4Play: Various Artists, Songs from the Motion Picture, Various Artists, Harry Gregson-Williams

April 18, 2010

Various Artists - Repo Men: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Relativity
Futuristic Jude Law/Forest Whitaker vehicle Repo Men’s storyline sends repossessors after those who can’t pay for their equally futuristic mechanical internal organ replacements. The soundtrack music, as might be expected, is appropriately quirky, blending atmospheric classics (Rosemary Clooney’s “Sway,” The Mamas and the Papas’ “Dream a Little Dream”) with more modern, scratchy tunes like Beck’s “Nausea” and UNKLE’s “Burn My Shadow” as perfect accompaniment to this thought-provoking sci-fi yarn.




Songs from the Motion Picture - When You’re Strange - Rhino
The movie brings together rare footage of The Doors shot all the way from the place the band members met (UCLA Film School), through the band’s growth to arena performances, and to their demise. The soundtrack features 13 Doors songs sampling the band’s six albums, interspersed with Jim Morrison’s poetry as read by Johnny Depp (who also narrates the film itself.) In addition to the spoken-word interludes, you’ll find such classic Doors tracks as “Break on Through,” “Light My Fire” (Live on Ed Sullivan), and “Hello, I Love You.”




Various Artists - Crazy Heart - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - New West
Jeff Bridges just snagged his first Academy Award for his work in Crazy Heart, for which he also performed some of the songs, including hard-edged country opener “Hold on You” and the introspective “Wesley’s Piano.” Also on the soundtrack are the movie’s theme (“The Weary Kind”) as performed by Ryan Bingham, plus more classic country tunes by Waylon Jennings, Sam Phillips, and Buck Owens; standouts include surprises from Robert Duvall (“Live Forever” sung a capella) and Colin Farrell, who offers up his take on “Gone, Gone, Gone.”




Harry Gregson-Williams - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Soundtrack - Disney
Accompanying Jake Gyllenhaal’s turn as the videogame hero are dynamic and compelling instrumentals, including “Running from Sheik Amar,” “Raid on Alamut,” and “The Sands of Time.” While those are the standouts, all of the tracks carry an adventurous tone and feature Gregson-Williams’ expert compositional skills, last heard in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In addition, you’ll also get the closing credits song by Alanis Morissette - “I Remain,” a Middle-Eastern ballad sung from the perspective of Tamina, the female lead.