Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)(Black Vinyl)＜限定盤＞

ソフィア・コッポラ監督の大ヒット映画『ロスト・イン・トランスレーション』のサウンドトラックがヴァイナルで登場!
東京が舞台になたことも話題に。マイ・ブラッディ・ヴァレンタインのケヴィン・シールズやエール、はっぴえんど、フェニックスなどをフィーチャーしたサウンドトラックもまた大きな注目を集めた。こちらはブラック・ヴァイナルとなります。

Sofia Coppola's impressionistic romance Lost in Translation features an equally impressionistic and romantic soundtrack that plays almost as big a role in the film as Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen do. In the film, Bob and Charlotte are able to stretch their instant connection as strangers in a strange land into something that seems to last longer and feel deeper because of their need to believe in a love like that; their relationship is a beautiful, fleeting little world unto itself, and the music that plays behind them emphasizes the romantic fever dream. The soundtrack's luminous atmospherics come from a variety of sources, but My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields leads the pack by contributing the Loveless classic "Sometimes" and four new tracks penned under his own name. A nearly perfect song from a nearly perfect album, "Sometimes" is so incredibly gorgeous, and so effortlessly accomplished, that in hindsight it's easier (if no less frustrating) to understand why Shields is so hesitant about putting out any new material in the wake of songs like this. However, while his new tracks don't reach Loveless' peaks, they're not intended to; open-ended pieces like the naive, guitar-driven "City Girl" and the abstractly poignant, Eno-inspired "Goodbye" may be somewhat disappointing as songs (especially new songs from one of music's most reticent visionaries), but they work well as soundtrack material. "Ikebana" and especially "Are You Awake?" suggest some of the electronic forays that Shields wanted to explore with My Bloody Valentine before he stopped working under that name; while both tracks, particularly the latter, are lovely, they're so fleeting that it's hard to tell whether or not they really indicate a new direction in Shields' work. As worthwhile as Shields' contributions are, it would be a mistake to let them eclipse the rest of this fine soundtrack. Interestingly, many of the other pieces on Lost in Translation sound more like Shields' previous work than his own tracks. Chief among them is Death in Vegas' lovely "Girls," a slow-building epic that combines breathy vocals, deceptively simple guitars, and distant but powerful drumming in a way that evokes My Bloody Valentine but doesn't borrow from them too shamelessly. Likewise, the Jesus & Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" is nearly as swooningly romantic as "Sometimes." Sebastien Tellier's "Fantino" and Squarepusher's "Tommib" fit in well with Shields' work and also recall the work of Air, whose "Alone in Kyoto" is a smoothly flowing, Asian-inspired piece that reflects both their own sound and the film's setting. Ironically enough, Happy End's "Kaze Wo Atsumete" is the only song by an authentically Japanese group, but it sounds a lot like Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally," which was used to devastating effect in The Virgin Suicides. Phoenix's "Too Young," a stylish re-creation of '80s soft rock, is another highlight from Lost in Translation, which works equally well as background music or as a way to replay the movie in your head (the hidden track of Bill Murray's drunken karaoke rendition of "More Than This" heightens this effect). Perfectly defined in its hazy beauty, this soundtrack loses nothing in its translation from a quietly wonderful movie into a quietly wonderful album. ~ Heather Phares

『ロスト・イン・トランスレーション』(2003)
サウンドトラック

監督 ソフィア・コッポラ
音楽監督 ブライアン・レイツェル
音楽 ケヴィン・シールズ(マイ・ブラディ・バレンタイン)
出演 スカーレット・ヨハンソン、ビル・マーレイ、ジョヴァンナ・リビシ

『ヴァージン・スーサイズ』から4年後のソフィア・コッポラ監督第2作、舞台は東京。音楽はマイ・ブラディ・バレンタインのケヴィン・シールズ。ギターノイズの中に独特の美しさが漂うマイ・ブラ・ ワールドの再現「CITY GIRL」、ヴァンゲリス"ブレードランナー"のように幻想的な、スクエアプッシャーのトラック「TOMMIB」、フェニックスの甘酸っぱいポップロック「TOO YOUNG」、はっぴいえんど「風をあつめて」、シールズの幻想的なギター・スコア、そしてウルトラ名盤マイ・ブラ「ラブレス」からの1曲 「サムタイムス」、友情あふれるエールの、今回のための新録音「アローン・イン・キョウト」と、独特の甘美な孤独感が舞う、ソフィア・ワールド。21世紀初めの東京・渋谷の感覚が音になったサントラ。 (C)馬場敏裕

その洗練された選曲が話題になったソフィア・コッポラ初監督作「ヴァージン・スーサイズ」のサントラ。あのファンシーなテイストを継承しつつ、さらにヴァージョン・アップさせた本作では、音楽監督でありエールのセッション・ドラマーでもあるブライアン・レイツェルを通して、ソフィアの趣味が美しく花開いている。でも、なんといっても話題はケヴィン・シールズが4曲書き下ろしていて、“City Girl”では歌声も聴けるということ（まんまマイ・ブラディ・ヴァレンタイン!）。ほかにもエールやスクエアプッシャー、ジーザス&メリー・チェインなど個性豊かなメンツに交じって、なんと、はっぴいえんどのナンバーも収録。舞台が日本ということかららしいけれど、果たして本編でのハマリ具合は!
bounce (C)遠山 明