We all know that around the holiday season there is nothing better than watching a good movie. It also is a great way to avoid that weird uncle with bad breath, ha ha.
Sonic Collective member Scott Coates suggested we all pick a movie soundtrack that we really felt made the movie better. A great movie soundtrack can create an emotional connection to the characters, the environment and the story. Though there are many to pick from, listed below are the four our experts say you need to watch and listen to. We will all spend December watching and listening and then we will release our podcast that will allow our experts to tell you why the movie and soundtrack blended together so nicely. Happy holidays and enjoy the movies and music.
Listen to our podcast and check out the details below.
Trainspotting
Selected by Scott Coates
Released July 9, 1996
Few movies have made as strong an impact and stuck with me as Trainspotting has. While it’s an incredible movie, the soundtrack plays an indelible role in cementing the film. Songs I didn’t know before and some I did, came together to elevate mood and moments in a manner rarely achieved. The songs and movie are the better for it. Truly one of the best curated soundtracks that works in complete symbiosis.
Track Listing
- Lust for Life, Iggy Pop
- Deep Blue Day, Brian Eno
- Trainspotting, Primal Scream
- Atomic, Sleeper
- Temptation, New Order
- Nightclubbing, Iggy Pop
- Sing, Blur
- Perfect Day, Lou Reed
- Mile End, Pulp
- For What You Dream Of, Bedrock
- 2:1, Elastica
- A Final Hit, Leftfield
- Born Slippy, Underworld
- Closet Romantic, Damon Albarn
Wikipedia Page
iTunes
Spotify
Amazon
Romeo + Juliet
Selected by Scott Gregory
Released 1996
The Romeo + Juliet movie attempted to update the classic story for a 90s audience, and the soundtrack called upon quintessential 90s artists to set help set the stage. It’s a great blend of existing songs and ones written just for this album. It went triple-platinum, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 Album charts.
Track Listing
- Crush, Garbage
- Local God, Everclear
- Angel, Gavin Friday
- Pretty Piece of Flesh, One Inch Punch
- Kissing You (Love Theme from Romeo + Juliet), Des’ree
- Whatever (I Had a Dream), Butthole Surfers
- Lovefool, The Cardigans
- Young Hearts Run Free, Kym Mazelle
- Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good), Quindon Tarver
- To You I Bestow, Mundy
- Talk Show Host, Radiohead
- Little Star, Stina Nordenstam
- You and Me Song, The Wannadies
The Greatest Showman
Selected by Alain DuPuis
Released December 2017
The Greatest Showman original soundtrack accompanies the movie of the same name, recanting a very creatively liberal musical interpretation of the story of P. T. Barnum’s creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Effron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya all lend their singing voices as well as acting chops to their roles. While I’m not personally a big fan of musicals or long, elaborately choreographed dance numbers at the best of times, I’ve gotta admit, this movie is really damn good. Particularly when the cast starts singing their songs. Holy shit, these people have serious talent. Most of the songs from this album are really catchy, and have found a home in my permanent playlists on Spotify. That’s how good I think the soundtrack is. And maybe by the end of the month, you’ll find yourself agreeing with me!
My recommendation: watch the movie! The songs will make way more sense in context of the story, and then the emotion will really shine through.
Track Listing
- The Greatest Show
- A Million Dreams
- A Million Dreams (Reprise) – Reprise (Austyn Johnson & Cameron Seely)
- Come Alive
- The Other Side
- Never Enough
- This Is Me
- Rewrite The Stars
- Tightrope
- Never Enough (Reprise)
- From Now On
Super Fly
Selected by Darren Scott
Released December 2017
I’ve always liked a wide variety of music and I love the Soul and Funk. Though I had heard some of the music before by Curtis Mayfield from the movie it wasn’t until I saw Super Fly at one point in the early 2000s that I understood what an awesome soundtrack can do for a movie. It was funky, awesome, hilarious and sometimes cheesy to me but I ate it up. Released in 1972, this was Curtis Mayfield’s 4th album and is very recognized for the history it made. It is one of the few soundtrack albums that actually outsold the movie box office earnings. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 69th album in their Top 500 of All Time List I invite you to listen to this funky gem and watch the movie with us this month. I hope the rest of the group and our listeners love it as much as I do.
Track Listing
- Little Child Runnin’ Wild
- Pusherman
- Freddie’s Dead (Theme from ‘Superfly’)
- Junkie Chase
- Give Me Your Love (Love Song)
- Eddie You Should Know Better
- No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)
- Think
- Superfly
- Freddie’s Dead (Theme from ‘Superfly’)
- Superfly