North Country - Music From The Motion Picture
What better choice to musically embody a movie about the Minnesota-based first-ever class-action lawsuit for sexual harassment than Bob Dylan, the Land of 10,000 Lakes' most ipolitical musical export? This is a great idea in theory, but unfortunately it leads to another question: Why so little? Dylan is represented here with only four songs, including the brand new, pleasantly old-school "Tell Ol' Bill" (nice fiddle), and two choice covers; Leo Kottke's 1968 take on "Girl of the North Country" and Cat Power's piano-backed "Paths of Victory" (taken from her highly recommendedCovers RecordCD from 2000). The rest of the soundtrack is comprised of pleasant tunes such as Kim Carnes's "Bette Davis Eyes," Mac Davis's "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me," and the overused "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon. In other words, nothing so rare that it's worth chasing after. The original score is represented by three tracks in whichGustavo Santaolallaonce more shows his mastery of atmospherics.--Elisabeth Vincentelli