Swell Season survives heartbreak to play on this week at the Wiltern

 

Plenty watched Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova fall in love. On its way to a worldwide box-office gross of more than $20 million, the 2007 film “Once” reflected and fictionalized their lives.

“To this day, people get confused as to where the lines are,” Irglova said. “The lines do blur. I meet people all the time who are like, ‘How’s your daughter?’ And I don’t have a daughter.”

But they do have a very real musical partnership as Swell Season, even if the two are no longer linked romantically.

Swell Sweason recently released "Strict Joy" on Silver Lake-based independent Anti-, a label that had a prior relationship with Hansard through his work in Irish rockers the Frames. If "Once" captured an idealized version of Hansard and Irglova coming together, "Strict Joy" presents a more sobering version of a relationship disintegrating

'It Might Get Loud' director Davis Guggenheim stands behind digital distribution

 
Director Davis Guggenheim tracked three generations of guitar virtuosos in his "It Might Get Loud," focusing on the philosophies behind the sounds of Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. Sound in the film is paramount.

Yet when "It Might Get Loud" is released on home video, it won't be with a giant Blu-ray or HD push that advertises the latest in high fidelity. Instead, the film will be distributed digitally by Apple's iTunes store, which will sell "It Might Get Loud" exclusively from Dec. 8 through Dec. 22.

"I used to think that the quality of downloading music on iTunes was a barrier for me," Guggenheim said. "I just didn’t think it would be good enough. But in the last year, I’ve put 75 movies on my laptop … There are some movies you need to see in a theater or see on Blu-ray. I think for some fans that’s important. I think some people will need to see this on Blu-ray, but some will need to see it on a Tuesday night at 11 p.m. on iTunes. I don’t think it’s an either/or thing." 

Mary J. Blige on 'Precious' song 'I Can See in Color': 'I was damaged, in a good way'

Mary J. Blige on Friday broke down the process of writing “I Can See in Color,” her original, sure-to-be award-contending song from “Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push.” Speaking at an industry conference in Beverly Hills, Blige discussed how channeling the film’s difficult subject matter resulted in a sometimes grueling recording process.

“I was damaged, in a good way,” Blige said of writing and recording the song. 

“Precious” opens in limited theatrical release Nov. 6, and the Lee Daniels-directed film tracks the harrowing story of an overweight, abused and pregnant black teenager. Blige said Daniels was present at the recording sessions, and pushed the artist to the limit.

The director, Blige said, was “very passionate” about what he wanted, adding that “everything” she would do was “not enough.” Striving to add more emotion into the song, a slow-burning, bluesy soul number, Blige said, Daniels would say to her, “If you’re about to cry, just cry.” 

Michael Jackson fans glimpse the man they miss in 'This Is It'

When Michael Jackson died in June, pop music lost its  last global megastar. But according to 12-year-old Sean Davis of Watts, who attended one of the first Tuesday night screenings of the new tour rehearsal movie, "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the death of the groundbreaking performer robbed the world of something more immediate.

"We're missing that move," he said, cutting a nifty rendition of Jackson's signature moonwalk across the floor of the AMC Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 theater. "Music's boring without him. We miss him."

Comprised of footage shot from rehearsals for Jackson's planned run of comeback shows at London's O2 arena, "This Is It" offers a glimpse of a spectacle that never materialized in life. Some supporters used the Tuesday opening of the movie as an occasion to assert how personal their connection was to the man who was possibly the most famous musician on the planet.

"I want to get my opening night concert -- I was supposed to be there," said 21-year-old Cassandra Pertusio outside the downtown L.A. Regal Cinema. Dressed in a homemade Jackson T-shirt and sporting several tattoos of the singer (including his face on her shoulder and his signature on her arm), Pertusio had tickets for the opening night of the O2 shows as well as the last three dates, for which she took out loans totaling $20,000.

'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' soundtrack: Track-by-track reactions

A new film in the "Twilight" franchise is more than just a cinematic event. Since the soundtrack to "Twilight" sold a stunning 2.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the vampire brand means serious business to the music industry as well.

The soundtrack to "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is released off-cycle today, rather than the typical music industry release day of Tuesday. It's out a month ahead of the film, which hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 20, and whether or not it will have the same retail impact as the music companion to the first film remains to be seen.

But this is much is certain: The "New Moon" soundtrack is definitely much more of a piece than the soundtrack to "Twilight." It's moody, music-to-get-sad-to, definitely, but music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has put together a collection of songs that captures the drama of young love without drowning in it. Released once again on Patsavas' Chop Shop label, which is associated with Warner Music Group imprint Atlantic, "New Moon" is, on a whole, more inventive than the scattered radio-ready rock that permeated its predecessor.

Track-by-track reactions below.

1. "Meet Me on the Equinox," Death Cab for Cutie. There was reason for skepticism when it was announced that Death Cab would be composing the lead single for "New Moon." Patsavas was keeping things in the family, tapping an Atlantic act she'd worked with before (see "The O.C."). It all seemed a bit predictable, but "Meet Me on the Equinox" packs a few surprises. If the chorus of "everything ends" leaves little to the imagination, the rhythm skips an anxious beat, all while the harmonies and golden guitars lead a path out of the darkness.

2. "Friends," Band of Skulls. Despite the Death Cab opener, it's clear from Track No. 2 that this is not going to be a completely melancholic album. "Friends" launches with some fiery bursts of guitar fuzz, and comes loaded with start-and-stop stomping riffs. "My friends, they are so beautiful," sings Russell Marsden, but he delivers the line with such garage rock swagger that the lyrical cheesiness is completely forgotten. The song swings too, giving "New Moon" a combo rock 'n' roll anthem, make-out song. 

3. "Hearing Damage," Thom Yorke. When the Radiohead frontman unveiled a handful of new songs in Los Angeles, they came off as electro-dance rock 'n' roll for the art-house set. Yorke's "New Moon" tune is a little warmer than those glitchy, yet funky, rock 'n' roll cuts. The stereo buzz that permeates much of the song creates a rather warm sound, and Yorke's vocals threaten to disintegrate into a hum, which is exactly what they do in the final moments. "They say you're getting better, but you don't feel any better," Yorke sings, not exactly the reassuring lover, but not exactly distant, either. Love at its most tension-filled.

4. "Possibility," Lykke Li. Tension gives way to heartache here, and Sweden's Lykke Li could melt the coldest of hearts with this sparse tearjerker. A slight scratch in her vocals cuts through the song's intimately innocent feel. "Tell me when you hear my heart stop," she sings, while a backing choir inflects the sparse piano with gospel undertones -- a brief, largely a cappella prayer.

'Up in the Air': One of the year's best use of an original song in a film

The trailer for George Clooney's upcoming "Up in the Air" starts flashily enough, with the opening swagger of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger." But the film is more quiet and subtle, and builds with more grace than the scraggly, trailer-ready guitar notes let on.

Stick with the clip, and one can hear a glimpse of the film's musical centerpiece -- an original tune from heretofore unknown artist Sad Brad Smith. The song, "Help Yourself," arrives as Clooney's Ryan Bingham is making an emotional transition, and rolls along with a Simon & Garfunkel tenderness. It should be a shoo-in for an original song Oscar nomination -- if eligible, of course -- framing a pivotal moment in the film with warmth, as well as an irresistible melody.

Check it around the 1:30 mark, but watch the whole trailer. 

Set for limited release in early December, "Up in the Air" is Jason Reitman's follow-up to "Juno," and the soundtrack will be released on Rhino Records. Pop & Hiss will have more on the film as the release date arrives.

"Up in the Air," a recession-timed film about corporate and personal fulfillment, has a strong use of non-original music as well, including a credit-opening scene set to a sizzling, scotch-on-the-rocks-worthy cover of "This Land Is Your Land" from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.

There's also a pretty sweet musical cameo from a vintage rapper, but Pop & Hiss will let your favorite search engine spoil that surprise.

-- Todd Martens

P.S. The strong declarative nature of the headline may be amended in the coming days, once Pop & Hiss takes in "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Where the Wild Things Are," among others.

Pop & Hiss goes to the movies: With 75 songs in 111 minutes, the rock 'n' roll comes fast in 'Whip It'

For all of its high-energy sweetness, Drew Barrymore's coming-of-age roller-derby tale "Whip It" may be one of the most rock 'n' roll flicks of the year. The film packs 75 songs into its 111 minutes, tracking the first taste of independence from Ellen Page's teenage character, Bliss, with a trail of contemporary music.

Staples of teenage autonomy, such as the Ramones' punk-meets-bubblegum pop of "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," are represented, as is a current chart hit like MGMT's "Kids." But discovery of music is natural in "Whip It." Songs don't dominate the discussion, and they aren't fueling the film's marketing. It may be a constant, but it isn't a device, as songs naturally fade in and out of the background as characters move from diners to parties.

Inspired by the Shauna Cross novel "Derby Girl," Barrymore's film follows Page's Bliss as she discovers a world beyond middle-class suburbia, falling in love with the danger and camaraderie of roller debry -- as well as learning the dangers of dating dudes in bands -- along the way. Set in and around Austin, Texas, the state capital ultimately becomes a symbol of free thinking.

Yet though the film spends much of its time on the roller-derby track, "Whip It" doesn't oversell the counter-culture world Bliss starts to explore. As Page's Bliss rubs elbows with plenty of tattooed rock 'n' rollers, she -- and the film -- keep one foot firmly planted on the moral high ground. Characters flirt with becoming their parents' worst nightmare, but discovery in "Whip It" doesn't always equate to recklessness. As Bliss breaks free from her beauty pageant-obsessed mother, she does so with the lightly sweet indie rock of Little Joy in her hands.

"We wanted to find music that itself didn’t feel overworked or overburdened," veteran music supervisor Randall Poster told Pop & Hiss on Tuesday morning. "The music lays naturally into the story. It doesn’t feel like it’s a contrivance or being asked to do more than just be musical. Sometimes when a movie is struggling, they rely on music to help carry the movie or make a dramatic point. We didn’t need to do that."

Album review: Karen O and the Kids' 'Where the Wild Things Are'

Earlier this year, on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ terrific “It’s Blitz!,” frontwoman Karen O demonstrated that she's as effective weaving her voice into a wall of synth-heavy alt-rock as she ever was wailing over the band's stripped-down garage punk. Now, with this soundtrack to her ex-boyfriend Spike Jonze's big-screen adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are," Karen O proves she's capable of still more, floating her ethereal vocals over charmingly ramshackle folk-pop arrangements long on the kind of acoustic instruments you might find in a children's music class.

Karen O is actually co-billed here with the Kids, a sprawling group of indie-rock all-stars that includes Deerhunter singer Bradford Cox, Greg Kurstin of the Bird and the Bee, a pair of Raconteurs and her fellow Yeah Yeah Yeahs. An actual kids' choir lends the ensemble's name some credibility on several tracks.

Yet it's Karen O's unique singing -- imagine a post-punk take on a '40s-era jazz chanteuse -- that defines this music, even when it blows up to Arcade Fire-style proportions, as in "All Is Love" and "Rumpus," both of which culminate in tiny-army shout-alongs. In "Hideaway," the album's prettiest cut, she sounds even more vulnerable than she did on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' hit ballad "Maps."

Not surprisingly, given its origin, not everything here works as well on record as it does in the movie, where a meandering tune-fragment like "Cliffs" adds emotional flesh to the minimalist bones of Jonze's story. Even then, though, there's that voice.

-- Mikael Wood

Karen O and the Kids
"Where the Wild Things Are"
(DGC/Interscope)
Three stars (Out of four)

L.A. judge gives Michael Jackson movie soundtrack the go-ahead

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has approved a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to allow the soundtrack for the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” to be released at the same time as the theatrical rollout of the film. The move enables Sony and the superstar’s estate to cash in on some synergistic marketing at a time when demand for Jackson-related properties remains high.

Jeryll Cohen, an attorney for the special administrators of Jackson's estate -- John Branca and John McClain -- had argued that the deal would provide the estate with “an immediate and substantial cash advance from Sony.”

“In order for the album to be completed in time to be released simultaneously with the film, Sony must begin work on the album immediately,” Cohen said.

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved the deal Thursday afternoon.

-- Harriet Ryan and Chris Lee

Photo: Associated Press

Quentin Tarantino's method behind 'Inglourious Basterds' soundtrack mix-tape

Quentin Tarantino has some eclectic music tastes -- not that we needed to tell you that. If you've seen "Reservoir Dogs" or "Kill Bill," you know his soundtracks pull unforgivingly from the depths of obscurity.

Why can't he just be like Michael Bay, whose "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" blockbuster was scored with chart-toppers like Linkin Park and the Fray? Or contract a songwriter to pen something that neatly fits the moment on-screen?

"I hate that crap," Tarantino said during an interview at Amoeba Music in Hollywood on Thursday night to promote the release of his new movie, "Inglourious Basterds." The soundtrack, released Tuesday, pairs famed composer Ennio Morricone with deep cuts from David Bowie, Billy Preston and others, as well as relatively obscure pieces from the likes of Lilian Harvey & Willy Fritsch.

"It would've been easy to hire some artist to do the 'Ballad of Shoshanna,'" the filmmkaer said, referring to an integral scene about one of the film's title characters. "And it could be telling her story in a very on-point, nail-on-the-head kind of way."

Instead, he chose the Bowie song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" to amplify the moment. "You're actually shocked at how well the lyrics to 'Cat People' work to her story," Tarantino said. Tarantino's soundtracks are just about as important as ...