Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Fault in Our Stars


If you're at all familiar with my blog, you've undoubtedly come to expect (and adore) both my side-splitting humor and my uncanny ability to constantly feature attractive band members (it's a talent, really). Thus, I feel it is my duty to caution you: this post is deep. Like, philosophical deep. And if you've read or seen "The Fault in Our Stars," you aren't the least surprised.

If you're at all familiar with me, you know how much I revere film scores and soundtracks. I've said time and time again that movies and television shows would be emotionless, nay, meaningless without  their accompanying music. And while I certainly appreciate a good score (such as that of The Words, Amelie, Coco Avant Chanel, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Atonement, etc.), nothing sends me soaring quite like that cinematic moment in which a character's plight connects so deeply with a singer's voice, as if those two people transcend their dimensions, if just for a moment. One artist, heard but not seen, expressing the pain of another, seen but not heard. In my opinion, it's the most powerful collaboration of media. I could go even deeper into this convention of a "collaboration" by elaborating on how we, ourselves, are collaborating with the artists we see and hear by contributing our own experiences to these evocations, therefore producing reactions that are a culmination of what we acquire and what we reflect... but I won't. 

On to the music. The soundtrack to "The Fault in Our Stars" does not disappoint. It features some of the gods and goddesses of today's indie/emo scene, including M83, Birdy, STRFKR, Grouplove, Lykke Li, Ray LaMontagne and Ed Sheeran. Here are my favorites from the film:

"Boom Clap" by Charli XCX (featured on the film's trailer)

"Simple As This" by Jake Bugg

"Not About Angels" by Birdy

"All of the Stars" by Ed Sheeran

"All I Want" by Kodaline

"Long Way Down" by Tom Odell

"Without Words" by Ray LaMontagne

"Wait" by M83

For more on the film, visit the official website at http://thefaultinourstarsmovie.com. 

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

As Seen on TV



"COME BACK" - David O'Dowda

There's something simultaneously intriguing and infuriating about a man of mystery like David O'Dowda. About all I know of him is that he is Irish, hails from Manchester, and is absolutely adorable. I became enraptured with his haunting voice when I first saw FX's promo for its new show "Tyrant," and was instantly reminded of that Bon Iver/ James Vincent McMorrow sound I so adore.



"THIS YEAR" - Cooper

If you've watched even a moment of E! programming this month (right...I haven't either), you're by now familiar with the new promo for "Keeping Up With The Kardashians." Cooper (short for Kate Cooper) is no newbie to the indie music scene. In fact, she fronted an Aussie band called Iron On since 2002, recently going solo and releasing several singles including "Flood" and "Heaviest of Weights."



"YOU & ME" (Flume Remix) - Disclosure ft. Eliza Doolittle

If you haven't seen the Lacoste ad entitled "The Big Leap" that features the Flume Remix of Disclosure's "You & Me" yet, do yourself a favor and do so immediately. You've already heard of Disclosure thanks to the band's now top 40 hit "Latch" featuring Sam Smith. And since Disclosure is an electronic music duo (comprised of two English brothers), the two have similarly enlisted Eliza Doolittle's vocals on this track.