Velvet Goldmine: Music From The Original Motion Picture
Director Todd Haynes's celebration of the sex, drugs, and rock & roll of the British glam era of the early '70s,Velvet Goldmine, would be nothing without the music that inspired it. A few unusual absentees (no Bowie, Iggy Pop, or New York Dolls?), but folks such as Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Lou Reed, and T-Rex are represented. Several covers from the glam era are performed without much deviation by two supergroups: the Venus in Furs, featuring members of England's elite--Bernard Butler, and Thom Yorke of Radiohead; and Wylde Ratz, featuring Mark Arm of Mudhoney, Ron Asheton of the original Stooges, and Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. Strongest are the originals submitted to the film: Shudder to Think tame their own experimental excesses to put forth two glam-worthy originals with "Hot One" and "Ballad of Maxwell Demon." Pulp deliver "We Are the Boys," which runs amuck with the dramatic stagepower of the finest glam.--Rob O'Connor