Eban & Charley\nStephin Merritt\nMerge Records\nStephin Merritt always seemed suited for another life. He holds more in common with Jonathan Larson or Burt Bacharach than with his indie-rock contemporaries. While it has been Merritt's gift for melody and penchant for themes that has thrust him into this paradox, it has been his dourness and quirkiness that has kept him from being a household name.\nMerritt takes the next step towards the Brill Building on his first solo album, Eban & Charley, creating the score to the film by James Burton. This is an obscure movie first screened at the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 2000. \nNot having seen the movie will make this album very strange to listen to. Ten of the 16 tracks are ambient instrumentals, most of them sounding like a cross between tribal African music and outtakes from Brian Wilson's Smile sessions. There are also surreal distortions of the familiar Christmas tunes "O Tannenbaum" and "Greensleeves." Whether or not these work for the film can be decided later, but for now they make for baffling and uninteresting listening.\nThen there are six songs presented almost as half thoughts, gone before the listener even had a chance. The songs sweep through beautiful visions in the up-tempo "Poppyland," to the gloomy wordplay of "Water Torture" without showing any reason for the mood swing. All six songs are generally likeable, low-key efforts but none of them effectively convey any sort of emotion. \nIt is quite possible that Stephin Merritt has created a brilliant soundtrack for a brilliant movie. It could also be possible that after seeing the movie that this soundtrack will take on a different significance. But as an album, the rewarding moments are few and far between, and the ambient textures are about the same as a leaky faucet and air in the pipes, which you can hear for free. \n
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