Soundtracks of my tears (and blood and sweat)

Soundtracks have always made their presence felt in the record charts, a carrier song serving as a driver for awareness and hype for the film. What makes the effort especially rewarding is when the director and producer have taken the pains to go beyond that song, and effectively utilize music throughout the film. The blood in my title will obviously refer to New Moon and it’s modern-day vampire theme, while sweat will be handled by Fame, and the charming modern love story of (500) Days of Summer will give us our tears.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon — You may be like me, and have not watched either Twilight or New Moon, thinking The Lost Boys and other earlier films already covered contemporary vampire territory. But even if that may be the case, there’s no denying the strength of the film’s soundtrack and how it serves as an effective serving of where indie and EMO music have evolved to. Besides Death Cab for Cutie and its Meet Me at the Equinox, my fave tracks are Sea Wolf’s The Violet Hour and Shooting the Moon by OK Go. The Killers and Editors also contribute tracks, as does Thom Yorke. Moody stuff, but all good!

Fame: Light Up the Sky Like a Flame — This is the ‘80s come back to life, and while the title song and Out Here On My Own are reworked, what strength there is in this album emanates from the cast members who gamely take on new compositions and some established tunes with gusto. Santigold and Sam Sparro provide two of the tracks, but it’s pretty much cuts like Asher Book’s take on John Legend’s Ordinary People that had me nodding my head. While this is predominantly R&B in terms of genre, the good music and enthusiasm is what one takes away as the last notes fade away.

(500) Days of Summer — Much like the film, this is a quirky, eclectic collection of songs that flits across genres but stays true to the spirit of the film. Regina Spektor, Australian band The Temper Trap, the Smiths, Hall & Oates, the Doves — the list gives us an inkling of how inspired the choices were for the music of this film. This is one of those soundtrack albums that can stand on its own regardless of whether one has seen the film or not. While it is heightened by the viewing, one can’t deny the good vibes one gets listening to this much great music crammed into a single CD.