I used to live in Brooklyn and run free among hipsters. Now I live in a factory city in Korea. I still dig me some fresh tunes.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Ten From Epic Soundtracks

Similar to the Felt collection I made earlier in the year here are 10 songs from singer/songwriter Epic Soundtracks. I got the idea to do this while listening to Wild Smile, the 2012 anthology by Soundtracks. This isn't really meant as a complaint, because any effort to bring more attention to an artist like Soundtracks is gravvy, but Greatest Hit type of releases of this nature are tricky. On one hand you have a nice (albeit lengthy) introduction for the uninitiated on Disc 1. But will said uninitiated ever be interested in the Disc 2 full of live versions and rarities? And for the rabid fan who'd like to get a hold of an A Capella version of "Don't Go to School," of what use are the 20 "hits" on Disc 1? Who pays $21.99 for it?

So I set out to create a collection for those less familiar with his work. I pushed myself to distill his catalogue down to 10 tunes. Truth be told, I think Soundtracks wrote 4 or 5 truly wonderful songs, and then quite a few more that are very nice. On occasion, I think he was able to get by simply because he was cool and probably had a great record collection. I would never put him in the class of some of the greats I think he tried to emulate -- Parsons, Dylan, Chilton and Lennon. I actually think he's a little like Evan Dando, who comes from similar origins and was a big Soundtracks fan and supporter. I'm sure that comparison would make a lot of Soundtracks fans sick, but Dando too has written a handful of truly great songs.

My own introduction to Soundtracks -- post Swell Maps, who I always wanted to like more than I actually did -- wasn't until 1999 with the release of Everything is Temporary, a posthumous collection of mostly outtakes and demos that was co-licensed (or something) by the record store I was working for at the time. By virtue of that it was played at least once a day for several months. Yeah, I know I just said demos don't make a good introduction, but "Everything" flows a little differently than a typical collection of demos. It sounds more like a stripped down album in my opinion, which is ironic because one of his strong suits on his proper albums was the production -- again, I'm sure the guy was above all else a music fan if not a collector.

Over the years I've wound my way through his albums, typically recognizing 2 or 3 songs from "Everything," and usually finding improved, fully realized versions on the full lengths. "There's Been a Change," "Emily May" and "Fallen Down" were such cases and all three are on this collection. A couple songs "Something New Under the Sun," which is really the first Soundtracks song that caught my ear, and "Night Time," are both presented in their stripped down "Everything" versions.