The reason I love good movie soundtracks is because when you haven’t seen the film and the orchestrations for the film are well done your imagination can take you places. Marc Streitenfeld’s soundtrack for Welcome To The Riley’s is one such soundtrack. It’s a bit short coming in just over a half hour but you know it’s a well made soundtrack when all it takes is just a little over a half hour to take you places.

The first half of the soundtrack is Streitenfeld’s orchestrations followed up by six tracks from bands I’m familiar with and some I am not but lets start with Streitenfeld. The first track off the soundtrack is titled Welcome To The Riley’s. A foreboding track that runs a mere one minute and twenty five seconds. Nothing about it insists that the soundtracks film counterpart is anything less then a drama. Oddly enough I can imagine this being the duel scene in some Hong Kong western. It’s an eerie opener. Up next is Rebirth. The title is fitting as when your listening to the track realization comes to mind. As I sit listening to the track, eyes closed kicking back in my chair, I imagine someone who is in the throes of realization that something in their life is not so great and they have agreed with themselves to come to terms with this revelation. The soundtracks use of Banjo, Violin, Cello, and Mandolin  make for a great combination in offering up this unique journey. I Am Here, the following track, fits well with Rebirth sounding as if the reemergence of that person coping with their decision is on the rise to the surface of their problems and is about to reach the top. Again all just my interpretation of the music. Walking In New Orleans seems more like a jazz interlude on the album. The stand up bass is prominent on the album for the first time. Alive is up next and sounds reminiscent to the work done on Jason Mraz’s Waiting For My Rocket To Come album. Its poppy with a  twang of country in it. Trouble Sleeping is less a track of its own rather then an extension of the first track Welcome To The Riley’s. Private Parts is for lack of a better description Southern Classical. Kind of a mix between fiddle plucking and classical orchestration. Its got an interesting sound to it. Headstone brings us back into the realm of imagination. This track sound as if someone is trying to be careful while snooping. Its only 46 seconds long but ominous. The following track, Time, is a strange one seeing as how its overlaying sound is calm and serene while its background sound is chaotic sounding. About 37 seconds an underlying style cuts in, not overpowering, but you can hear it in the background oddly crashing about. Somehow it works though. On The Road is yet another extension of an already existing song (Rebirth) sounding far fuller then its predecessor. Nobody’s Little Girl is a fitting title for the track. Take the title and envision it with all the emotion you’d expect in that feeling. Its confusing, sad, monotonous like being unable to escape such a depressing thought. At the 1:11 mark the song snaps into yet another extension of Welcome To The Riley’s. The last track is a reprise of Walking In New Orleans.

The second half of the album features songs by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, a family act that incorporates Jump Swing, Rock and Roll, R&B, Blues, and Country. They cover Canned Heat’s Going To The Country. Up next is the late great Odetta Holmes with Go Down Sunshine followed by Joe Simon with Teenager’s Prayer, a #11 Billboard Chart topper in the R&B category. Shiny Toy Guns Le Disko is up next followed by The Kills U.R.A. Fever, and ends oddly with Jigglin by Ying Yang Twins. Honestly I would have loved to delve deeper with Marc Streitenfeld since the last half of the album consists of songs I’ve already heard or own. Their great and probably make for a good tie in with the film but they don’t add anything for me as far as the soundtrack goes. In any case the soundtrack is worth checking out simply for the orchestrated first half. Enjoy.