Moonrise Kingdom

Review: Moonrise Kingdom soundtrack

Moonrise Kingdom: Original Soundtrack

Various artists: Moonrise Kingdom Original Soundtrack (ABKCO, 5/22/12)

Alexandre Desplat: “The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe, Part 1: A Veiled Mist”

Alexandre Desplat: “The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe, Part 1: A Veiled Mist”

Classical and country/western, as genres of music, are about as polar opposite as they get. For director Wes Anderson and music supervisor Randall Poster, though, they make perfect sense to combine in a film. In Moonrise Kingdom, Anderon’s first film since Fantastic Mr. Fox, the director who’s so obsessed with the eccentric and eclectic situates the work of classical composer Benjamin Britten side by side with Hank Williams, with the addition of Alexandre Desplat’s subtle suite.

Social Distortion

Social Distortion: Another State of Mind

Social Distortion‘s upcoming album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, finds Mike Ness and company reinventing themselves once again, trading in their signature hard-edged punk for a more lighthearted rock-‘n’-roll sound.

Jesse Morris: The Subway Johnny Cash

The east entrance of the 24th Street rapid-transit station in San Francisco is almost perpetually caked in pigeon shit. The grime-patina floor and supposed-to- be-shiny metal subway turnstiles are mottled with the splatterings, creating a slimy/crusty minefield for commuters to navigate. On that stained floor, carefully wedged between the landmines, is a worn black guitar case with some loose change and a couple of bills staring up forlornly from a plush field of forest green.

Commuters descending the escalator toward this entrance see the case first as they approach. Then they hear the voice. And if it is their first time hearing it, their eyes grow wide. Or they wrinkle their brow. They ask themselves, “Is that a recording? Is there some kind of commercial being shot here?” It just sounds too real — too much like him. As they descend the escalator further, they see the source of that voice, and things get even more confusing. Because that sound — how could it be coming from that person?