Shortbus

His follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch may not be a music movie per se, but music is indeed important to the aesthetic of John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus. While some soundtracks go out of the way to be diverse, this one prefers a uniform mood, and that mood is reflective, relatively lo-fi indie rock. This is exemplified by Scott Matthew's five new tracks. The first, "Upside Down," gives off a strong whiff of late-period Magnetic Fields (maybe it's the ukulele), and the remaining four stay within these parameters of predominantly acoustic, forlorn introspection. Other paragons of American indie creativity include Yo La Tengo (the previously unreleased "Wizard's Sleeve"), Azure Ray, Animal Collective, and guest Canadians the Hidden Cameras. Rocker and former MuchMusic VJ Sook-Yin Lee (who plays a sex therapist in the movie) sings one of the best tracks, the pared-down but catchy "Beautiful." Two songs by Sweden's the Ark mercifully inject a welcome dose of disco excitement, while jazz singer Anita O'Day sounds as fantastically smoky as ever on "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." Look also for Justin Bond (a.k.a. Kiki of Kiki and Herb) as he delivers the elegiac coda with the melancholy "In the End." --Elisabeth Vincentelli

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