Two hip movie soundtracks

The motion picture (500) Days Of Summer shows how effective nonlinear storytelling can be in the hands of a daring director. He is a first-timer named Mark Webb. But that is not the only reason why, the romantic comedy also emerges as a funny, bittersweet and touching analysis of unrequited love. It is because it has a soundtrack that is every bit as moving, as cute and as quirky as the story. Truth to tell I have a feeling you will love the soundtrack more, as nearly every cut is so infectious that you end up playing the tunes in your head.

(500) Days Of Summer is about a boy, Tom, who believes in love. He falls for a girl named Summer, who does not. The film shows how a relationship develops between them that comes close but not enough to Tom’s desire and how it later causes Summer to dive headlong into, although not with Tom. The story plays inside Tom’s memories and the action is seen as he remembers them, in random order. Here is where the music comes in, as the audio reflection of Tom’s emotions.

I believe that the basis used to choose the songs is the question, what would a young man filled with romantic dreams have in his i-pod. Some classics, Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel or The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want; some dreamy, melancholy pop like Us and Hero by Regina Spektor; Quelqu’un M’a Dit by France’s first lady Carla Bruni for quiet moments; or Bad Kids by Black Lips in times of confusion. It is an eclectic batch, pretty much like what we get from the sounds around us everyday.

Other cuts: The Intro, A Story of Boy Meets Girl by Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen; There Goes The Fear by The Doves; You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates; Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap; Mushaboom by Feist;; Vagabond by Wolfmother; She’s Got You High by Mumm-ra; Here Comes Your Man by Meaghan Smith; and a repeat of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want but by She & Him, the group fronted by leading lady Zooey Deschanel.

And the best reason of all, why you will love this soundtrack is; just think, while you get only snatches of these songs while watching the picture, you can have them whole and sounding great in the CD.

Fans of Paramore will not like this. The band, which will be visiting the Philippines early next year, is not part of the New Moon soundtrack. New Moon is the much-awaited second flick in The Twilight Saga. The first one titled Twilight came out last year and a big part of Paramore’s tremendous success in 2008 was the inclusion of its songs Decode and I Caught Myself in what turned out to be a number one selling CD.

Fans of Paramore will not like this even more. The New Moon soundtrack works despite Paramore’s absence. In fact it comes across as even better than Twilight’s with lots of hip acts contributing edgy other-worldly songs that evoke the sexy, eerie feel of the picture. And the moving centerpiece is the last cut, New Moon (The Meadow) from the film score by Alexandre Desplat. This gives us a preview of what the score soundtrack sounds like, beautiful but with a hint of danger.

The rest of the album plays like a concert of indie bands on an emo binge and take note that every cut is heard nowhere else but on this album. No oldies compilation for New Moon. It is a collection of new materials created expressly for the film. That is how big Twilight has become. These esteemed bands were only too willing to create new recordings just for this picture.

Meet Me On The Equinox by Death Cab For Cutie; Friends by Band of Skulls; Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke; Possibility by Lykke Li; A White Demon Love Song by The Killers; Satellite Heart by Anya Marina; I Belong To You (New Moon Remix) by Muse; Rosyin by Bon Iver & St. Vincent; Done All Wrong by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; Monsters by Hurricane Bells; The Violet Hour by Sea Wolf; Shooting The Moon by OK Go; Slow Life by Grizzly Bear; and No Sound But The Wind by Editors.