Sunday, July 02, 2006

Music Review – Nooma Soundtrack Volume 001


The Nooma Soundtrack features music found on the short videos of the same name. Brie Stoner and David Vandervelde contribute all of the CD’s thirteen tunes. As a whole the album creates a laid back ambient mood like Dusty Trails, Yo La Tengo or Starflyer 59.

David Vandervelde’s tracks range from retro rockers to moody instrumentals. The mellower songs are actually much better and create a great soundscape with some electronic elements. He can rock a bit, though. I think Indiana is one of my new favorite songs because it is just so incredibly hooky. All My Prayers is great too, though he unfortunately ends the CD with two poor tunes. Heaven Weeps and Flowers are overproduced retro rock that sounds like bad Dandy Warhol’s songs.

Brie Stoner is someone who has played venues around G.R. for a while. Her contributions to this soundtrack are great. All of the songs are fairly moving with Can You Love Me as a standout. Brie is solid singer-songwriter, though on most of these tunes she brings a more atmospheric modern rock sound (see: Ivy). Her sound is mature and her voice clearly supports the messages of hope and longing in her writing.

Overall, this is a wonderful collection of bittersweet and hopeful songs.

Find out more about them at www.myspace.com/davidvandervelde and www.briestoner.com

3.25 out of 4.00 on the Vin Swanson Scale

Listening to this makes you feel like those times when you know its all going to work out, but you just wished you knew how.

1 comment:

Mrs Gruffalo said...

Any chance of a track listing??