The Deal: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O gets together a bunch of her friends for the soundtrack of the movie based on the classic children's book.
The Good: Among those teaming up with O are Queens of the Stone Age/Dead Weather/Raconteurs' Dean Fertita, Liars' Aaron Hemphill, Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee, Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs/The Dead Weather, Gris Gris' Oscar Michel, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and an untrained children's choir. The disc opens with the tranquil humming of Karen O over a simple score on "Igloo." "All Is Love" is a kid-friendly, child-at-heart sing-along. "Worried Shoes" is mostly Karen O singing over a piano for an emotional ride. It's a quick CD, with 14 tracks clocking in at an even 40 minutes. Some are slow and solemn instrumentals, and others are fun kid-on-the-playground tunes.
The Bad: Sometimes the kids' voices overwhelm Karen O's ... if you can even recognize her voice. However, if you take out the desire to hear what could be a Karen O solo album, it's a great collection of songs. "Rumpus" has a soundbite from the movie, which I'm never a fan of including on soundtracks – it should be about the music.
The Verdict: I haven't seen the movie yet, and judging by reactions it's not at the top of my list to see, but the soundtrack is something that I could easily listen to on more than one occasion. One of the more enjoyable albums of the year.