The Hi-Lo Country: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture
In his tale of two cowboys whose lives twist and fray, director Stephen Frears casts a nostalgic eye on the postwar West but falls short of reinventing Hollywood's most circumscribed genre, the Western. AlthoughThe Hi-Lo Countryis set in northern New Mexico, its soundtrack sounds decidedly Lone Star. With famous Texans like Willie Nelson and the matchless yodeler Don Walser crooning some dusty charmers and a couple of country standards like "San Antonio Rose" and "Why Don't You Love Me" thrown in for good measure, the overall mood is very barbecue-friendly. Only Beck, who duets with Nelson on "Drivin' Nails in My Coffin" sounds a bit out of place here, his nasal drawl in curious contrast to Nelson's unmistakable whinny. Carter Burwell's score is standard-issue "epic" in its long gazes that suggest the largeness of both the West and the men's souls who inhabit it, but it gains an edge with its austere cadences and Mexican trumpet and guitar flourishes.--Lois Maffeo