AMG Review of Everything Is Temporary

Denise Sullivan
All Music Guide

From studio outtakes and radio broadcasts to home recordings, Soundtracks' brother and kindred musical spirit Nikki Sudden combed his sibling's massive tape collection for this posthumous tribute. The essence of Soundtracks is captured here: The gentle, under-appreciated, alienated, cult figure with a vocal range and sense of melody that at times can make you weep. There's the noise fest of "Wild Situation," yet there's a beautiful solo acoustic version of "Something New Under the Sun; " the keyboard outtake, "Caroline" is equally lovely. Alex Chilton's popular "Night Time" is also included here. Truth be told, covers are unnecessary -- Soundtracks has track upon track of his own which capture the loneliness of Big Star's Third and other sadcore touchstones. Clearly this was a songwriter worth reckoning with during his short lifetime.