Naim Amor "Soundtracks, Volume II"

*Snap, Snap*

Man, this guy's hep. His music is cooooollll, so hey, why don't we go back to my love grotto, get into the groove of this record, and see what else we might get. Let's slip out of these black turtlenecks and into a dry mart....

Oh, sorry about that...See, I'm really getting into the vibe and the vibes of Naim Amor's Soundtracks, Volume II. This record is really a synthesis of everything that's been cool for the past fifty years. Amor is a talented instrumentalist who has collaborated with Calexico and has released many of his own solo records, though this is the first time I've heard his work outside of his Calexico collaboration, ABBC. It's no matter, though, because upon first listen, you'll realized you've heard Amor before.

Where have you heard him? Let's list them, shall we?

--When you hear "While They Were Happy," you're listening to cool jazz from the 1950s, a la Modern Jazz Quartet.
--When you hear "Naima," you're listening to a straighforward cover of John Coltrane's hit from the early 1960s.
--When you hear "Tap Room," you're listening to any number of movie and/or Love Boat soundtracks circa 1970s
--When you hear "The Flag" or "Dawn," you're listening to the same ideas that came from Jon Hassel or Harold Budd in the 1980s
--When you hear "Le Tropicana Club" or "Jon Le Falmbeur," you're listening to indie-rock jazz a la Tortoise, The Coctails or and/or Sea and Cake

Really, that's it. The rest of the album sounds like a mixture of all of the above, and it sounds really...good. Soundtracks, Volume II is a record that's simply cool. It could be John Barry. It could be Morricone. It could be Stereolab. It could be anyone who does anything good, and Amor's done something good here. The album promises to be the soundtracks for films never made, and it's certainly that; each of these songs has a really relaxing, pleasant and simple rhythm that could fill any number of scenes in any number of films. That he's asked his friends from the Tuscon area to join him only gives his already brilliant ideas even more brilliance--do you think Calexico is the only talent in town? Hardly.

That Soundtracks is Amor's second volume of mellow jazz-rock implies that there's more on the way, and I hope so, because this little, too-brief record is simply ear candy that deserves to be heard. Not too snobby, not too elitist, Soundtracks Volume II is music for the masses. Not that it's made for them, but the masses sure could use a relaxing musical balm such as this. Enjoy and ignore at your own peril.

--Joseph Kyle

Artist Website: http://www.amormusic.com
Label Website: http://www.giantsand.com