Sarahindie

If this was a concert, everyone I know would kill to go. But it isn’t. It’s the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. It is available for 24 hours for free listening at Heatworld.

Metric – Eclipse: It does not immediately sound like a Metric song. It immediately sounds like a Sixpence None the Richer song. I wonder where they are now. Hot on the heels of what I think is Metric’s best album ever (Fantasies), comes this bit of drivel, Metric with all the edgy edges rubbed off. Where did they even find an acoustic guitar? Christ. My heart is breaking. This is just so mid-90s.

Muse – Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever): What if Muse wrote Teenage Death songs in the 1960s? What if they had written Evita? That is pretty much what the opening section sounds like. Then the proper Muse-type drums and keys turn up.

The Bravery – Ours: I totally blanked out and started reading Hyperbole and a Half because I forgot that I was listening to the Eclipse soundtrack. That’s because this sounds exactly like a Bravery song (they all sound very similar, like Kingston Trio songs) and for some reason, my Pandora station serves up a lot of recent Bravery, so I’m kind of inured to them.

Florence + The Machine – Heavy In Your Arms: Katie and Jessica are super into F+TM right now, but I haven’t gotten around to that album yet. (I’m up to my eye sockets in Lollapalooza prep. I’ll explain my system later.) The thing I really noticed about the first Twilight Saga soundtrack is that even though the bands were very different, the music coordinator had managed to pick songs (or force them to record songs) that were very similar in tone, so that it hung together like a real album. This is very good song, but dark and creepy. Also kinda 90s, though. Remember all of those female solo artists coming out London at the turn of the Millenium? In particular the first Imogen Heap album? I need to investigate of the rest of Florence’s stuff sounds like that. Definitely the best of the album so far, though!

Sia – My Love: This song is quiet and there’s piano. It could have been written by Tori Amos.

Fanfarlo – Atlas : I kind of love Southern indie rock. By “southern”, I mean “I think I hear a banjo! Or a ukelele”. These songs are all kind of sleepymaking. Not in a bad way! This is a very Jenny Lewis’ Rabbit Fur Coat kinda song. I am pretty sure the man singing is wearing a vest.

The Black Keys – Chop and Change: Maybe this is a Quentin Tarantino film! This is a “very cool people doing evil things montage” song. At the very least a parody montage starring Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

The Dead Weather – Rolling In on a Burning Tire: What percentage of soundtrack contributors will ever see this film?

Beck & Bat for Lashes – Let’s Get Lost: Mathematical Proof Time. Beck + Bat For Lashes = Kate Bush. With a Moog. This is basically this century’s answer to “Don’t Give Up.”

Vampire Weekend – Jonathan Low: It reminds one rather of “Soul Meets Body” by Death Cab for Cutie. By which I mean the guitar part is largely ripped off and sped up. But it’s a pretty majestic song for the Vamps.

UNKLE feat. The Black Angels – With You In My Head: Trent Reznor produces Placebo. Peppy, but really dark. Permanent rotation at Hot Topic.

Eastern Conference Champions – A Million Miles an Hour: I’m getting sleepy. This soundtrack has been going on a while. Is this a Thom Yorke project? It sounds like it. Their website is very handy! They are not Thom Yorke, but they have a lady, which is rare. And a really neat diagram of their van. Their site is pretty excellent. The song is okay too.

Band of Horses – Life on Earth: I can’t remember if there were even words. All I remember was a lot of “la la” ing, very slowly and kind of low. Not helping with the sleepiness.

Cee Lo Green – What Part of Forever: Oh God! This one starts with whistling.

Howard Shore – Jacob’s Theme: Based on their themes, Jacob is infinitely less interesting than Harry Potter’s owl, Hedwig. Jacob sounds less interesting than John Tesh.

Battles – The Line: Awake again! This is a fast indie rock tune, the kind that you want to dance to, but your legs aren’t fast enough. No idea how they’ll cram that into the film.

Bombay Bicycle Club – How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?: Trippy. But good!

Then there are remixes of the Fanfarlo and Cee-Lo tracks. This is just weird. I cannot tell the difference between the Fanfarlo remix and the original, so I’m gonna skip the Cee-Lo.

The Verdict: Good! Might listen to it again. Still don’t understand the marketing strategies at work here.