Rushmore: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
TheRushmoresoundtrack manages to pleasantly skirt the line between sentiment and sentimentality with a nuanced, eminently listenable combo of score and song. The songs mostly blend raw, adolescent urges and insecurity with an awkward grace. Though composed primarily of popular music from the 1960s, none of the selections is a hit of the expectedBig Chillvariety. In fact, compiler Randall Poster proves himself a '60s pop connoisseur, including little-known gems such asCat Stevens's buoyant, hummable "Here Comes My Baby" (covered byYo La TengoonFakebook) and theWho's revved-up, intentionally silly proto-opera "A Quick One While He's Away." The bossa nova folk-pop ofUnit 4+2's "Concrete & Clay" is lovingly contrasted by theCreation's blistering, feedback-enhanced hit-that-never-was "Making Time."Devofounder Mark Mothersbaugh's incidental music is nothing short of delightful, but theRugratscomposer clearly comes by whimsy easily. The intriguing thing about Mothersbaugh's score--seven snippets from which are sprinkled throughout the disc--is that it complements the archival tunes while combining Beethoven-lite flourishes and jazzy instrumentation with percolating mod keyboards. Like the film itself, this soundtrack is an inspired, left-field effort, and it's difficult to plot out its many charms.--Mike McGonigal