havent been keeping a close eye on traffic lately, so apologies if this is old
news. From sonicnet.
Stevie
'Hi-Lo Country' Soundtrack
Updates Classic Western
Music
Duet by Beck and Willie Nelson sets tone for
album.
Contributing Editor Colin Devenish reports:
Before Carter Burwell set to work on the score for the
post-World War II western "The Hi-Lo Country," he did his
homework listening to old western soundtracks for films such
as "Red River."
But what the composer of scores for such major films as
"Fargo," "Miller's Crossing" and "Velvet Goldmine" said he
found after listening to many classic western scores is that
he
wanted to avoid copying them.
"I took certain aspects of [them], some of the drums and
brass that they would use, but I updated [this score] by
adding unusual time signatures. ... The cattle drive is
written
in seven/eighths time, which is a little bit off-kilter and
unpredictable," Burwell said. "I used acoustic guitar on the
score, which is not an unusual choice, but I processed it
electronically, so it makes for a little bit different
sound."
Set for release Tuesday (Jan. 19), "The
Hi-Lo Country" soundtrack features Burwell's
score and a duet from
country legend Willie Nelson and hip-hop folkie
Beck on "Drivin' Nails In
My Coffin" (RealAudio excerpt). It also
includes a Hank Williams original,
and Leon Rausch -- former singer for vintage
western swing band Bob
Wills and the Texas Playboys -- crooning over a
pair of his old band's
tracks.
Ranging from the pedal-steel guitar and twang
of Williams' country classic
"Why Don't You Love Me" to fully orchestrated
instrumental pieces such
as "To Kill A Man," "The Hi-Lo Country"
soundtrack fuses elements of
traditional country sound with Burwell's
updated compositions.
The film stars Woody Harrelson and Patricia
Arquette, and it features
Nelson in the role of a wolf bounty hunter.
"I hunt wolves for bounties in New Mexico. It
was a lot of fun: I got to
horse around on a four-wheel all over a New
Mexico ranch," Nelson, 65,
said. "I got to sling my buddies around. I had
Woody Harrelson there and
riding with me, hanging on for dear life."
Rausch, who makes a cameo appearance in the film, said
recording the Bob Wills chestnuts
"San Antonio Rose" (RealAudio excerpt) and "A Maiden's
Prayer" presented no difficulty at
all.
"We did the tunes we've done every night for 40 years. It
wasn't any stretch for me to record
them," said Rausch, 71, who still plays upward of 60 shows a
year.
"Those songs, of course, have always been favorites of mine
even though we do them every
night. 'San Antonio Rose' has been included in several
different movie projects, but I don't
think 'A Maiden's Prayer' has ever been used in a movie
before."
[ Tues., January 19, 3:00 AM EST ]
