Braid
Movie Music vol. 1 & 2
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Braid
Movie Music vol. 1 & 2
Polyvinyl, 2000
RiYL: Promise Ring, The Smiths, Smoking Popes |
So even if the first several tracks on Volume One are somewhat underdeveloped, let's give Braid the benefit of the doubt. Even if the hollow-sounding drum thump and aimless yelling of "Sounds Like Violence" and "Perfect Pitch" don't quite match up with the Illinois quartet's best work, listening as the band gradually evolves into Frame & Canvas form is very thrilling indeed. I have many of the tracks on this CD collection of single material on 7" already, but even if you're one of the depressing few folks out there who still has a functioning turntable, you'd have to be a world-class record dweeb to have all of them.
Movie Music, Volume One supports my general idea of how Braid's career progressed. Beginning as fairly unremarkable scenesters, they gradually developed a signature sound. Up through the Age Of Octeen LP, they tended to be somewhat inconsistent, lending to their reputation as a singles band -- there's a lot less space for filler on a 7" than on a full-length.
Then, represented here by the phenomenal "First Day Back"/"Hugs For Boys" 45, everything fell into place, and the rest is history. Frame & Canvas became the most acclaimed emo album since Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary, and when the band announced they were calling it quits, a nation of indie kids paused for a moment of silence.
For its second half alone, Movie Music, Volume One will be a must-own for any self-respecting emo fan. "Forever Got Shorter" and "What A Wonderful Puddle" are already standards, and now that I'm hearing "Please Drive Faster" as a regular song rather than the "Last Braid Release Ever," I appreciate how good a tune it is.
The liners, with a note thoughtfully but not pretentiously penned by Bob Nanna, include tons of great photos perfect for indulging your nostalgic side, and the convenience of having all of these tunes on one easily accessible CD is well worth the slight redundancy that will occur if you're a big Braid fan already.
Listening to Movie Music, Volume Two, I found myself wishing -- and feeling a little guilty for doing so -- that Braid had been just a little bit less generous. As Nanna points out in the liner notes, the band just couldn't bring themselves to refuse any offer to appear on a compilation or split a 7". They probably should have. Many of the songs on this collection sound like the work of a band spread dangerously thin.
"To Kiss A Trumpet Player" just sounds like noise, "Do You Love Coffee?" goes nowhere a half a dozen other Braid songs haven't gone already, and the not-all-that-different versions of "Collect From Clark Kent" and "Consolation Prizefighter" included here don't exactly scream must-have.
Still, this collection has a lot of enjoyable moments, and a lot more humor than its companion volume. The sequence of impeccably chosen covers that close the disc is enormously fun, from two reverently done Smiths tunes to a swaggering take on the Pixies' "Trompe Le Monde" that almost improves on the original. That the last words on the last Braid studio album are Nanna re-enacting Kim Deal's "there were rumors he was into field hockey players" ramble from Surfer Rosa is somehow cosmically appropriate.
Not essential by any means, but quality fan fodder. The (awful) first song Braid ever recorded, "Elephant," is here, as is a predictably squelchy Travis Morrison remix of "A Dozen Roses" which leaves the drum and vocal tracks but replaces the guitars with what sounds like portable telephones being dialed. Their cover of Burt Bacharach's "Always Something There To Remind Me" doesn't match up to Elvis Costello & The Attractions' "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," but I'd still buy a Braid/Bacharach collaboration if there ever was to be one.
If you're not already a slavering Braid cultist, I recommend getting Volume One first, or even better, Frame & Canvas. But if you are, I imagine you've already ordered and received your limited edition slipcased double CD set from Polyvinyl. I hope you're enjoying your copy as much as I am mine.
WESTERN HOMES |