All I can tell you about director Sandra Goldbacher's new film Me Without You is that it's a coming of age story that takes place in the late '70s and the early '80s, it centers around two English girls who are best friends, one of the lead actresses is from the Dawson's Creek TV show, and that the movie has been getting some favorable reviews. Fact is, as I write this, it doesn't open across all of North America for another couple of weeks. But I do have the soundtrack CD sitting in front of me, so this review will be based solely on the quality of the songs. Whether they work in the movie will be up to you to decide.
Judging from listening to the CD a few times, Me Without You must be a smart movie, because this is one smartly assembled soundtrack. When you're choosing songs from the late '70s and early '80s, you have no shortage of great ones to select, and for once, this album was put together by someone who actually knows something about the music from that era.
Take the late '70s era, for instance. Here, two songs by The Clash take center stage, in the form of two outright classics, the ferocious, incendiary "White Riot", and, arguably The Clash's best single ever, "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais", the band's astonishing blend of punk and reggae. The late '70s reggae scene from the time is well represented by Dillinger's wicked "Cocaine in My Brain". Another outstanding selection is The Normal's seminal, minimalist electropop classic "Warm Leatherette" (which some younger listeners might recall Chicks on Speed covering recently). It would have been easy to select some of the more well-known songs of the time, but the soundtrack producers here plundered the vaults, coming up with two more overlooked gems: Wreckless Eric's '60s garage revival "The Whole Wide World" (produced by Nick Lowe in 1977), and The Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet", an intoxicating tune that sounds like the Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley singing a Rick Springfield song (I mean that in a good way).
Seven of the soundtrack's songs come from the early '80S. Scottish singer Barbara Dickson's sugary-sweet "January February", and Charlene's schlock classic "I've Never Been to Me" are two guilty pleasures. The other five songs, though, all come from the same '80s New Wave era, from Depeche Mode's early hit "I Just Can't Get Enough", to Echo & the Bunnymen's classic "The Cutter", to Adam & the Ants' "Kings of the Wild Frontier", to the synth pop of Scritti Politti's "The Sweetest Girl". The Stranglers, a mediocre band whose only memorable contribution to rock music was their silly "Peaches", surface on Me Without You with their 1984 minor hit "Skin Deep".
Three songs from the late '60s/early '70s are thrown into the mix as well. Nick Drake's sublimely beautiful "Cello Song" shows it still holds its own after 30 years, and the spectacular, slinky folk-blues of Tim Buckley's Strange Feelin'" is a stirring reminder that his son Jeff wasn't the only one in the family with loads of talent. Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" is the only song on the album that doesn't quite fit in.
Bookended by two newer songs, Swedish popsters Lucy Street's remake of the theme song from the '70s UK television series White Horses, and Super Furry Animals' recent work of pop genius, "(Drawing) Rings Around the World", Me Without You is one of the best soundtracks I've heard in the past year. Too many movie soundtracks are just quickie marketing tie-ins, with the songs chosen in order to appeal to a certain age group, and to boost album sales of new artists (don't tell me The Hives' North American sales didn't benefit from being on the cheesy Spider-Man soundtrack), but this one is a rare exception. Its songs were obviously chosen by people who have a deep appreciation for good music, and this terrific combination works so well, that you wind up feeling you should see the movie, based on the choices of songs alone. Which is quite a compliment.
— 31 July 2002
