Vincent Gallo
Recordings of Music For Film
Warp
Following the swooning melodies of his melancholy Warp debut When, egomaniac Vincent Gallo has rummaged through his dusty boxes to offer up a back catalog of bizarre noise. 29 tracks in 60 minutes could work on your average punk record, but this is by no means even closely related. Ranging from scraping, whaling bursts like “Brown Lung Hollering” to the sultry and cinematic “The Way it Is Waltz,” this nine-year time capsule of music from ‘79-‘88 might seem the best defense yet of Gallo’s true talent.
1983 was perhaps the most prolific year for Gallo, at least in this set, with 15 esoteric instrumentals paving the way for the auteur’s blues-folk meddling circa 1988. Besides Buffalo ‘66, the remaining films these tunes were created for seem to be 8mm Gallo experimentations, with obviously Buffalo being the most realized, musically and visually. Submerged funk interludes like “Drowning In Brown” only sprinkle incoherence on such a collection as this, but therein lies the art, I suppose.
The multifaceted lothario’s warped (pun intended) vision and difficult reputation at times belies the simplistic beauty that can be found on many of these tracks. But it is his domineering nature with any career endeavor that only further develops his mystique. Whether he’s a mad genius or just a pretentious has-been, Gallo’s early recordings here are worthy enough to nullify that argument for a moment, giving us ample time to soak in the eerie calm this meandering music provides.
Warp Records: http://www.warprecords.com • Vincent Gallo: http://www.vincentgallo.com
