Prepare to be surprised

I don't know why it took me so long to see Dan in Real Life, given my celebrity crushes on both Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, but I finally Netflixed it this weekend was totally stunned by how much I loved it. Those of you who know me know that I'm a sucker for any movie with a good soundtrack (hello Bewitched?) and WOW - does this movie have a great soundtrack.

Almost all of the music was written by Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche specifically for the film, a la the Graduate or Harold and Maude (two movies cited by director Peter Hedges as major influences.) In the bonus features, Hedges talks about how important he felt it was to get the music right and how he absolutely fell in love with Lerche's acoustic sound. Both Hedges and Lerche worked hard to keep the sound intimate, raw and sweet (just like the film itself.) The result is one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long time.

To give you an idea of Lerche's sound in the movie (which reminds me of a much happier version of a former Euro-band crush of mine, the Guillemots,) check out this video of him performing "Prepare to Be Surprised" on Letterman last October, and then check out the whole soundtrack. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Xponentially awesome

Searching for a great mix of indie, new wave, classic rock and everything in between? I recommend the Xponential radio stream from WXPN - the University of Pennsylvania's unparalleled NPR music station. Recently played artists include XTC, KT Tunstall, Cake and David Bowie. Where else are you going to see all those names in one place?

While you're there, check out the concert archives for live sets from Rhett Miller, Martin Sexton, Rufus Wainwright, Andrew Bird, the Guillemots... basically everyone I've been telling you to check out all year.

By the way, this is also where you can hear the "Folk Alley" channel I told you about a few posts ago...

Making us famous

Caught a rerun of Austin City Limits last week that featured Austin band What Made Milwaukee Famous. If you haven't heard them yet, do yourself a favor. Sort of an American version of the Guillemots, they feature a very catchy, clever mix of genres. On the post-ACL interview, which you can watch here, they cited everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to Nirvana as influences. (For the record, their band name is derived from the Jerry Lee Lewis lyric: "What's made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of me.")

First check out my current singular obsession, "Sweet Lady," at their Myspace page.

Then check out this three-part live performance from 2006:

The British Influence

Ok, so I have an apology to make to the United Kingdom: When I was last there (in 2001), I thought their music scene was dead. All they had to offer was whiny, maudlin, self-indulgent, low-energy alternative pop. Think Coldplay, Travis, Aqualung. The genre was so saturated with second- and third-rate music-making that the term "Britpop" had taken on connotations that absolutely made me cringe.

But in the past five years, the British music scene has rebounded beautifully. I don't know exactly what started it, but suddenly there was Joss Stone's incomparable Soul Sessions, and then the undeniably funky debut album by Little Barrie. There was the truly unique and majestic beauty of Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself. And now, just in 2007, we've had Mika, Jamie Lidell, the Guillemots, the Feeling, Lily Allen, Field Music... the list goes on and on. (For direct links to the MySpace pages of these bands, click here.)

The most recent British album to tickle my eardrums is James Morrison's Undiscovered. The soul popper is one of Starbucks's latest darlings, but don't be put off by the commercialism - the folks at Hear Music have incredibly adroit taste in music and this is the real deal. Check out a 3-minute intro to his CD (with lovely shots of London in the background) here.


Or check out a couple of live, acoustic performances Morrison did for AOL's Breakers series below. (If for no other reason, check it out for the pretty, pretty guitar.) For more live James Morrison, visit his MySpace page.