Mysterious Skin – Original Soundtrack by Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd

In the 80s there were people making beautiful chill out lounge music. This was before Ibiza, Café del Mar and Buddha Bar, and they called it “ambient”. Harold Budd, ambient luminary, is an American neo-classical composer that creates sparse, haunting, mostly piano-driven compositions that captured the attention of the indie rock underground over 20 years ago. On the 4AD label he collaborated with the Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie on the album ‘Moon and the Melodies’. Cocteau Twins have Elizabeth Fraser’s angelic, consciously inarticulate vocals combined with Guthrie’s impressionist swabs of guitar. Now these two phenomenal artists collaborate again to do the soundtrack for this disturbing but beautiful film. Although lots of mesmerizing music from the 4AD label plays in the movie, the soundtrack itself only features Budd and Guthrie. This is intelligent music that you can listen to at bedtime after a long day, or at breakfast on your day off. If you enjoy this, I can highly recommend the Cocteaus’ Victorialand (recorded when the drummer was away, which made it dreamy and ambient) and also Budd’s current collaboration with Eraldo Bernocchi, Fragments From The Inside.

Bruce Springsteen – We shall overcome (the songs of Pete Seeger)

To me the more quiet moments of this singer songwriter were always his best. In 2002 he released a truly moving document of September 11, entitled ‘The Rising’. It featured some of his best songwriting in years, and reunited him with the E Street band for the first time in the studio since ‘Born in the USA’. Then 2005’s ‘Devils and Dust’ album combined his acoustic side with the rich layered Americana sound that he is best loved for. On we shall overcome Bruce invited a quite a few good musician friends from New York with rootsy instruments like banjos and fiddles to cover the songs of political folk legend Pete Seeger. This was recorded with no rehearsals or overdubs during a 3-day session at his New Jersey farm. The music comes off rough and natural, and his voice on the almost unfamiliar backing reminds one of Tom Waits or the Pogues. This is new territory for him, but Springsteen treads masterfully.

Carmel – The Drum Is Everything

If you have never heard of Carmel, and female vocals like Shirley Bassey, Billie Holliday and Della Reese are your thing, then you should investigate Carmel. The band is fronted by a beautiful blond lady that went from a modeling career to pop in no time. The group started as a jazz combo that did an astonishing array of music from bluesy swing to dub infused chants and even gospel, but all with a jazz flavor reminiscent to the style of Frank Sinatra or even the Peddlars. With the aid of several session musicians, they recorded this debut album on 24 track tape for major label London records in 1984. At a time when new wave was fighting back at punk, Carmel appeared with the refreshing jazz chic of their hit single ‘Bad Day’. It was classic and timeless then and the music has not dated at all today, and that is something that few albums from that era can lay claim to. They recorded another five albums, but nothing ever equaled the passion and successful experimentation of The Drum Is Everything.