Search - Tim Gane & Sean O'Hagan :: La Vie D'artiste

Neither Here Nor There

Brian J. Greene | Durham, NC | 10/10/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Not sure what to think of this one. Tim Gane (Stereolab) and Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas) are two of my favorite musicians, and the idea of them doing a soundtrack together is a great concept. I know Gane in particular is an afficionado of soundtrack music, particulary Italian soundtracks from the 60s and 70s. And these pieces sound very much like they could be the backing music for an Italian crime movie from the early 70s. So the plate is kind of set for this to be a perfect little soundtrack album, but somehow it comes up short. There is nothing on it (and that's out of 45 tracks, if you include the bonus disc included in the special edition) that grabs you and makes you want to hear it again. At the same time, everything is perfectly pleasant, and interesting enough to keep you listening, even if you are not awed. I know I will keep this around, because it will be fun to pull of tracks from it to put on mix CDs, but really I feel like it could have, and should have, been something more than what it is."