Pitchfork

Who doesn't love the circus? Dancing bears, trapeze derring-do, creepy circus people-- it doesn't get much better than that. And, in the grand tradition of, perhaps, Fellini's La Strada and Bergman's The Naked Night, Devon Reed's The Bigtop centers on life in the circus.

In Reed's film, a man played by the director "runs away with the circus, only to become consumed by his desire for power and the love of a woman." But wait! That's not all! Drumroll please, for the soundtrack to Reed's film is a feat unto itself.

Songs From the Bigtop, available now on iTunes and due in stores October 23 (self-released-style), collects 13 Reed-penned tunes performed by a number of names you may recognize. Among them: the Clientele, Built to Spill's Doug Martsch, Lisa Germano, Howe Gelb, Damien Jurado, Tullycraft, Eleventh Dream Day, and even Matthew Sweet.

Meanwhile, no clownin': the film for which this soundtrack came together is set to premiere in early 2008.

Songs From the Bigtop:

01 Lisa Germano: "Magic"
02 The Clientele: "Your Song"
03 Michael Leviton: "I Only Want the Sky"
04 Damien Jurado: "Ashes"
05 Matthew Sweet: "Wild"
06 Tullycraft: "The Girl Who's Above Us"
07 Howe Gelb: "Falling in Love"
08 The Owls: "I Just Can't Keep Up"
09 Communiqué: "Way to Walk"
10 Marbles: "Something, Nothing, Everything"
11 Eleventh Dream Day: "Planning My Escape"
12 Doug Martsch: "Cracked and Crazed"
13 The Sprites: "Patience"