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Rresponsible for indie hits like Midsommar, Moonlight and Everything Everywhere All at Once, US film company A24 has built a huge lifestyle brand around its cult reputation, flogging everything from branded shorts ($48) to Heirloom gingerbread set ($62). Now, after a reissue based on Jonathan Demme Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Senseits accompanying merch includes a tribute album featuring all 16 songs from the film’s soundtrack, covered by suitably hip musicians.
The songs largely take one of two different approaches. Artists opting for a karaoke style include Toro y Moi (Genius of Love), The National (Heaven) and Paramorewhose faithful version of Burning Down the House features a rocking vocal from Hayley Williams but isn’t particularly compelling.
Attempts to reimagine the songs feel wildly detached from the source material. DJ Tunez turns the itchy paranoia of Life During Wartime into a strange laid-back jazz, Miley Cyrus the lifeless version of Psycho Killer features an inexplicable lyric change (“Psycho killer / Gonna love you forever”) and Kevin Abstract somehow transforms Once In a Lifetime into a silent song. The overwhelming feeling is that the leftovers from the production are being used.
There are a few exceptions: Lorde’s Take Me to the River and Linda Lindas’ Found a Job are lively and fun to say the least, and the Spanish-language version of Slippery People by Argentine band El Mato a un Policia Motorizado is slippery enigmatic. But even they are slightly distracting at best. It feels telling that the LP is listed as a “collector’s value” on A24’s website: Stop Making Sense is one of the most wondrous works of art from the 80s, but Everyone’s Getting Involved is just content.
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