Eerie and spectacular soundtracks

Vampires are all the rage nowadays. Now just in case, you haven’t heard, Bella Swan of Twilight, is not the only female of our times, who became famous for falling in love with a vampire. There is also Sookie Stackhouse, a clairvoyant waitress from the swamps of Louisiana, and the object of her affections, or I should say obsession is Bill, a vampire who has lived for ages and who drinks the synthetic blood called True Blood.

I do not know why Charlaine Harris, the writer of the Sookie Stackhouse books on which the series is based, named her lead characters Sookie and Bill. Those are not very gothic or intriguing monickers. But HBO, as producer, more than makes up for that. Now on its third season, True Blood is an addicting fantasy with macabre humor, pathos, suspense and engrossing love scenes.

And there is quite a lot of the latter, much, much more than the adolescent fans of Twilight can ever dream of. Remember this is HBO, which is known for pushing the envelope with series like Rome and Six Feet Under. Then True Blood is shown on cable, where do’s and don’ts about what to show or say, are more relaxed. So not only do the lead stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer heat up the screen, the things going on around them like drug addiction, racial conflict, family problems, etc. are also more adult.

Like the series, the music from True Blood, is eerie, edgy and fascinating. That is the score, which, however, is not available. Perhaps the producers will decide to release that in another CD later. What is now available is a soundtrack album with songs used in Season One. It is a mixed bag with soul, Lake Charles by Lucinda Williams country, rock, Bones by Little Big Town and even the novelty tunes from The Flying Burrito Brothers, Christine’s Tune (Aka DeVil in Disguise).

An atmospheric cut or two from the score would have beefed up the package. But this should suffice for now. Besides, I can say that the lead cut, the theme Bad Things by Jace Everett, pretty much sets the mood for fans to replay the engrossing episodes. Now if you really want to hear all the songs, get the boxed sets of the three seasons. Then prepare to spend the next few days vegging out before your TV set. 

Also included in the True Blood soundtrack CD are Bleed 2 Feed by C.C. Adcock, Lafayette Marquis; Give It Up by Lee Dorsey; Swampblood by The Legendary Shack Shakers; Play With Fire by Cobra Verde; Just Like Heaven by The Watson Twins; Two by Ryan Adams; Strange Love by Slim Harpo; From A Whisper To A Scream by Allen Toussaint; I Don’t Wanna Know by Dr. John; and Golden State by John Doe and Kathlee Edwards.

And now, here is another new soundtrack you might want to check out: Spectacular! which has music from the original Nickelodeon movie. This is to let you know that Disney is not the only producer of musical TV movies for tweens and their families. Nickelodeon also makes the stuff and Spectacular! has young, attractive stars who can also sing. 

The story centers around aspiring idol Nolan Gerard Funk who is torn between becoming a rock star or helping out his school show choir win the national competition. For conflict, his big break as a rocker and the finals happen on the same night. Check with the Nick channel for Spectacular! skeds to find out what happens. 

The soundtrack has a nice pop line-up that kids can sing along with. It has Nolan singing rock and pop alone and with the group that became Spectacular! His solos are Don’t Tell Me, Break My Heart and Your Own Way. He duets with the lovely Tammin Sursok in For The First Time and Tammin, in turn sings Dance With Me and Just Freak. Also featured is the group TA DA with Lonely Love Song, Wings Of A Dream and Things We Do For Love. Then everybody comes together for Something to Believe In, Everything Can Change and Eye of the Tiger as Spectacular!