"Return to Cold Mountain" is another beautiful collection of authentic American folk music, it has been a good attempt to rediscover and rescue this genre. The album is inspired in the movie Cold Mountain with performances from Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renée Zellweger. I am not sure if this album is something that most Drexel inner-city folks would truly appreciate, yet I should be confident in Drexel's background variety. The album is indeed tedious because it is basically the same type of music and rhythms; it is only appreciated after having watched the actual movie. In fact, it seems that the success of the soundtrack is very dependable on the success of the movie. The album also seems fragile because of its unique, forgotten music genre, which appeals only to a very selective group of people.
When listening to "The Return to Cold Mountain," you will be taken back to the time of the Civil War in the southern states. The soundtrack represents a much finer country music found in the Appalachian Mountains. It also seems to have a closer connection to Celtic music perhaps because of the extensive use of the fiddle. "... the misty isolation of North Carolina's recumbent but rugged mountains had preserved antique British folk songs in a purer state ..." Return to Cold Mountain's Liner Note Author, Craig Havighurst, said.
The good part of this album is that there are mostly short songs no longer than three minutes.
The best tracks are number 2 and 9, Pretty Polly and Shady Grove respectively, the singers' voices, Michael Farr and Laura Boosinger, sounds like that of Jude Law and Nicole Kidman; it totally matches the movie plot. Also, track number four, Lorena, interestingly has a tune similar to "Oh my darling Clementine"
Besides rescuing this type of music, the soundtrack also brings to light local artist from the Appalachians area such as Steve McMurry, Larry and Jenny Keel, Bryan Sulton, Jim Lauderdale and Jack Lawrence.
Rating: 5 Triangles
© Copyright 2007 The Triangle
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