When The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou premiered last December, critics and moviegoers were impressed not only with Oscar(R)-nominated writer/director Wes Anderson's screen comedy, but with the soundtrack as well. It spent more than a month on Billboard's Top 10 Soundtrack Chart and remains today a Top 30 hit. Now Hollywood Records is set to release a CD featuring the never-before-released complete studio sessions that acclaimed Brazilian performer Seu Jorge recorded for the film's soundtrack. Featuring covers of David Bowie songs performed in Portuguese,the CD gives a refreshing twist to a host of rock 'n' roll classics. The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions arrives in stores Nov. 22, while an exclusive digital version of the album will available on iTunes Nov. 15 and will feature a Seu Jorge cover of Bowie's Space Oddity not available anywhere else.
As with all Wes Anderson films (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums), music is an exceptionally important component. Fans have come to admire Anderson's use of unusual music choices, turning four previous soundtrack CDs of Anderson films into bestsellers topping 200,000 in sales. For The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Anderson and co-producer Randall Poster worked with Seu Jorge in a Rome studio to lay down the Bowie tracks, recorded as simple guitar/vocal songs. For the film Anderson used performances Jorge delivered live on camera, while the studio sessions remained unreleased. Now, for the first time, the full recordings of those intimate studio sessions is available. Said David Bowie himself of Jorge's performances, "Had Seu Jorge not recorded y songs acoustically in Portuguese I would never have heard this new level of beauty which he has imbued them with." Seu Jorge not only contributed several songs to the original Hollywood oundtrack CD, but co-starred in the film as well. The recording sessions, held in Rome, resulted in a harvest of remarkable interpretations of David Bowie songs, several now available for the first time.
Tracks on The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions include: Starman, Rebel Rebel, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, Life on Mars?, Five Years, Lady Stardust, When I Live My Dream, Suffragette City, Oh! You Pretty Things, Ziggy Stardust, Changes, Queen Bitch and the Jorge original Team Zissou.
Seu Jorge grew up in a "favela," an urban slum in Rio de Janeiro, but managed to escape through sheer talent and desire. He was seen around the world starring in the acclaimed Brazilian film City of God. In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Jorge plays a sailor/troubadour who sings bossa ova-flavored Portuguese interpretations of Bowie tunes played on the cavaquinho, a Brazilian guitar. A singer as much as he is an actor, Seu Jorge recently launched a U.S. concert tour, which drew raves, including a major profile in the New York Times. His newest solo CD Cru (which means "raw" in Portuguese) earned a 3-star review in Rolling Stone.
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