SiteOfSound

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. I’m an avid soundtrack buff, no, that’s an understatement, I’m such an avid ’soundtracker’ that even composer produced music, which is essentially ‘back ground’ filler, makes it’s way to my eclectic plethora of an itunes account. I’ve found that a lot of small time produced soundtracks never make it into peoples ears because they stand in the shadows of large Hollywood composers such as, John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park) or Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lion King, The Dark Knight), and not to take away from the genius that those two craft, I’d just like to shed light on the little guys that go out and gather songs from all spectrums of music as well as their own composed pieces.

. To digress for a moment, some of the notable soundtracks I’m alluding to and strongly recommend, include: “Escape from New York” (1981), written, directed and composed by John Carpenter, starring the young and sexy Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken. “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004), composed by John Swihart as well as various artists, starring Jon Heder as the bucked-tooth, hot head, Napoleon Dynamite. And last, Wes Anderson’s, “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001), which featured various artists as well as a score composed by Mark Mothersbaugh.

. The whole point of a soundtrack, is to offer a score or  supplement particular tracks into a film in order to enhance it’s mood or ‘mise en scene’ tailored to the ear. Often times this goal is achieved but seldom does a sound track truly portray the distinct environment of a scene. The director of a film can only go so far as to show the viewer, what is being portrayed visually, so it takes a keen ear to translate and to eventually integrate music into film accurately.

. The movie “Drive,” directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and staring American heartthrob, Ryan Gosling is a neon-painted, car-chasing, stunt-heavy thriller about an unnamed, Hollywood stunt driver (Ryan Gosling), who moonlights as a getaway driver for crooks and thieves in need of a seamless exit. Gosling whips around in a then cool, 1973 Chevy Malibu, sooped up to the brim. He is decked out in a white, racing jacket, embroidered with Gosling’s signature golden scorpion, anything but discrete, yet obviously hinted with subtle undertones of style and boisterous conviction, letting his enemies know that at any point he might stomp their heads to a pulp in an elevator shaft. Gosling barely says a word throughout the entire movie, that’s what makes him cool, suave and unpredictable. The overall style in which Retn displays would be a cross between “Bullitt”(1968) and yes, “Escape from New York” (1981), with that perfect balance of neon aesthetics and gritty thrill. In addition to it’s directing, what overlays this film into the underrated, modern day, magnum opus is the heavy electronic, vibrating tones emitting along the gripping car chases, gunfire and heists. The erudition behind the music is Cliff Martinez, “A Real Hero” for lining this movie with it’s sensational, form-fittingly apt soundtrack as well as it’s up to standard score, which falls nowhere near short of perfection. Scene for scene, propelling a scummy heist to the scale of ‘beau monde’, making dash getaways seem calm and flawless, for this, a feather in the cap for old Martinez, he was nothing of a bust but a backbone nonetheless.

. Notable track un, is “A Real Hero” by College featuring Electric Youth. I’m not the first person to emphatically tip my cap to female singers but when executed in the right time and place it can be a beautiful thing. College, there is not much to say information wise about this mysterious, dark, synth pop group but I can speak on behalf of their music, specifically their end scene track for “Drive” which is so inspiring that I had to drive around at dawn with blood spilling out of my stomach just to adhere to the musical/cinematic beauty pouring out of my television. Opening a movie in many ways can be easier, but closing out a movie, leaving the audience walking away with their proverbial sunglasses perched on their noses and shirts transmuted into studded leather jackets is truly a work of music selection genius. I know I may be glamorizing a film that probably won’t get recognized for anything major in the critics eyes, but why should the likes of bald-headed dildos depreciate my love for a thrilling and soon to be timeless film; oh that’s right, it fucking wont.

. Notable track deux is “Nightcall” by Kavinsky, the scrappy, house bumping Frenchman, trivialized because not everyone has an ear for electro-ominousness. The wolf howl in the beginning of the track is a harbinger for a trance-like, temple throbbing, pious of coolness urge to drive through the ersatz pink and green lit streets of Tokyo with your right hand on the wheel at 12:00 and your left hand out the window giving beddable waves to Harajuku, tight-fleshed, girls as they giggle with dreamboat, American, temptation, fighting the urge to uncover there laughing beams if only it were socially acceptable; I guess not everyone has a transparent Asian fetish as I do, fuck you I’m writing this. Just when you think the song is confined to the mutterings of a robot-like front man, singing into a voice box with a vacuous, stiff jawed manner, BAMN, in comes the amorous, female voice snatching the imprisoned, melodic tones from the thralls of a monotonous yet pleasing robot. Kavinsky painted it, the overcast of tone-savy radiance in the chorus, bleeding into beautiful wide angle shots of the Los Angeles skyline, presented with “Vice City” -like text in neon pink, wading into a shot of Gosling sitting in his Impala, face pensive as he starts the engine and heads off into the blackened ‘abussos’ of desolate downtown Los Angelean streets.

. Although these are a mere two tracks, it would be my deepest referral to check out the rest of the soundtrack, including the original score, composed by Cliff Martinez. It would be even more useful to actually see the movie, I would share it but I wouldn’t last one day in prison. Enjoy the following songs, Love, JF.

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Click the link below to download these sexy songs:

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Kavinsky – Nightcall

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College feat. Electric Youth – A Real Hero