landmark album that assemblage of talent would suggest, but it contains highlights aplenty, particularly Staples' "You Must Have That True Religion" and Peebles' scorching cover of Bob Dylan's "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You." It's billed as the first in a series. Bring it…
It's a good stretch of weeks for classic soul fans who will also want to check out Moments From This Theatre (Proper), a live album taken from a recent tour by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. Together and with others, they're responsible for such classics as "I'm Your Puppet," "You Left The Water Running," "Cry Like A Baby," and "The Dark End Of The Street," among others. Neither would ever claim to be the definitive interpreter of their own work, but they perform with great heart to an audience clearly hanging on every syllable.