The Great Gatsby Soundtrack review

I am, along with many others, eagerly awaiting the release of Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'.  One of my favourite books adapted by a director that has proven he can film a visually rich and sumptuous movie, looks set to be one of the highlights of the Hollywood calendar.  One aspect of the production that may prove to be slightly more questionable, is the soundtrack.  With Jay Z as executive producer, it was never going to be a straightforward reproduction of popular 1920s standards (for that, see the Boardwalk Empire soundtrack which is absolutely superb).  Rather than incorporating jazz-age music, considered daringly modern at the time of the novel's release, it has been replaced with the contemporary equivalent; that is replacing jazz with hip hop.

 

The opener, '100$ Bill' from Jay-Z, (who was also executive producer on the film) sets the somewhat anachronistic tone for the rest of the album.  The track does sample dialogue from the film, but not in any meaningful way.

Following '100$ Bill' is 'Back to Black' by Beyoncé and André 3000.  Originally by Amy Winehouse, the song is quite jarring - especially Beyoncé singing 'I love blow and you love puff'.  I don't think the style or lyrics are relevant to The Great Gatsby and it just seems like a reason to have Jay Z's wife on the album.  Another cover, the evocative and despair-filled 'Love is Blindness' from Jack White (originally by U2), brings an emotional depth that seems to be lacking from some of the more morose tracks.

 

'Bang Bang' seems one of the more promising tracks, sampling the ubiquitous 'Charleston'.  Will.i.am produces a song more in line with what I was expecting from the album, combining his signature style with hints at early 20th century popular music.  At times, he employs a style reminiscent of a barber shop quartet as well as a few bars of scatting. On multiple listens, the track does tend to improve and seems to fulfil the brief of combining what was considered daring and new in the '20s, and what is contemporary and modern now.

A second appearance by a Black Eyed Peas alumnus is 'A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)' from Fergie (feat Q-tip & GoonRock).  A typical electroswing track, with a few horns thrown over the top of a classic club tune.

Lana Del Rey's 'Young and Beautiful' is the point at which the soundtrack takes an increasingly dark turn.  It was written to accompany a specific scene in the film, as was Florence + the Machine's characteristic alternating-between-haunting-and-powerful ballad 'Over the Love'.  They are both the dramatic trailer fare and they can be easily imagined scoring a poignant montage in many a film.  Sounding as though it was written for the same scene as 'Young and Beautiful' and 'Over the Love' (or perhaps hinting that a large proportion of the film will be of a pensive and brooding nature) 'Together' by The xx continues the mood with its lush orchestral sections, but doesn't say anything new.

 

With the tinkling piano backing, 'Where the Wind Blows' by Coco O of Danish duo Quadron has a vaudevillian feel, but in no way sounds dated. One of the few uplifting songs on the soundtrack.  'Hearts a Mess' (Gotye), 'Into the Past' (Nero) and 'Kill and Run' (Sia) are all very low key, ambient tracks, with the latter two again featuring quite majestic strings.  Sia's vocals on the last track in particular, are well suited to the opulent look of the film.

 

'Love is the Drug' will be familiar to anyone that listened to the Bryan Ferry Orchestra's debut released last year, although this version also features the vocals of Mr Ferry himself.   One of the most 'authentic' tracks on the album, it goes some way to capture the essence of the jazz age portrayed in the film and can verge of sleazy - but definitely in a good way.  The second helping from the Bryan Ferry Orchestra this time features Emeli Sandé on vocals, in a reimagining of Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love'.  Although good to hear another jazz-fuelled track, Sandé's vocals don't quite come up to scratch,  exacerbated by the fact that Beyoncé features as a reminder elsewhere on the album.

 

It would have been more fitting to hear some 1920s songs among the covers, perhaps some that are mentioned in the novel itself.  I understand the theory behind Luhrmann's remark that, as the audience is living in the 'hip-hop age' as opposed to the jazz-age, they "want [their] viewers to feel the impact of modern-day music the way Fitzgerald did for the readers of his novel at the time of its publication" however I don't think it has quite hit the mark and may prove distracting.  It will be interesting to see the context into which each track is placed, and whether the soundtrack accurately reflects a rather bleak film.

The soundtrack is released on the 6th of May on Interscope Records with a deluxe version featuring three additional tracks.

  

Have you heard any of the songs from the soundtrack?  What did you think of them?  Are you looking forward to seeing The Great Gatsby?

Come along with me on down to New Orleans

I was quite intrigued when we were invited to Storyville, an event organised by the Nightjar bar.  I was even more intrigued by the theme and dress code, “a hot-blooded tribute to New Orleans” and Bordello Chic, respectively.  Storyville was the name given to the red light district operating in New Orleans between 1897-1917, so I was expecting a certain amount of debauchery - think America’s answer to Bohemian Monmartre with added creole, voodoo and a few southern belles thrown in.

The dress code was going to be a bit of a problem.  You see, I’ve just moved house (I’ll be posting later on my new abode, the architecture round here is so beautiful it needs its own post) and as such only had one dress at my new flat.  Luckily, it was a handmade 1930s day dress in a wonderful ditsy-printed lime green artificial silk, so I thought I may be able to get away with it.  



The odd fan pose is due to the big blue ink stamp on my arm
(I think I confused the doorman by wearing gloves)

 Anyway, back to the event.  The venue (Factory 7 in Shoreditch) was very well decorated, with ivy-draped street signs, two opulent four poster beds, atmospheric lighting in reds and greens as well as three bars (one of which was a dedicated to the green fairy).  One original element I really liked was the presence of the actors and performers walking around the venue.  More impressively, most of these vagrants, madams and courtesans had hidden talents; among them a breakdancer, an opera singer, and aerial and fire artists.

 I had a quick chat with Natalie Fern who was the costume designer responsible for dressing these performers.  Based in Manchester, Natalie sourced a lot of the costumes from the Royal Exchange. She had to adapt some of the looks, particularly the prostitutes, to fit in more with the modern expectations of what a courtesan should look like.  She talked of how voodoo was also an influence, as were the performers’ particular skills; with the fire act wearing blacks and reds, and the aerialist looking ethereal in white.  

Natalie also spoke of how she found it difficult dressing the men due the fact that changes in men’s fashions throughout the 20^th century were rather subtle - the width of a lapel or the size of the turn-ups perhaps altering the look by decades.  She wanted to make the ‘Gentleman Jack’ figure to look slightly more roguish to differentiate him from your ordinary seersucker clad southern gentleman.  It was refreshing to hear that most of her inspiration came from google (and also an unlikely source in ‘The Princess and the Frog’).

  

Beforehand, I had seen that Swing Patrol would be there, but rather than a performance or lesson, I think they were just populating the dance floor (not that I minded - I got quite a few dances in Scott, thethe chap behind Swing Patrol who we interviewed last year).

Although £25 may seem a bit pricey, you were getting a lot for your money.  The night ran from 7pm-4am and there seemed to be some form of entertainment for most of that time.  Apart from the aforementioned wandering performers, there was a pianist, four bands (we were only able to stay long enough to see the brilliant Basin Street Brawlers– the joys of having to catch the last train) and a free tasting lesson over at the absinthe bar (courtesy of Enigma absinthe).  We tried some of the Jambalaya (which was rather expensive and a little disappointing) and a couple of glasses of New Orleans punch (a refreshing cocktail of Southern Comfort, Ameretto, apple and rhubarb, root beer and nectarines) which although very tasty, could’ve done with being a little ‘punchier’.

It is an event I would definitely go to again, and hopefully be able to enjoy more before having to leave.  I would say that if it were made slightly shorter to bring down the price, it may have been even more popular.   I must add that I am indebted to my dear friend Caroline for accompanying me and providing some of the photos on here (she is the resident N’awlins expert of my friends).



Caroline with our new friend Gentleman Jack

 Natalie Fern can be conatcted at Natalie.fern1@googlemail.com

Blind Pig Returns

We stopped off for a quick drink (at the Bristol Arms if you're interested) before heading on to Blind Pig at the Proud Ballroom in Brighton.



The chaps doing all of the necessary technical checks

The night was organised by Carolyn Watt, an established aerial performer and fashion student.  The Blind Pig started out as a fundraiser for her end of year show, organised with her fellow students.  This was the first time it was solely under her leadership and we were interested to see how it went.

During our interview Carolyn Watt, the organiser

Ethan

The night's entertainment came thick and fast, which meant a fair amount of dashing about the place by us with a plethora of cameras (and our fancy new mobile light).  As we arrived, Ethan (the first male pole dancer I've seen) was performing a very athletic routine.  Seeing a man pole dancin,g somehow highlights how strong you have to be to accomplish some of the moves. 

Next came a traditional burlesque fan dance from Cherry Bella.  I was particularly impressed with her outfit, a very nice mix of pastel pink and blue satin.

Cherry Bella's first performance of the evening

Burlesque nowadays is often solely associated with well dressed ladies becoming rather less-dressed, but it has a fine tradition/association with comedy too, (Mae West started out as a comic performing in between the striptease acts).  With this in mind, came the first double act of the night; the Big Brad Wolf and Acacia Blue performed a rather amusing burlesque centreing around a robbery - gun included!  It's always refreshing to see people trying something new in burlesque.

Miss Bombshell was up next, performing another pole routine to the evocative 'El Tango de Roxanne' from Moulin Rouge.



Lexi Allure

Miss Bombshell

Lexi Allure, who I believe made her own costume, was another traditional burlesque dancer.

Ethan & Miss Steel

Ethan appeared again, but this time in a two person pole routine.  Joined by Miss Steel, what followed was quite an innovative display of strength and athleticism.

A second appearance from Cherry Bella rounded off the burlesque performances of the evening.  In an intricate black outfit, she lit up the stage with her fire breathing act (sorry, that was awful) .

Cherry Bella 'lighting up' the stage - get it?

As promised, there was a live band in the form of This is Laura, whose music perfectly suited the mood of the evening.  Kieren interviewed some of the band later on, but you can see that when we release the footage.

Jennie, a lady known by many names

After all the live performers had appeared, DJ Arthur Shillin' (oh, I do love a good pun), who had been playing in between acts, continued with the rest of the night's entertainment.  He played almost exclusively electroswing, but did include some swing music from between the wars.  I did also manage to get a couple of dances with fellow blogger Jennie (of Fancy Dresscapades fame).  She too was there taking the odd snap and being interviewed by professional media types (well, me).

Normally I'm more comfortable wearing clothes from (or styled as though they were from) the 1940s and '50s.  However, as this was a Speakeasy, it would be churlish to not go for full flapper finery.  I'm slightly limited when it comes to 1920s clothes (I've got a black lace '80s-does-'20s number or a very fragile original peach silk and lace frock, but that wouldn't really do for dancing).  In the end I went for a modern dress in a vaguely '20s casual day style (replete with obligatory sequins).  I had great fun waving my hair and pinning up the curls at the back, in order to simulate the shorter styles so in vogue at the time. 

 

I'll soon have a post on how to do said hairstyle, but for now that is all from me.