Rushmore

Performer: Original Soundtrack
Engineer: Robert Casale
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Original score music composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. Producers: Wes Anderson, Randall Poster. Includes liner notes by Wes Anderson. Personnel: Yves Montand (vocals); Bruce Berman (guitar, mandolin); Lavant Coppock (guitar); Judy Gameral (hammer dulcimer); Paul Viapiano (mandolin); Harry Scorzo (violin); Melissa "Missy" Hasin (cello); Larry Klimas (flute); Gloria Cheng-Cochran (harpsichord); Mark Mothersbaugh (keyboards, percussion); Robert Casale (keyboards); Brian King (glockenspiel); Gordon Peeke (drums, timpani, percussion). Recording information: Mutato Muzika, West Hollywood, CA. While a soundtrack LP based on the smorgasbord of the "sounds of the '60s" is hardly a novel concept, Rushmore announced right up front it was offering more fruitful fare by emphasizing the little-known but cranking/smoking Creation single "Makin' Time" in its TV ads. That snarling-ornery classic more or less leads off this collection of British Invasion-era obscuros, a CD whose mere track selection proves its curator to be a genuine, happy, knowledgeable fan of the genre. Like the zany, hip radio station you've always longed for and will never get, in Rushmore's world the Kinks' 1964 unplugged Kinda Kinks gem "Nothing in This World Can Stop Me Worrying About That Girl" can peacefully coexist with the happy lounge of Unit 4+2, and French crooner Yves Montand, or with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo's instrumental curiosities. The young, jauntier Cat Stevens and Chad & Jeremy provide pep, and a live version of the Who's first mini rock opera, the title track of their 1966 second LP, A Quick One, locks neatly into a film where two so-different males compete for the same woman. OK, the collection isn't timeless. There aren't enough great songs here, and compiler Wes Anderson could have done better for the great-but-in-decline John Lennon and the also-past-their-prime Faces than the pleasant but pathetic-indulgent "Oh Yoko!" and nice but pedestrian "Ooh La La". But even here, Anderson errs on the side of the whimsical and unusual, precisely the qualities missing in the movies these days. In the end, it's his sense of fun that pervades this unpredictable assortment as much as it does the cinematic experience. Synchronicity at last! ~ Jack Rabid. The Big Takeover Though it contains a token nod to Americana with West Coast saxman Zoot Sims' "Blinuet," this collection is driven by Britpop (not the Oasis variety, but the real stuff circa 1960s). Long lost British mod heroes the Creation are an obscure but wonderful choice, their Whoish sound full of youthful abandon. Early Kinks is never a bad thing, and the Davies boys' "Nothing in This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl" is a lesser known gem from the band's golden period. Things turn more introspective with John Lennon's sentimental "Oh Yoko" and Cat Stevens' "The Wind," but the irrepressible Faces' "Ooh La La" puts things back on a righteously rocking course.

Rolling Stone (3/4/99, p.87) - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...Like the movie, the soundtrack pays tribute to young love in all its annoying, cloying, earnest and ingratiating qualities. It charms..." Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.43) - Ranked #84 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" Entertainment Weekly (3/5/99, p.67) - "Writer-director Wes Anderson is the rare filmmaker who understands how crucial music is for setting a movie's tone, and RUSHMORE's wonderfully strange ambiance owes a great deal to this similarly eccentric soundtrack..." - Rating: A-

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25