Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
More Music From the Motion Picture
Maverick
OK, Austin Powers soundtrack producers, you can come back now – all is forgiven. Regular Ink 19 readers may recall that a few months ago, I lambasted the producers of the first soundtrack album to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me for leaving one of the musical highlights of the film, They Might Be Giants’ brilliantly campy spy-movie theme, “Dr. Evil,” off the soundtrack album. Well, it’s here in all its glory, along with a lot of other great music that didn’t make it onto the first record. In fact, I’d almost go so far as to say that this second set of tunes makes for a better soundtrack album than the first; instead of relying on superstar names, the disc concentrates on a swingin’ ’60s atmosphere that’s wholly appropriate to the movie. In fact, a large portion of this record is dedicated to ’60s originals that either appeared in (the Monkees’ “I’m A Believer,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride,” Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On” – OK, the last is a 70’s tune) or were covered by ’90s artists in the movie (the original versions of the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” pop up).
Filling out the record are a few originals – notably the aforementioned TMBG track and a brand new tune from the sorely-missed Bangles, “Get The Girl,” which could have easily fit in on one of their early albums – and three examples of what director Jay Roach refers to in the liner notes as “60’s electronica.” These are tracks from 90’s electronic artists using 60’s grooves, and they’re all a blast – from the Lords of Acid’s naughty, campy “Am I Sexy?” to the Propellerheads’ surf-tastic, beat-crazy “Crash!” to the space-age lounge of Fantastic Plastic Machine’s “Bachelor Pad.”
A medley from George S. Clinton’s score and a great remix of Madonna’s “Beautiful Stranger” – hey, it’s her label – round out a satisfying set of tunes that just makes me want to see the movie again and again, especially since the disc is peppered with memorable bits of dialogue. Hey, how convenient – the movie comes out on video this month…
