Billie Holiday in the future

Just got back from seeing the movie Minority Report -- interestingly, it pictures a world of the future that seemingly has lots of nostalgia for the past. One scene shows Tom Cruise in a Gap store of the future, where they're playing Billie Holiday singing "Solitude" over the sound system. It wasn't on long enough for me to hear it well, but it had definitely been "enhanced" in some fashion, suggesting that classic performances will be treasured in the future, albeit not in their original forms. I don't think this was supposed to be one of the scary scenes , but I got a chill...

 

Treasured? I think it's more like being trashed.

 

Having been a serious fan for over 30 years, I'm well keen on all things Billie
Her version of Solitude from the Decca years is the real keeper....later performances have this narco haze unfortunately
The recent 10 cd box is a revelation of sound re: early Billie, it is a must have and makes all previous cd issues completely disposable
The Commodore, Decca and very early stuff is the creme de la creme, IMO, tho I'd also throw in Lady In Satin, which may be my personal fave...lush strings over a strung out voice...it don't get more intense than that!

 

Didn't Sony just release an SACD best-of from the 10-CD set? Does this suggest perhaps an upcoming SACD upgrade of all 10 discs?

I think you need to have lived to fully appreciate the artistry of Billie Holiday. Those who cannot appreciate her, I write off as folks who really have not YET lived. (This is not merely a function of age, by the way).

 

The thing in the movie that picqued my interest is that it pictures a future society that has made the conscious decision to preserve some artifacts from the past and develop an aesthetic that blends them with its contemporary technology. Similarly, they've also made a conscious decision to preserve some unspoiled spaces in the environment, away from their congested (but very clean!) cities. You see a futuristic car parked outside a beautiful old home on a lake, for example.

In this light, the musical example was interesting for a couple of reasons -- first, do they play Billie Holiday in any malls in our REAL contemporary world? Nope, the emphasis -- especially in a GAP -- would be on attracting younger consumers. So, that's the *good* prognosis, I guess. But I thought I noticed (did anyone else see this?) that something had been done to the sound of the recording to make the subtle impression that it had been tweaked to better blend with the World of the Future. From the filmmaker's perspective, that would have been in keeping with the societal aesthetic of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater, and blending the old and new in harmony. But I thought it might carry more sinister undertones for folks around here...

 

the subject of this makes me wonder why nobody has brought up a ELVIS VS JXL thread yet

 

Those product placements kind of got on my nerves after awhile. USA Today, Fox's Cops, the Gap...jeez, a couple more of them and they could've covered their budget.

(NOTE: if you haven't seen the movie, don't read the stuff below)




BTW, what's with the trend of making the "old guys in charge" into these grand, conspiring criminal masterminds? Mission: Impossible, LA Confidential, Monsters, Inc., now this. The minute Von Sydow stepped on screen, I suspected him of being the bad guy, not because he seemed bad, just because he was the older guy in charge! Just something I thought of when I left the theater.

 

Any chance the Holiday track was taken from the recent Verve remix compilation? I don't have the tracklist handy to compare...

 

It was an earlier recording of the song; it's on the recent Sony remasters.