You're Gonna Miss Me (Original Soundtrack)

Album Review

Keven McAlester, director of the Roky Erickson documentary You're Gonna Miss Me, claims at the end of his liner notes for this soundtrack that what many critics told him all along is, in fact, correct: the music speaks for itself. This soundtrack of all original material by Erickson in his various guises — as lead singer of the 13th Floor Elevators and as a solo artist — is terrific. While the film has gotten raves for portraying Erickson, a longtime sufferer of mental illness, as a human being who has a new lease on life due to the intervention of his brother, the music that accompanies it ranges from the best of the best to the truly otherworldly. There are other compilations that are more complete, but few of them offer such a dramatic and direct focus as this one assembled by Lisa Nishimura-Seese. From the title track and "Fire Engine" by the Elevators to "Bloody Hammer," "Two-Headed Dog," and "Cold Night for Alligators," by Erickson & the Aliens from the late '70s, through to the jangling folk-rock of "You Don't Love Me Yet," to his homemade recordings on a lone acoustic guitar. Moments like "For You I'd Do Anything," and "Goodbye Sweet Dreams," present the savant genius of the songwriter in all its starkness. Had Erickson played "For You (I'd Do Anything)" for Phil Spector or Jack Nitzsche, they may have thrown him out of their respective offices and called him crazy (consider the sources) but would have perhaps conspired to steal its melody and arrangement. "Unforced Peace" is one the most haunted songs in recent history, and the album's closer "Goodbye Sweet Dreams," a recent song, is simply as beautiful as it is scary. See the movie. Buy the soundtrack.