standells's Full Review: The September Sessions (Sdtk) by Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson is best known as the laid back, catchy singer many have come to enjoy since his 2001 debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. However, before he became known as a singer-songwriter, he earned a bachelor’s degree in film and surfed, and was sponsored by Quiksilver. He has directed two surfing documentaries. The September Sessions is one of them.
The September Sessions is a half hour surfing film and features some great surfing photography, but what truly makes the film memorable is the use of the excellent variety music to reflect the images on screen. The soundtrack has two songs sung by Johnson, and the rest is by other excellent artists.
Johnson has two songs on the soundtrack and both are performed live. Jimmy Buffett’s A Pirate Looks at 40 opens the album and Johnson’s own F-Stop Blues closes it. I like how Johnson chooses to start the soundtrack with something new, and closes with something familiar. F-Stop Blues previously appeared on his first release, Brushfire Fairytales. Both songs are played in the typical Jack Johnson style: simple, minimal accompaniment, and in the perfect mood for relaxing in the backyard.
Two tunes by the September Sessions Band, What Would You Rather Do and Thug Style, have the same feel but What Would You Rather Do is significantly better than the other. The percussion solos are excellent and the groove is very catchy. Thug Style keeps an unobtrusive mood throughout, and doesn’t really go anywhere in its groove.
Grey’s Groove by Greyboy (feat. Karl Denson) brings us into jazz territory. However, the piece is closer to the electronic jazz style of St. Germain than anything vintage. The entire piece is based upon only two chords played on the piano, but Karl Denson’s flute solo throughout the entire piece helps keep things interesting along with the occasional horn section entry. It’s not one of my favourites, but it definitely has some moments.
G. Love & Special Sauce’s contribution to the soundtrack, Willow Tree, has the Jack Johnson style to it even though G. Love appeared on the music scene well before Johnson. This is very different from G. Love’s other material, where usually a bit more R&B influence is evident. The song is good, and blends with the rest of the album well.
The sequencing of the soundtrack is especially interesting. The two middle tracks, Ozomatli’s Super Bowl Sundae and Ganges A Go-Go by Bombay the Hard Way are a very different style than the rest of the album. The placement of these two tracks creates a climax when listening to the soundtrack in sequence. These songs are upbeat and nowhere near as mellow as what comes before or after them.
Ozomatli’s Super Bowl Sundae got me hooked on the group. Ozomatli create a unique blend of funk, rap, and latin influences in all of their music. I have since become of a major fan. Ozomatli is comprised of an excellent horn section, talented vocalists/rappers and some fantastic turntable skills from Cut Chemist for this song.
Beat Down Sound’s Piglet’s Lament is another highlight of the album. When one thinks of a lament, a slow, mournful melody is what comes to mind. Beat Down Sound uses this principle, but skillfully transforms a single motif into an excellent laid back funk groove. The minimal instrumentation: Rhodes keyboard, bass and drums, along with some electronic sounds only makes it better.
My only complaint is that the disc is only 36 minutes long. Maybe they could have put some extra material. But then again, how much music can you expect on the soundtrack of a film that was only around 30 minutes long? And then there’s the added rights for more material on the disc… it all comes down to business. Overall, it’s a very good soundtrack with some memorable songs.
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