Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture
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Description
The much anticipated follow-up to Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Magnolia features a specially orchestrated soundtrack, largely written and performed by Aimee Mann ('Til Tuesday member and sadly overlooked solo artist). Mann's voice has always been a suitable vehicle for conveying emotional turmoil and indelible sadness, and several tracks here ("Build That Wall," "You Do," "Driving Sideways") do so with the rich melodicism that informs her best work. Producer Jon Brion's sprightly horn arrangements for "Momentum" are an unexpected (though not completely unwelcome) splash of cold water. Only Mann's cover of the Harry Nilsson-penned Three Dog Night hit "One" backfires, as it simply doesn't deliver the same effective climax as the original. The two Supertramp tracks from their Breakfast in America LP tacked on at album's end are incongruous (though they cut down the degrees of separation between them and Mann to an incredible one!). However, for anyone with an interest in Mann's melodic songwriting, there are eight worthy originals waiting for you. --Rob O'Connor
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