Gus Van Sant: Gus Van Sant

With a four-track recorder purchased for his first feature film (the strangely unavailable Mala Noche), director and novelist Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Drugstore Cowboy) also recorded a couple of albums on which he sings and plays all instruments. Recorded in 1983 and 1984, respectively, 18 Songs About Golf and Gus Van Sant are not the embarrassments you might expect. In fact, Van Sant ends up sounding like a low-fidelity Lou Reed with a touch of whimsy, if such a thing can be imagined. Of the two records, the more gimmicky 18 Songs About Golf—which is just what its title suggests—is the superior album. Songs like "My Caddy Sings," "Stoned Cold Pro," and "Murder On The 18th Hole" are a lot more tuneful and a lot less tiresome than the concept would suggest. The self-titled follow-up, however, doesn't hold up as well, though it does contain one leftover song about golf. Maybe it's the absence of an overarching concept, but Gus Van Sant sounds considerably less focused than its predecessor, despite highlights like "Daniel's Song" and "RISD"—the latter a tribute to Van Sant's alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design. Both albums, however, are far better than most people's juvenilia; they should delight Van Sant's admirers, collectors of celebrity vocalists, and golf-song completists alike.