What's included in the soundtrack are five songs songs done by various groups and the score composed by Cliff Martinez (drummer for Red Hot Chili Pepper, Captain Beefheart. Composer of Traffic, Solaris (2002), The Lincoln Lawyer, amongst many others). The cream of the crop for me are the first three tracks, which are simple, bobbing pseudo disco pop that's a mix between 80's dance music and new wave with a modern feel relying heavily on synthesizer and vocals.
Composed pieces by Martinez are stark, minimalist electronic pieces that ebb and flow with building intensity and subsiding emotion. These tracks are in contrast to the previously mentioned three which feature vocals and have a driving pulse to them as well as the black sheep of the bunch, a track by Italian composer Riz Ortolani featuring the harrowly powerful vocals of Katyna Ranieri. Martinez's efforts don't fare as well as the rest of the tracks simply because they're meant to have a visual accompaniment.
Overall this is probably the only soundtrack I've ever sought out and listened to in its entirety. I'm almost positive that my enjoyment of the movie plays a large roll in my enjoyment of the music as many tracks are in tune with powerful and enthralling scenes of the film.
The soundtrack, when hand in hand with the actual film is a perfect match and does nothing but highlight what Refn and company are pushing for you to feel.
1. Nightcall - Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
2. Under Your Spell - Desire
3. A Real Hero (feat. Electric Youth) - College
4. Oh My Love (feat. Katyna Ranieri) - Riz Ortolani
5. Tick of the Clock - Chromatics
6. Rubber Head - Cliff Martinez
7. I Drive - Cliff Martinez
8. He Had a Good Time - Cliff Martinez
9. They Broke His Pelvis - Cliff Martinez
10. Kick Your Teeth - Cliff Martinez
11. Where's the Deluxe Version? - Cliff Martinez
12. See You in Four - Cliff Martinez
13. After The Chase - Cliff Martinez
14. Hammer - Cliff Martinez
15. Wrong Floor - Cliff Martinez
16. Skull Crushing - Cliff Martinez
17. My Name on a Car - Cliff Martinez
18. On The Beach - Cliff Martinez
19. Bride of Deluxe - Cliff Martinez
5 comments:
the weird 80s soundtrack really gave it an almost surreal, dreamy vibe. it really reminded me of blue velvet in that regard.
Goddamn, this film/soundtrack are fantastic. If you're looking for more stuff like this, I'd suggest earlier M83 records like Before the Dawn Heals Us and Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. The way they use Before the Dawn Heals Us track "Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun" in the opening for this Lakai skate video is a great example of this same kind of pairing of intense action with shimmering pop.
http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=v3L97_lFwpg
Buh, that link was removed, this one should be okay.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dnuf_explosive-skateboarding-in-slow-mot_sport
Andrew: I actually haven't see Blue Velvet yet, but I agree about the dreamy aspect.Slow motion and awesome lighting/cinematography gave a very surreal feeling to it. I think Refn has even said he was aiming for it to have a fairy tale like quality. I was worried when I realized he was the guy who did Valhalla rising, but Drive really struck a chord with me.
Veins:Thanks for the rec, I'll definitely check it out. I'm a sucker for that kind of dark pop/new wave stuff like Cold Cave and i guess, to a certain extent Lifelover.
Holy crap that video was awesome. Definitely will need to hear more. Thanks!
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