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Album Details

• Artist: Various Artists
• Album: Lost In Translation Soundtrack
• Label: Emperor Norton
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: jparker on 2003-10-31

Set amidst the polish and artifice of Tokyo, and filmed mostly indoors in a hotel and in night clubs, Lost In Translation conveys a mood of urban alienation and shallow commercialism. Not exactly a living hell - oh, us poor, wealthy capitalists, dislocated in modern Japan! - but a nice place to be a bit sad and lonely, gaze longingly out the window, and have an affair. Tsk. And the soundtrack is perfectly matched to the movie. So perfectly, you wonder if the music came first. Director Sofia Coppola (or her retinue) certainly has excellent taste, as shown by the Air-y beauty of her last soundtrack for The Virgin Suicides. Air appear here as well, on the Steve Reich-ish "Alone in Kyoto", which floats ethereally, both figuratively and literally, above the other tracks on this album. It deserves to be expanded to about 30 minutes. Seriously - I defy you not to sigh. Air cohort Sebastien Tellier appears with "Fantino", a Morricone-esque instrumental (previously available on the "Source: Material" compilation). Much fuss has been made about the long-awaited return of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields on this soundtrack. But apart from "Sometimes" (from Loveless), and "City Girls", which sounds like a session from the same era, his tracks won't jump out at you. In fact, Death In Vegas' "Girls", a thumping crescendo of guitar washes, is more MBV than three of Shields' tracks, which are short atmospheric pieces lacking his wall-of-feedback trademark. They're pretty, but don't buy the soundtrack for 'em. The soundtrack's not all a downer: French popsters Phoenix deliver a delightful slice of teen angst with "Too Young", and Happy End present "Kaze Wo Atsumete", a modern Japanese approximation of '70s American AM pop. Brian Reitzell and Roger Manning, Tangerine Dream apologists, contribute some nice retro-electronic soundscapes. Even Bill Murray himself appears as a bonus track, performing a pathetic karaoke version of Roxy Music's "More Than This". Overall, a pleasant wallow in self-indulgence, for those times when you're feeling sorry for yourself, but are secretly enjoying it.

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