One of my old film professors used to say that one had never really seen a film unless they had watched it at least once with the sound off. Audio—be it music, or sound—adds so much detail to a moving picture that sometimes the viewer misses a few visual nuances because they’re also busy listening. While my professor’s approach might be an extreme way to evaluate a movie, there’s no denying that music and film have long had a strong cooperative association. Long before film even had sound, there was always an attempt to fill the auditory gap.
While the days of the chart-topping soundtrack albums are long gone, there are still some directors who lean heavily on the mixtape concept to source sound for their films, and Wes Anderson is one of them. Marty Isenberg is a bassist and composer based in New York City and on July 7th, he’ll release his newest collection of songs pulled from, and inspired by, the films of Wes Anderson. The album will be titled, The Way I Feel Inside and it will be released on the Truth Revolution Recording Collective label. The music is stellar, of course, but the icing on the cake is the album cover which was illustrated by Renan Campus who tapped into the wonder of Anderson’s aesthetic palette.
Marty and I delve not only into the music that Wes Anderson has employed in his films, but we talk a bit about the films themselves. We also discuss the players that Isenberg employed on his auditorily filmic adventure including the outstanding work of Sami Stevens who added vocals to many of the album’s tracks, adding a crucial layer of dynamism and lyrical context to Isenberg’s vision. So, the lights are going down, join me and Marty as we take our seats and listen to the movies of Wes Anderson. Maybe my old film professor should add another layer to his approach: perhaps one should listen to a film at least once without watching it.
Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.
