to have this finished album.
liellow vocalist. (‘elia Anne Garcia described the buzz of recording. ‘Before we sang. Stuart described the locations. the action. the mood and what the characters were thinking.’
Plans are afoot for a handful of select promo gigs in June. And if the lilm gets made. would the singers double up as actors‘.’ ‘ldeallyf is all Murdoch will allow. before disappearing to work on the script. He has agreed to international interviews. but wanted the girls themselves to chat to the L'K press. Acting in the film is something that lreton would love and her background in theatre can only help. ‘Stuart writes so easily and so well. I can relate to the isolation of live and I could see this being a new type of musical that never patronises an audience. The characters are so accessible and — well. so normal.‘
It‘s a new type of musical for Scotland. certainly. but it wouldn't be the first time that a record has become a stage play and/or a musical film. Jesus Christ .S'u/n'rs‘tur. Erin: and Qumlmplmriu were all albums-to-films. ln hope and anticipation of a similar leap. Murdoch‘s wife. Marisa l’rivitera has been making a documentary about the (ill'l'G project from its conception. The Guardian will feature five exclusive episodes from l’rivitera’s film on its website. l’rivitera intends her final film to be a feature-length popumentary to submit to the film festival circuit.
Surely she will be partisan about her subject‘.’ She laughs. ‘Yes. of course I’m rooting for the project. but I can't control the outcome and I'll keep filming whatever it may be. I think people who see the film will also root for everyone involved. Whatever happens. it‘s been great capturing the process from the grassroots up.’
Producer. Barry Mendel agrees that the film needs time to grow from the album. ‘lt's the only way that anything good ever happens. Nothing good can be forced. (iood writing tends to come from within. not without. One has to be patient with that.‘
So. every few years. the Scottish film industry comes up with a belter of a film ((ircguijv”s (iirl. Local Hero or 'l'rainspntting) that succeeds internationally. while remaining true to the idiosyncrasies of Scottish life we all recognise and celebrate. We see ourselves portrayed with affection on a world stage and we‘re thrilled by it. (‘ould (ii-[TU have the ingredients to transport us to those heady heights'.’ ‘Well. I don‘t want to jinx it.‘ says Murdoch. with classic Scots canniness.
If the film takes off. any appreciation of
success won't be lost on Murdoch. He is open about the fact that his songs and script are partly autobiographical. llis young characters are caught between teenage and adult worlds. struggling to find comfort. wading through illness and experimentation (‘buying hallucinogens from a pair of hooligans‘). Murdoch himself spent many years laid low with (‘hronic Fatigue Syndrome. Writing songs was the beginning of his recovery and a turning point in his life. On 'l’erfection as a Hipster". guest vocalist. Neil llannon (The Divine (‘omedyl sings about the irony of missing your moment. ‘My dream was realised and l was sleeping.‘ Not this time. surely.
God Help the Girl is released on Matador records on Mon 23 Jun.
GOD HEEL? THE GlRL
MAGNA
Stuart Murdoch isn’t the first artist to score a movie that never got off the ground. Mark Robertson digs out more intriguing incidentals “W BRIAN ENO Music for Films (56 1978) The original electronica egghead created three volumes of sonic trickery that helped define the notion of ‘ambient' music for many with these textured. otherworldly soundscapes. Oddly enough, he never actually wrote music for a film until the tunes he and U2 produced as Passengers when they recorded songs for Heat. Ghost in the Shell, Miss Sarajevo and Beyond the Clouds.
PAUL HAIG Cinematique (LTM 1991) The reclusive one-time Josef K man has issued three albums of ‘themes to unknown films'. harnessing his love of luscious synth pop and classic swing in his own sweet. if eccentric style.
DAVID HOLMES This Film ’3 Crap, Let’s Slash the Seats!
(Go! Discs 1995)
With Holmes' first album as an artist. the Belfast-born DJ indulged his love of all things cinematic in his own uncompromising way. from the brooding Craig Armstrong—alike strings down to the punkish title. Something of a calling card, the album‘s retro funk and widescreen electronics paved the way for him doing real soundtracks. including Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight and Ocean '3 7 7.
BARRY ADAMSON Moss Side Story
(Mute 1998)
The record that brought Adamson into his own as a solo artist after spells with Magazine. Visage and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds is a breathtaking imagined film noir set on the grimy Manchester streets he grew up in, replete with breathless dialogue. Lalo Shifrin and Leornard Bernstein-inspired shrills and growls. Despite having recorded several other imagined soundtracks this remains the definitive Adamson album.
\HISH’ hIIH-I K'I'IHRV
NINE INCH NAILS Year Zero (Interscope 2007)
Trust Trent Reznor to render his own apocalyptic vision of the future in musical form for us. There was talk of Year Zero's bleak, Big Brother-ish dystopia being made into a TV series and, while Reznor said last year the project was ‘still churning along'. it appears to be languishing in develooment hell.
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