Pages tagged “scarlett johansson”

New Standards
By: Matt Fink

Similar to Tom Waits’ starring role as a hard-luck DJ in Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law, Johansson’s decision to make an album of Waits songs is a can’t-lose proposition, a left-field creative exercise that’s insulated from criticism because it’s so free of vanity and opportunism. But where Waits’ genius lies in his ability to create songs that sound like they were found in a forgotten vault in the Library of Congress, Johansson and her collaborators bravely twist the material away from its timeless appeal, turning Waits’ greasy originals into glistening pop songs that sound like they could have been released on 4AD in the mid ’80s. They trade boozy sprawl for exacting precision, whirring organs and shoegazey guitar fuzz to make a wall of reverb on “Falling Down.” And the clicking drum machine and crystalline synths of “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” create a shimmering counterpoint to the junkyard grit of Waits’ original. The classic “Fannin’ Street” is remade as an ethereal girl-group epic, and “No One Knows I’m Gone” becomes an ominously rumbling space drone. Through it all, Johansson is just another instrument in the mix, and her willingness to allow the arrangements to transform Waits’ creaky intimacy into wide-eyed atmosphere ultimately results in the rare covers album that actually has its own identity.

Sub-Standard
By: Amanda Petrusich

Recording a full-length album of Tom Waits covers is a daunting—some might say futile, others hubristic—undertaking for even the most experienced of vocalists, let alone a 23-year-old starlet making her recording debut. On Anywhere I Lay My Head, Johansson transforms Waits’ lurching compositions into thick, druggy dirges muttered in flat baritones. Waits’ legendary caterwauls tend to be the central focus of his songs, but Johansson’s vocals are buried so deep in the mix that it’s often difficult to discern her singing from the layers and layers of studio atmospherics. And while Waits’ vocals propel his songs in remarkable ways, Johansson’s singing feels strangely sluggish and plodding, which may have been the point. Producer David Sitek (TV on the Radio) claims they were pursuing a “cough medicine, Tinkerbell kind of vibe,” but it still doesn’t serve the work. Truth is, even if Johansson possessed golden pipes, this project would still be hopelessly ill-conceived: These songs were already so impeccably performed that Johansson didn’t have very many new places to take them, and although her effort and nerve are commendable, “not as terrible as you thought it would be” just isn’t the same thing as good.

In preparation for the May 20 release of Scarlett Johansson’s much-hyped debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head (or is it in celebration of the fact that a certain blonde actress-turned-singer is on the cover of a certain magazine?), the video for her first single has been released online. The clip is for the song “Fallin Down,” from Wait’ 1988 album, Big Time.

All but one of the album’s 11 tracks are Waits covers (the other is an original song written by Johansson entitled “Song for Jo”), and altogether Anywhere I Lay My Head covers 30 years and eight albums of Waits’ career.

Come May 20, Anywhere I Lay My Head will be available both at record stores and online, including ScarlettAlbum.com.

Last but certainly not least, there will be ringtones available for “Falling Down” and “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up.” You know, if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, maybe this clip will be more to your liking:

Fallin’ Down:

Related links:
Cover Story: Scarlett Johansson – My Five Dads
Feature: Scarlett Johansson Talks about her Real Life Dad
News: Tom Waits Announces Summer Tour Plans

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

When I first encounter Scarlett Johansson, she's at a playground in NYC's West Village, conversing with a man at least twice her age. The two are seated. She's slightly hunched over, intent, gesturing. He's leaning back thoughtfully, legs cross, absorbing, considering. There are no squealing kids running around because Village Mega Playground is a full-service post-producting complex for film and television project. Meaning: No monkey bars, just bars down the street in which to monkey around. But Johansson doesn't have time for that right now. She's more interested in arriving at the final cut of her five-minute short film, which also happens to be the precocious 23-year-old actor's directorial debut.

In Paste's June cover feature on Scarlett Johansson, we focused on how she's been influenced personally and professionally by her five "dads" (Woody Allen, Bill Murray, Tom Waits, Barack Obama and Bob Dylan). Here's what she had to say about her actual dad:

Yes, Scarlett Johansson is beautiful in person. It's not an optical illusion or camera tricks or makeup magic or airbrushing. That's usually what people want to know when they find out you've interviewed her. Guys ask if she's real. Girls always—without fail, without hesitation—ask what she was wearing. What can I tell you about her that I don't mention in my June cover story? When answering a question, she'll look past you into space for the words. But then, without warning, she'll lock eyes with you mid-sentence, utterly confident in her ideas, even as they take shape.

The most animated she got during the interview was when we discussed her involvement in Barack Obama's campaign. She sat next to me on a couch, leaning forward, hunched over most of our chat, sliding one of her many rings on and off her finger, but when talking about the Illinois senator, she sat straight up and her face beamed with delight. Here are a few quotes from the interview that didn't make it into my piece.

On her first time meeting Obama:
"I remember the first time I met him, all I could say was like… I couldn’t believe that it was him, and I just heard him make this speech and I was really excited. He gave this great speech to a really intimate group, and he just came over to me – he was kind of edging… he was doing kind of the meet and greet, and it was like ‘Oh my god – he’s coming closer.’ I didn’t want to be, but somebody kind of forced me in, and was like this is Scarlett, and he said ‘Nice to meet you. I’m a fan. And thanks for coming out and supporting.’ And I’m like, instead of saying so many things that I could have said, I was just like ‘God. I love your wife! She’s great. I just love her.’ He was like ‘Oh good, good.’ I was like ‘Michelle – what a woman! What a strong…’ All I could talk about was Michelle, and at the end of it, he was like ‘Well I’ll let her know that you said that,’ or whatever.

When he walked away, I was like ‘Damn it! I’m such an idiot.’ Of course I meant what I said, but I could have said other things that would have been a little bit more poignant or something. But he kind of has that effect on you. He’s just so charismatic, and genuinely interested – not just that like politician that like stare through you and whispers ‘Who is this person? What’s her name?’ He’s actually a very casual conversationalist, and he’s interested, he’s direct – much like he is in his speech deliverance. So for me… I’ve totally geeked-out a couple of times. I’ve gotten better. The more times I’ve met him, he’s like ‘How’s it going?’ You’re on the trail together, and I’ve been a little less geeky. I just think he’s so inspiring, and I can’t wait to place my vote for him."

On what she perceives her filmmaking style to be:
"What I focus on, I guess, is the character development. I mean, not that that’s a thumbprint that you have on your film, but since I have my own personal aesthetic and how I want the film to look, but I wasn’t thinking about it from that aspect. I wanted to… it was important to me to have really compelling character development. So I guess above all things, that was important to me, whether that’s a style – it’s not really a style or choice, you know. Because all the styling of things, that comes with the – that’s like an afterthought. Of course you think about it. I mean I thought about it, and it’s amazing, because I was telling Craig [the editor] that the way the film is is exactly as I saw it in my mind. But I think that that all comes together with the story of the character, you know, you see – you envision the character going through… I try not to get caught up on like, the… Yes, it’s important – the look of it – but the thing is I didn’t look at the… The mood of the character is what affects the mood, the atmosphere.

All of the movies that I really connect to have – the production design is fantastic and the costumes are fantastic, and you notice those things, of course – but what really is driving those things is either like the flamboyant nature of the character or reserved, or you know whatever it may be, and even the music and everything comes – is built out of the character story."

On her relationship to the movie camera:
"I never felt awkward around the camera. I was never really aware that it was there. I had the same relationship a lot of actors have with the camera, which is almost like… like you weave your performance through the eyes of the lens, in a way. You’re aware and you’re not aware of it – all in the same time. I don’t know. But I was never self-conscious about being in front of the camera. Other things would have made me terribly self-conscious, but being in front of the camera, you’re not thinking about all the people that are going to some day see this film. It’s a very personal, intimate experience."

Read the full story in the June '08 issue of Paste, coming soon to a newsstand near you.

Let us all clap hands; it wasn't too good to be true! Word emerged recently that starlet Scarlett Johansson will indeed release her debut album this spring. And the nearly two-year-old rumors were spot-on: her publicist confirmed that it's a Tom Waits covers record. Titled Anywhere I Lay My Head (nabbed from the closing track on Waits' seminal 1985 album, Rain Dogs), the album will be released May 6 on Atco, a division of Warner/Rhino.

The 23-year-old actress (guess it's time to start adding "/singer") was on Paste's Arthouse Powerhouse 100 list in 2005 (check out the just-released 2008 Arthouse Powerhouse 100 here), and her pipes first got some of our attention when she sang "Brass in Pocket" in the unforgettable karaoke scene in 2003's Lost in Translation.

Since then, she's shared the stage with Jesus & Mary Chain at last year's Coachella and covered the Gershwin standard "Summertime" for Rhino's 2006 singing-celebs charity comp Unexpected Dreams: Songs From The Stars. Surely not coincidentally, Waits is a Gershwin fan, too—his 1978 live performance (mash-up?) of the Porgy and Bess tune with his own "Burma Shave" remains one of the most interesting reinterpretations of the oft-oft-oft-reinterpreted ditty.

Related links:
YouTube: Johansson's "Summertime" set to a montage of Lost in Translation clips
TomWaits.com
Stereogum: Tom Waits Talks ScarJo

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

If what recent media reports and blog posts are saying is true, Scarlett Johansson’s intended debut album will be a match made in husky-voiced heaven.

As first reported by FoxNews, the actress has plans to make a foray into the music industry—but, in typical Johansson style, her debut will feature anything but the requisite Hollywood-starlet-gone-songbird fare.

Instead, Johansson is rumored to be currently in the studio recording an entire album of Tom Waits songs, with a release date speculated for late winter or early spring. The 22-year-old actress has reportedly signed with Rhino Records’ Atco label.