I had originally planned for a different band to be featured today to go along with a theme for next week, but then something awesome happened last week. Anyone that knows me knows that I kind of have a slight love for Ryan Gosling. Aside from those boyish good looks, I appreciate his ways of approaching films and he also has pretty great taste in music as there is this lovely photo of him and my rebel brother iAN out there from a BRMC show in L.A. from years ago. Plus he just seems like a really cool guy to hang out with. Ryan has recently made his directorial debut with the film "Lost River", released last Friday in limited theaters, including Austin, as well as On Demand. Knowing my love for Ryan and how I had been anticipating the release of this movie, a friend informed me that Gosling would be in Austin at the Alamo Draft House conducting a Q&A session in addition to the film being shown. Tickets quickly sold out for that showing, but then a later showing was announced that would feature a live introduction to the movie by Ryan himself so of course I immediately purchased my ticket and I am so excited to say that Thursday evening, weather permitting since that seems to be my curse with ATX lately, I will be making a burn & turn trip to see my beloved Ryan Gosling and the film "Lost River", which features a soundtrack composed by another favorite of mine, Johnny Jewel.
I first discovered Johnny Jewel from Gosling's movie "Drive" which was released back in 2011. The native Houstonian is the mastermind behind synth-pop bands that I have come to adore, The Chromatics, Desire, Glass Candy, and Symmetry. He was originally Gosling's first choice to compose the score for that film, but director Nicolas Winding Refn decided to go a different route and instead featured songs by Jewel's bands. It's no secret that Jewel's music helped create the atmosphere for the movie so when Gosling was setting out on his first endeavor as a film director, he contacted his old friend and asked him to score the soundtrack. "Lost River" is a film that is described as a "dark fairy tale about love, family and the fight for survival in the face of danger." The film opens with the song "Tell Me", featuring actress Saoirse Ronan who plays "Rat" in the film. The song serves as sort of a lullaby that Rat sings to herself every night as a way to deal with everything dark going on around her. The story behind recording the song is that Saoirse was in L.A. doing voice overs for the film and Ryan contacted Johnny to get the track laid down. Ronan had never recorded a pop song before and was very nervous to sing so Jewel and Gosling barricaded themselves with Ronan in a kitchen at the sound stage where they were recording and with nothing but an 8-track and a single microphone, the trio turned off all the lights, sat on the floor and the moment was captured. It is a lovely song reminiscent of something that would have been on "Twin Peaks" and I have been listening to it non-stop since it was first released two weeks ago. The soundtrack will be released on Jewel's Italians Do it Better label and will include a limited edition vinyl as part of its release. In spite of the critical bashing this film has received so far, I've also seen many positive reviews and I am looking forward to seeing it on Thursday. And Ryan as well of course. I hope you enjoy this track as much as I have. Happy listening!
When I was looking for the link for the "Tell Me" video, I stumbled upon a cover The Chromatics did of Joy Division/New Order classic track "Ceremony" which I am posting below as it goes along with the theme for next week. It's different, but nothing drastic from the original. Just a different take and it is growing on me. The description says it features Glass Candy vocalist Ida No, but I think it's only Chromatics front woman Ruth Radelet that is on the track.
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