Aug 30, 2016 In the mood for records
Technically, the jettone 25th Anniversary Special Edition records are not reissues because these particular Wong Kar Wai soundtracks never came out on vinyl. But if you are a hardcore fan who bought the original CDs when they came out, do you really need to put out for the fancy new, thick slabs of wax in gorgeous gatefold packaging with huge inserts featuring unseen photos and posters? You already know the answer in your heart, but maybe I can help loosen your wallet with some photos and gushing.
Of course, the old CD versions already had thick booklets, postcards, and other packaging details making the releases not only media for aural enjoyment but fetish pieces to collect. In general, CDs from Hong Kong have a lot of extras to fight wack pirated versions but WKW soundtracks possess impeccable jettone style and production value, and beg to be flipped through and admired during listening. They look damn good on your shelf and I had WKW sign my Ashes of Time and Chungking Express CDs when he spoke at UCLA ages ago… Even better.
But it sure feels good to play Happy Together on a record player. All fans know that the tracks jump from one style to another, going from the Tropacalia master Caetano Veloso to the art jams of Frank Zappa to Danny Chung’s arena rock take on the title song, but have a somber, nostalgic, and late-night tone throughout. Perfect for an evening in a lonely room next to an illuminated waterfall picture. The booklet might have the closest thing to liner notes in English with a telling note from WKW about his view toward film music: “To me, movies are always about sights and sounds. Music is part of the sounds.”
Fallen Angels might be the most straightforward movie of the batch but it also has the more disjointed soundtrack, going from the Massive Attack-sampling thump of the “Killing” scenes to the X-Files-esque atmospheric stuff. The track-by-track listings on the old CD and new LP are identical, which means lots of Frankie Chan and Roel Garcia (which is cool) but no Laurie Anderson or Shirley Kwan’s take on Teresa Teng (not cool). I have to be honest and say that this is the soundtrack I’ll listen to least but it’s also the booklet I’ll flip through the most, showcasing Christopher Doyle and WKW going out of their minds!
Ashes of Time Redux is a different story. My CD is the original Roel Garcia and Frankie Chan score, but the new version is the orchestrated Redux version. Looks like there’s an Ashes of Time Redux CD that came out when I wasn’t looking, and this one has those 16 tracks (only 15 on the original) but features new arrangements and performances by the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra plus Yo-Yo Ma cello solos. It reminds more of an epic Western soundtrack than the more raw original which could have come out of a sci-fi B movie. Wow! But this record sounds great and will make your day feel a lot more heroic.
Is Chungking Express or In the Mood for Love the most beloved movie by WKW? In this case, it doesn’t matter because only one soundtrack got the deluxe treatment. And, holy cow, is it awesome to drop a needle onto In The Mood For Love. The mix of orchestral pieces, Chinese opera, and Spanish versions of Nat King Cole songs are like the atoms that Pizzicato Five arranged into molecules, and will put anyone in the mood for you know what. “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” alone is worth the cost of admission. Missing from the record (like the CD) is Bryan Ferry’s version of the title song but Roxy Music is another obsession to write about on another day…
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