Dean and Britta
13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests
Double Feature Records
By David Chiu
It seems appropriate that Andy Warhol’s famous black-and-white screen tests from the ‘60s—which featured Factory regulars such as Lou Reed, Nico, Billy Name and Mary Woronov—is given a musical score by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, who were commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum for this project. Both artists were formerly in the indie band Luna, whose hazy and dreamy music certainly reflected the influence of the Velvet Underground, the house band for Warhol’s Factory. Each song on this musically-eclectic collection is devoted to a particular participant filmed for his or her screen test. For Lou Reed, the duo a cover a rare VU song, “Not a Young Man Anymore,” which surprisingly incorporates electronic beats. “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” a Dylan tune sung with beautiful elegance by Phillips as it befits the mysterious chanteuse Nico. Equally given a poignant performance is “It Don’t Rain in Beverly Hills,” voiced by Dean Wareham, for the iconic Edie Sedgwick. Between straightforward VU-influenced rock (“Herringbone Tweed”) and electronic influences (“Richard Rheem Theme,” “I Found It Not So”), the music captures the spirit of that era. Wareham and Phillips’ music adds further dimension and voice to Warhol’s cutting-edge works.
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