O
BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? OST DELUXE EDITION Universal
Whether
or not you like The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where
Art Thou? (and I’ll go on record as saying I find
it a particularly smug and self-satisfied film from two filmmakers
who are continually smugly self-satisfied), there’s no denying
that the movie’s soundtrack album took on a life of its
own, arguably outshining the film itself. It’s the 17th
biggest album of the 21st century, won multiple awards, spawned
a successful US tour and helped introduce American roots music
to a whole new audience that had previously automatically rejected
anything that even hinted that it might be ‘country’.
Without this album, Alison Krauss may well have remained a secret
outside the bluegrass community, and for that alone, it deserves
praise.
This tenth anniversary edition adds a second CD of music to the
original 19 tracks – mostly recorded during the same sessions
that spawned the original album. What we have here are traditional
songs, recorded without any particular embellishments and performed
with effortless perfection. These are timeless in every sense
– add a bit of vinyl crackle to them and you could easily
believe some of them to be recording from a century ago and the
new material fits perfectly with older recordings such as the
sweet I’ll Fly Away by The Kossoy Sisters
with Erik Darling.
For those who haven’t heard the original album, there’s
much to admire – assorted renditions of I am a Man
of Constant Sorrow, jaw-dropping collaborations between
Krauss, Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris and the stunning, raw
and chilling O Death by Ralph Stanley –
a song that makes any death metal song sound positively cheery.
While I imagine many ageing hipsters may have long since filed
their original copies of this away to gather dust next to their
Buena Vista Social Club album, for those who remained impressed
by the music long after the media stopped making a fuss, this
new edition is a worthwhile upgrade. For anyone unfamiliar with
the music but interested in exploring the traditional side of
Americana, it’s a good place to start. In either case, essential
stuff..
Whether
or not you like The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where
Art Thou? (and I’ll go on record as saying I find
it a particularly smug and self-satisfied film from two filmmakers
who are continually smugly self-satisfied), there’s no denying
that the movie’s soundtrack album took on a life of its
own, arguably outshining the film itself. It’s the 17th
biggest album of the 21st century, won multiple awards, spawned
a successful US tour and helped introduce American roots music
to a whole new audience that had previously automatically rejected
anything that even hinted that it might be ‘country’.
Without this album, Alison Krauss may well have remained a secret
outside the bluegrass community, and for that alone, it deserves
praise.
