Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/15/2007
This musical accompaniment to director
Julian Temple's biopic of the late
Joe Strummer obliterates the traditional
soundtrack formula, turning the whole listening experience into an 80-minute radio show, hosted by the inimitable singer/producer/
punk rock icon himself.
Strummer, a lifelong devotee to the power of radio (he would often bring a transistor on-stage, hold it up to the microphone, and religiously tune in whatever beat-heavy, underground station popped up first), had his own program on
the BBC that revolved around his myriad influences and notorious gift for gab. Like
Little Steven's
Underground Garage program, the music was steeped in its creator's psyche, with old and new favorites inciting rants, raves, and stories that were just as entertaining as the songs themselves.
Strummer, a die-hard supporter of
world music, filled the airwaves with as many
dub,
Latin,
urban folk, and Middle Eastern dance tracks as he did rare
Clash cuts and tracks from
rock & roll outsiders like
Tim Hardin,
the MC5, and
Nina Simone, a discipline that's executed perfectly on this lovingly compiled window into the soul of one of popular culture's most inclusive and influential voices.
~James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide