i ' m y o u r m a n

Welcome to my second soundtrack review. I finally got my hands on the much anticipated film Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man. I had been trying to catch this film in its short run at the theatre, but much to my disappointment I never made it. I then went to rent it the other day after hearing it was newly released on DVD, only to find that the local Rogers had one copy for purchase (they didn’t think it would be a popular rental – sadly, it is likely so). I now have a personal copy of the movie, which, after viewing it, is not a bad thing. I highly recommend this film, even if you’ve never given Cohen the time of day. I myself will admit I am one of the newly initiated. The movie is interspersed with close-up shots of Cohen talking about his life and writing, musings of other musicians on his works, and Cohen’s music being performed by those musicians. It is an effective and pleasing balance.

Notable versions include Martha Wainwright’s “The Traitor,” Beth Orton’s “Sisters of Mercy,” Rufus Wainwright’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” (he and Martha also do a wonderfully satisfying version of “Hallelujah” on the DVD), Antony’s “If It Be Your Will,” and Teddy Thompson’s “Tonight Will Be Fine.”

I’d just scoot out and get the flick, though.

d e c k t h e h a l l s

This morning I woke up to the first Christmas song being played on the radio for this festive season. Some of you might be thinking: Christmas? Already? Give me a break! I have to admit, those thoughts have been briefly passing through my mind lately, especially after seeing Christmas lights strung on a house the day after Hallowe’en (“Had the pumpkin even turned brown yet?” I wondered). But then this morning I got that warm, fuzzy, twinkly, Christmassy feeling that only the holidays and listening to jazz music can give me, and I decided – what the heck. Why don’t I get into the Christmas spirit a little earlier this year. After all … it does seem fitting since I am counting down the days to Christmas holidays with the same fervor as a convict ticking off the days to her parole.

Every year it seems a popular artist gets a bit lazy and releases a Christmas album, in hopes of tricking their ignorant fan base into the fact that they are actually releasing a new, original album. Please. That attempt is just as pathetically obvious as releasing a remix album. When I saw Sarah McLachlan (“Queen of Remixes”) had done just this, my first thought was – she is likely the laziest artist I have ever admitted to liking. But … being invigorated with the jazzy tune I woke up to, I thought … why not. And I have to say – if you like playing Christmas music around the holidays, this album would be a nice addition to your collection. “Wintersong” and her version of Joni Mitchell’s “River” are quite lovely, and she manages to squeeze in my favourite Christmas tune “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

With pipes like Sarah’s, I’ll excuse her once again.

s o b e r i f i c

Last night a few of us went to see Amos Lee at a local venue. The opener was a New Orleans trumpeter, Christian Scott. It’s not often I see live jazz, and being a huge fan of jazz this was quite a treat. My personal favourite was a song called “Katrina’s Eyes,” which he explained was produced from a dream he had about his unborn baby girl.

As for Amos Lee, if you don’t like guys with guitars who sing mostly about love and being thwarted by love, you probably wouldn’t be too fond of him. I thought he was good live, particularly with his final song of the evening “Night Train” (quite impressed by that one, actually). Other standouts for me included “Careless,” “Seen it all Before,” and “Sympathize.” He also did a lot of stuff from his first album, including the fairly popular “Colours” and “Arms of a Woman.”

The only real hindrance to the evening was a couple of inebriated young chaps whose obnoxious singalongs, dance moves, and shouting out of specific songs they wanted him to sing made me shudder with the realization that we had similar tastes in music (that doesn’t make me a music snob . . . does it?)