Mojo – Storytelling
01st July 2002
Record Review

Film soundtrack the director intended to represent ‘a housewife stroking her favourite soap flakes box’
When director Todd Solondz asked Belle And Sebastian to write the music for Storytelling, they developed material that commented on the film’s characters. An approach – exemplified by Simon And Garfunkel’s music for The Graduate – which seems in danger of extinction with soundtracks often merely major label shop windows.
Unfortunately, only six minutes of these deftly orchestrated tracks were actually used for the film. What wasn’t deemed right was worked up anyway and this typical example of the group’s barbed sweetness is now more a commentary on the film. Black And White Unite (which wouldn’t have been out of place in The Graduate) is particularly delicious and instrumentals like Consuelo and Fuck This Shit are beautifully realised. Cut with snippets of dialogue, the album only stretches to 35 minutes but its quality more than compensates.

Mike Barnes

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