We were interested (and not a little taken aback, to be honest) to see that Sigur Rós singer Jónsi was providing the soundtrack to new Cameron Crowe film We Bought a Zoo. Of course, he’s not exactly the first indie type to tackle soundtracking duties for a film — there have been a slew of such records over the last few years in particular, from Karen O’s exuberantly overblown score for Where the Wild Things Are to the all-star soundtracks that accompanied the Twilight films. And while those are both worthy albums in their own right (as, indeed, is Jónsi’s work on We Bought a Zoo), neither quite squeeze their way onto a list of our all-time favorite indie music-centric film soundtracks. What does make the cut? The answers await you after the jump, dear reader — and, as ever, let us know what your choices are.
Perhaps more than any other film genre, horror is a construct in which music and sound play a crucial role in the way that we identify with character. Indeed some films — such as Robert Wise’s chilly classic The Haunting — primarily elicit scares from their masterfully subjective acoustics, the film’s spectral antagonist unseen. An effective score can enhance a dire film, while other soundtracks have terrified us in such a primal way that their sounds have ineffably scarred our unconscious — and perverted our bathroom habits (see: Psycho). Yet, amongst the creeping terror of these melodies are soundtracks that have haunted us with their beauty, acting as disarming counterpoints to on-screen anomie. Sometimes, it’s not a minor-chord lunge or a synth-shriek that renders the malevolent world of make-believe uncannily palpable. Here are ten beguiling favorites. What are yours?
Ah, the 1980s. They’ve got a pretty rotten musical reputation, and as far as film music goes, at least, it’s largely well deserved. This was the decade that soundtrack albums became big business – the decade when ultra-commercial songs from the likes of Footloose, St Elmo’s Fire, Top Gun, and Dirty Dancing were a constant fixture on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40, and Kenny Loggins made a tidy living. But still, there was room for some genuinely innovative and interesting scores and soundtracks to be made – as we discover in the latest installment of Flavorpill’s soundtrack series.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working our way through the history of music in cinema, looking at some of the most influential film soundtracks and scores ever committed to tape. We started way back in the 1930s, and so far we’ve worked our way to the end of the 1960s; this time round, we look at the ‘70s, the decade of blaxploitation, Star Wars and plenty, plenty more. Read through our selections, and suggest your own, after the jump.
A little earlier this month, we started a semi-regular series where we look at the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. First up were a selection of classic soundtracks recorded prior to 1960, and this week, we’re following up with a look at the 1960s. Here’s our picks for ten of the most influential and innovative scores and soundtracks from a decade where both cinema and music were exploring a multitude of new possibilities.
Here at Flavorpill, we love movies and we love music, so it’s probably no surprise to learn that we really love movie soundtracks. The history of the interaction of film and music is a long and fascinating one, so for the next few weeks, we’re going to be choosing and examining some of our favorite soundtracks and scores from over the years. This week: the oldies! Specifically, everything pre-1960.
Featuring new compositions and tracks by Beck, Broken Social Scene, and Metric, the soundtrack to new Michael Cera flick Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is almost as enticing as the film itself.
Beck penned the tracks for fictional band Sex Bob-Omb, which features Cera’s character on bass, while BSS took on the same duties for another of the film’s made-up groups, Crash and the Boys. Highlights include Metric’s “Black Sheep” and Beck’s own ballad to the movie’s heroine, “Ramona,” while old-school tracks from the Rolling Stones and T.Rex add classic-rock cred.
Matching the right song with a scene is an art — especially when you consider that filmmakers have to deal with things like budgets and rights issues. After the jump we’ve rounded up 35 of our all-time favorite movie music moments; scenes made instantly memorable thanks to a talented DJ. By no means are we going to pretend this list is definitive, it’s just meant to be a jumping off point. (In fact, we could have done 35 moments from Wes Anderson’s films alone.) Do us a solid and add your personal faves in the comments.
Along with creating music together for more than fifteen years with The Bad Seeds, Grinderman, and The Dirty Three, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have collaborated on soundtracks for films like The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. On January 12, 2010 the pair will release their soundtrack to The Road, John Hillcoat’s post-apocalyptic family drama based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It opens in theaters tomorrow.
