Fahrenheit 9/11

I promise: I'm not going to talk about politics, I'm not going to talk about politics, I'm... ahem.

Whether you believe Fahrenheit 9/11 is the truth, muck raising or something in between, Michael Moore has always shown a certain ironic skill at attacking the "have-mores" of this country. Like Mark Twain, he uses a folksy irony to address what he sees as the inadequacies and contradictions of modern society. One of his key tricks is juxtaposition, showing the atrocities of war then contrasting that with the seeming inane comments by Britney Spears.

Moore will use well-known pop tunes to make a barbed point about someone: The Go-Go's "Vacation" plays as Bush takes tons of days off at the Ranch and "Cocaine" plays as a jab at Bush taking drugs when he was younger. Subtle this isn't, but it isn't trying to be.

The album splits: one part an eclectic set of old tunes ( "Aqualung", "Shiny Happy People" and even the theme to The Magnificent Seven) while the other is Jeff Gibb's score. Gibbs co-ops the subdued Phillip Glass style used in the recent Fog of War, especially in "Weapons of Deceit" and "All They Ask". Gibbs comes off as a cheap imitation partially due the small ensemble of instruments and synthesizers used and most likely because of the speed with which the movie was made. It is not the type of thing I would hold against a composer, but it makes for a boring score.

Honestly accessing the album, if you cut the score you still have 40 minutes of great fun music and one really sad orchestra piece (the "Benjamin Britten" cantus). I do say that anyone who uses The Bloodhound Gang is a friend of mine. So if these pop tunes are your game, great. Otherwise you can get what you like elsewhere.