My favorite soundtracks: Part III
Twilight and New Moon
Say what you will about the Twilight Saga. Whether or not you enjoy the books or movies though, I think everyone can agree that they use some pretty awesome music (well, not everyone, but a lot of people, i hope.)
Twilight:
One of the things that was apparent after seeing Twilight ( was how wonderfully the music director did her job. The beauty of the soundtrack is how well it fits with the scenes in the movie. The choice of Supermassive Black Hole for the baseball scene is probably one of the best choices I've ever witnessed for a song in a movie. It fits the scene perfectly and the effect is really amazing. What could have been a sort of run-of-the-mill scene was elevated because of the music choice. (I am a little partial to Muse as well as I have actually seen them live) The artists chosen perfectly fit the tone of the film as well. Even though Twilight is this huge phenomenon complete with screaming obsessed fans, the music wasn't your typical pop acts. Perry Farrell, Iron & Wine and Mute Math paired with Muse, Paramore and Linkin Park make for a pretty unique soundtrack.
Highlights:
Decode - Paramore
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine
New Moon:
I could say basically the same things about the New Moon soundtrack - excellent choices that fit with the scenes perfectly and there are some great songs written expressly for the movie. Once again a great mix of bands elevates its status - Death Cab for Cutie, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Thom Yorke as well as Anya Marina, Lykke Li and Bon Iver &St. Vincent make the disc truly memorable. I think what really impresses me is the time taken to choose these bands and songs. With a movie this popular, they probably could have stuck whatever top 40 music they wanted to on the soundtrack, but they went for groups who are well-respected which creates an appeal outside of the twilight frenzy.
Highlights:
Meet Me on The Equinox - Death Cab
Possibility - Lykke Li
No Sound But the Wind - Editors
I wholeheartedly agree - Alexandra Patsavas is magic. (If I added up all the music I've bought within the past decade because of The O.C., Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Chuck, the Twilight movies...it's out of control.) For me, I can quantify how much I like these soundtracks by the number of other albums they've prompted me to buy - two by Paramore, three by Muse, three by Iron and Wine, one by Band of Skulls, one by OK Go. I think that the soundtracks have done a really great job of using Stephenie Meyer's taste in music as a sort of jumping-off point. Even haters probably have a hard time resisting the soundtracks.
ReplyDeleteNow I'll probably go set my alarm to play "Supermassive Black Hole" in the morning.