SPARKS - "MR. BERGMAN, HOW ARE YOU?" (2009)
It's December so let's kick it off with my final Sparks track of the year. And yes, I fulfilled my own promise to post a new Sparks track once per month this year.
I finally caught up with the Mael brothers new release The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman, a musical commissioned by Swedish radio this year. The chosen release was interesting. The album was released on vinyl only in stores and digitally through iTunes. My record player barely works (something is screwy with the output) so this marks the first time I've ever bought a complete album digitally. Only Sparks could make me do that.
I'm not sure why but I went in with low expectations, thinking it would be a random stop in their career with interesting moments. What it is is actually pretty fantastic. It's a proper musical and rather remarkable, even for Swedish radio, that they chose Ingmar Bergman as their subject since he was the ultimate art house director. Bergman was responsible for a multitude of excellent films, including the famous The Seventh Seal, plus Wild Strawberries and Winter Light, to name two of my personal favorites. The whole musical follows Bergman's trip to Hollywood after winning the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 for Smiles Of A Summer Night and his decision not to corrupt his integrity as the studios beckon. It's a fun yet deep production that lingers with me after each listen. While it's best experienced as a whole I'm giving you the song "Mr. Bergman, How Are You?" today as a small sample of the overall product. Enjoy this for today but do yourself a favor and check out the entire project sometime. Excellent!
Mr. Bergman, How Are You? by Sparks
For more info:
Sparks: www.allsparks.com
