Dean & Britta

13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (Double Feature)

By Amy Strauss
Published: July 29th, 2010 | 7:00am

Commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Dean Wareham (previously of the dream pop outfit Galaxie 500 and Luna) composed 13 seductively drowsy tracks to accompany some of the pop artist's rarely-seen, previously-silent film portraits, titled Screen Tests. Creatively crafted with Britta Phillips through their Dean & Britta moniker, 13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests was originally established as a live multimedia show. As of last year, after sailing into a curatorial journey, the husband-and-wife twosome posed proudly in front of the private shorts selection, probing through intimate renditions that validated their emerging union.

Floating through mastered live performances and five instrumentals, the ‘60s-inspired collection treads through atmospheric arrays of vocal driven tracks, slightly lethargic musical movements, and alluring adventures among electro-pulses and darkened grooves. Additionally awakening are their handful of covers that are drenched with refreshing breaths, including Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It with Mine" and the Velvet Underground's "I’m Not a Young Man Anymore,” proving that Dean & Britta are capable of reconstructing highly-versatile sounds in original and credible forms.

Of course, with “Eyes in My Smoke,” Luna fanatics can rejoice as the obscurities seen in the past are marveled and reestablished, highlighting that the multi-layered sounds by the film score-experienced duo are skillful and explored—something applaudable for characteristics of exotic, somnambulism pop.

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