MUSIC ZONE
Saurabh & Gaurav

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World — Original Soundtrack (Abkco)

The film sees the eponymous hero (Michael Cera) attempting to form a relationship with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an Amazon delivery girl with the unusual habit of jumping through doorways. The album starts off with a loud yell, We Are Sex Bob-omb, announcing the name of Scott Pilgrim’s band before breaking into a fast, three-chord garage punk track. The Scott Pilgrim OST does a fine job at melding the songs together, for instance, leading into the T. Rex classic Teenage Dream, with its large orchestration and pompous choruses works really well after Garbage Truck, as does the evolution from Scott Pilgrim by Plumtree into Frank Black’s classic I Heard Ramona Sing. Broken Social Scene’s Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, shows potential early on with a hypnotic melody and a skillfully played banjo, but the track goes into a recurring chorus for about two-minutes too long, and eventually ends up as a tidily placed side note. The Bluetones’ downbeat Sleazy Bed Track is appropriately grubby while Blood Red Shoes’ It’s Getting Boring By the Sea has a funky energy that fits right in with the bands in the movie. Alternatively, near the climax of the soundtrack Beck delivers a fairly stripped-down acoustic performance under his own name in Ramona (Acoustic), uttering nothing but the girl’s name repeatedly over softly plucked strings. The capability that the soundtrack has to demonstrate both the joyous momentum of a relationship as well as the relative lull that follows is testament to the musical producers on board.

Best track: Ramona (Acoustic)

Worst track: Under My Thumb

Rating ***

Eels — Tomorrow Morning (E Works)

Eels have released their much-anticipated final installment in a trilogy of albums that began with Hombre Lobo (Spanish for ‘wolfman’) followed up by End Times. The album explores themes of desire, loss and redemption. Tomorrow Morning is a hybrid of Eels’ most recent sounds. Tracks like I’m a Hummingbird are constructed around the sweeping grand-in-scope orchestra, others, such as This Is Where It Gets Good, are based in the drum machine beats and loops that have been more recently embraced by the band.

"For all the wear and tear, I look ok," he marvels on What I Have to Offer; on the crunchy, electro-funky Baby Loves Me, he declares that even if "the record company hates me", things are fine because "my baby loves me/ Unlikely but true". Spectacular Girl pushes a hard drumbeat, and calls to mind Susan’s House off 1996’s Beautiful Freak. When Tomorrow Morning hits higher tempos, it absolutely shines, especially the gospel-tinged Looking Up with its distorted vocals and rapturous hand claps reaffirming the new playful side of E. The Man features a vaguely 1980s’ synth pop vibe that will get you moving. The album wraps up on a high note with uplifting ‘na nas’ on Mystery of Life.

Best track: I’m a Hummingbird

Worst track: In Gratitude for This Magnificent Day

Rating **

Teenage Dream — Katy Perry (Capitol)

With her sophomore album, Teenage Dream, Perry makes a bid to reclaim the pop crown by selling teenage optimism and broken hearts in 12 tracks. Firework exhibits a cheerful maturity, a true expression of Perry’s musicianship without challenging the kittenish naughtiness of the bigger picture. The title-track, Teenage Dream, meanwhile, further attests Perry is at her best when naturally playful. The song is not only a masterfully crafted pop tune with a smart hook, but a rare moment of tenderness for the otherwise bratty bombshell: "You think I’m pretty without any makeup on / You think I’m funny when I tell the punchline wrong," Perry whispers on top of the song’s guitar strums. Her talent is showcased exceptionally on the soulful yet colossal Who Am I Living For? and Hummingbird Heartbeat. The better moments in Teenage Dream are more understated, such as the wistful piano ballad Not Like The Movies. Of course, when people think of this album, they’re going to think of California Gurls. Along with an appearance by Snoop Dogg, Perry’s ode to the Golden State exemplifies contemporary pop songs. The crossover appeal of this album makes it a winner, though. Teenage Girl appeals to all club kids, teenyboppers and even casual music fans. Beneath the fun and funky frolics, there is a disconcerting sense of a sensitive singer-songwriter trying to make herself heard.

Best track: Hummingbird Heartbeat

Worst track: Peacock

Rating **

Album of the month

The Orchard — Ra Ra Riot (Barusk Records)

Ra Ra Riot’s sophomore album The Orchard, aptly named as it was, conceived at a peach farm in New York, stays in line with their traditional sound of gentle vocals, romantic strings and poppy beats. Technically speaking, The Orchard is a finely crafted album. The string segment is crisp, the vocals are left clean with only mild reverb and the bass and guitar interlock without muddying each other. The title track shows off the instrumental sophistication with bass, strings and vocals. It’s a beautiful song that never quite climaxes, but leaves us wandering into the next tracks. Violinist Rebecca Zeller and cellist Alexandra Lawn have found fresh, admirable ways to introduce their parts in the songs; check out Zeller’s surging violin melody in the chorus of Shadowcasting, where you can practically feel the heat rising from her bow. The album is best when Ra Ra Riot integrate plusher production into more natural arrangements. The record peaks with Too Dramatic, which, true to its name, is immediately catchy pop at its most irresistible. From the synths on the back half of Foolish to the Stevie Nicks sound-alike, You And I Know, The Orchard’s middle-third slightly delves into 1980s rehash, before Shadowcasting and the Rostam Batmanglij produced Do You Remember pick things back up.
Best track: Too Dramatic
Worst track: You And I Know