PETRA HADEN – PETRA GOES TO THE MOVIES

Petra Goes To The Movies is a unique album of 16 feature film tracks as performed by violinist and vocalist, Petra Haden. Using only layers of her a cappella vocals, Haden takes listeners on a musical journey through classic films such as Taxi Driver, Tootsie, Superman and randomly, The Social Network. Using her voice in place of various instruments is fast becoming Haden’s trademark and surprisingly, despite her more-than-solid vocal abilities, singing actual lyrics is the downfall of this album. It’s better when the tracks are purely inventive, sometimes amusing, reimaginings of the memorable tunes that defined the films.

** 1/2