10. Clive LangerBrothers Of The Head
Brothers Of The Head is a weird concoction inasmuch as it has an original score, but it’s played as though they’re needle-drops. The songs and the music are from the band featured in the film, with this mock documentary going back to do a kind of found-footage type of thing. They’re doing the background and a history of this band that never quite made it, but who were just incredible. Two conjoined brothers who write these songs. It makes me think of The Libertines, really. A very sort of garage, pop, punk approach, all done by Clive Langer. Langer and Alan Winstanley have done loads for films and the Madness stuff, so they’re steeped in pop music.
There’s a lot of films about music and bands, like Velvet Goldmine or Still Crazy, which I love because Bill Nighy is great, but they tend to fall into a certain sort of vibe: a little cheesy, although they can be entertaining. But Brothers Of The Head is this quite dark, twisted, unsettling tale, and on top of that the music is really good. You’ve got ‘Doola & Dawla’ and ‘My Friend’, just powerful pop tunes with a real edge. I suppose it could be argued that there’s a cynical element to it in as much as you’ve got a high-ranking producer writing all the music, but in fact that’s exactly what you’re trying to achieve. You’re trying to make this world real, and I really think they do. I love that film.
