Daily Staff Writer

“Great Expectations” Soundtrack

Various Artists

The soundtrack to the recently released movie of Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name raises some obvious questions. Is the soundtrack great? Does it live up to expectations?

The answers to both of these questions are rather mixed. The soundtrack is average. It has a few great songs, a bunch of mediocre songs and a couple of awful ones.

In this sense, it does live up to expectations. After all, how many soundtracks are out there that are completely filled with great material? Not many.

Among the horrible songs is Tori Amos’ “Siren,” and her instrumental vocalization called “Finn.” The former is stifled by its annoying background of disconnected piano chords, while the latter is choked to death by a broken melody.

The mediocre songs include Duncan Shiek’s “Wishful Thinking,” Poe’s “Today,” and The Verve Pipe’s “Her Ornament.” These artists are all capable of making great music, so it is anybody’s guess as to why the songs seem so pale and lifeless.

Of course, each soundtrack is expected to have a couple of old classics and a batch of songs that were “inspired” by the movie, but weren’t actually in it. The classics on this CD are Iggy Pop’s “Success” and the Grateful Dead’s “Uncle John’s Band.” The former is not one of Iggy Pop’s greatest songs and it seems completely out of place on this soundtrack. The latter is vintage Dead, enough said.

The “inspired” songs are mediocre at best, and completely ignorable. This includes David Garza’s “Slave,” Fisher’s “Breakable” and Reef’s “Resignation.”

But there are some great songs that more than make up for the abundance of garbage that is on this CD, songs that actually make this soundtrack worth purchasing.

Try Chris Cornell’s “Sunshower,” for instance. This song, which has been getting heavy radio rotation, features Cornell’s dynamic vocal range, a flamenco guitar and excellent lyrics. In fact, “Sunshower” is just as good as Cornell’s other solo work, “Seasons,” from the “Singles” soundtrack.

Or try Scott Wieland’s “Lady, Your Roof Brings Me Down.” It is a very quirky song complete with a catchy melody and chorus. Imagine a collage of big band, Italian and carnival music — absolutely surreal. Plus, this song features Sheryl Crow on accordion. How bizarre is that?

Other highlights include Mono’s “Life In Mono,” which sets a Victorian orchestra to a techno beat, and Pulp’s “Like A Friend,” with its dynamic vocals and stirring lyrics.

The “Great Expectations” soundtrack might be a hit-and-miss prospect, but the hits more than make up for the misses.

3 1/2 stars out of five

— Ben Jones

“Maybe It’s Me”

Treble Charger

Treble Charger is a power pop band out of Toronto, Canada, that — to date — has not been noticed in the U.S. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been noticed on a grand scale in Canada.

Treble Charger’s debut CD “nc-17” made enormous waves in the Canadian music scene, capturing the Canadian CASBY award for favorite new act in 1994.

The band followed up that tremendous accomplishment with a self-titled EP featuring a three hour CD-ROM track showcasing a plethora of Treble Charger’s favorite indie acts. A label change and a couple years later, “Maybe It’s Me” has finally been released.

The CD has a unique and balanced sound that powers 13 songs that don’t become boring but definitely stay true to the over-arching sounds that have defined the band.

Blending a garage caliber power guitar quality with the top notch hooks and loops of an established and tested pop band, Treble Charger has made a sound all its own.

Greig Nori glides around the occasional heavy chord with a soft yet catchy voice that really defines Treble Charger’s sound as pop. The final product has become a Ben Folds Five meets Oasis sort of sound, borrowing Oasis’ unyielding pop sound with the harmonies and refined vocal quality of Ben Folds Five.

Each of the 13 songs offer a catchy and unique sound, showcasing Nori’s soft vocals and highlighting bandmates Bill Priddle, Trevor Macgregor and Rosie Martin’s abilities in encasing the song in a heavy hitting pop that doesn’t destroy the fragile vocals.

With Oasis now getting a lukewarm response and no apparent successor to the foreign pop throne, we need look no further than Toronto for an heir. Treble Charger has all the qualities and skills to be an international phenomenon, and “Maybe It’s Me” should take its place at the top of the pop charts.

5 stars out of five

— David Faux

“A Go Go”

John Scofield

There are two kinds of jazz — old school and new wave. Old school jazz includes the likes of Nat King Cole, Muddy Waters and J.J. Johnson. They invented modern jazz.

New wave jazz is another sound that is constantly being recreated, and John Scofield, who is not new to the world of jazz, is at the forefront of this development.

To best describe Scofield’s technique, it’s best to go to the source.

“It’s instrumental music with a firm base in jazz traditions — shaded by samplings of rock, rhythm and blues and even country,” Scofield has said.

The combination of these genres can be found on Scofield’s upcoming CD release, “A Go Go.” The CD will be released this spring.

Technically, the music is very tight and put together. Scofield, along with featured musicians Billy Martin, John Medeski and Chris Wood, are infallible as they combine electric and acoustic guitars, percussion, an organ, wurlitzer and clavinet in their playing abilities.

The aesthetics of the CD fare far differently, especially for the trained ear of Miles Davis (who Scofield toured with for three years). The first song, “A Go Go,” is almost like stepping into what you think is going to be a warm shower and being overly surprised when it is ice cold.

The CD requires at least two or three times in the stereo before you can forgive Scofield for the elevator music and synthisized sounds, and before you are able to concentrate on the experimentation he is renowned for.

Although a bit creative and a bit unpredictable, this CD is by far not Scofield’s best. “A Go Go” is not destined to take jazz by storm.

2 stars out of five.

— Heather McClure