New Yorker Carter Burwell scored Velvet Goldmine, which would be a coincidence (see above) if I didn't diligently plan these things ahead. He's also done most of the Coens' movies and, as he beautified Being John Malkovich, lands the return gig on the new Jonze-Kaufman headfuck. His new-school, indie sensibilities show from the dark opening title piece (remixed by Fatboy Slim), and he relishes working with titles like "The Slough Pit Of Creation" and "The Unexpressed Expressed" (who wouldn't?).
In an ideal world, Blondie would have existed only on video. The golden Deborah, adored by the camera, would now live forever as a shimmering punk siren, blessed with a voice of both honey and crystalline clarity. Harry fronts Blondie at their 1983 farewell concert in Toronto uncomfortably, inelegantly, and sings without any of the vitality of the sassy little Kittens whose success has prompted this release.
