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My favorite part of “Twilight” was the credits for two reasons: the movie was over, and they were playing “15 Step” by Radiohead. For a movie targeted at mainstream teen girls, the soundtrack is quite striking. Leave it to a vampire love story to elicit new content from artists like Thom Yorke and The Killers. The collection on the “New Moon” soundtrack is bred for indie hipsters, not Robert Pattinson fan girls.
The music speaks for itself beyond its association with the films. From the get-go, poster boys Death Cab for Cutie come out swinging in all their indie-pop grandeur.
Thom Yorke’s song is immaculate. “Hearing Damage” is a fuzzy electro trip that could be on any Radiohead album. It’s well on par with his releases over the summer like “These Are My Twisted Words” and “All for the Best,” which were astounding.
The collection works because it mixes established artists straying from their normal material with lesser-known artists. Being squeezed in between Yorke and Death Cab is a tough job, but Band of Skulls hold their own with “Friends.”
The Killers add a dreary, piano-heavy lament called “A White Demon Love Song” that’s better than any of the material on their last album. It’s uncharacteristic of them, and Brandon Flowers’ voice sounds much more natural than it has lately.
The only returning artist from the “Twilight” soundtrack, one of the year’s top sellers, is Muse. They contribute a remix of “I Belong to You” off of their latest release, “The Resistance.” This song doesn’t have quite the power of “Supermassive Black Hole,” their contribution to the last soundtrack, but still packs some of Muse’s signature punch.
The soundtrack is bogged down by spacey ballads from indie girls Lykke Li and Anya Marina. These songs appeal a bit more to the movie’s demographic, but fail to add to the artistic mood the other artists create.
The ballad by blues rockers The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “Done All Wrong” is chilling and adds to the aesthetic better than the reverby female whining, and guest artist Victoria Legrand delivers a great performance on Grizzly Bear’s spacey track “Slow Life.”
The biggest surprise on the album comes from treadmill rockers OK Go. So far this band has been little beyond gimmicky songs, outfits and performances, but all of that changes on this album. “Shooting the Moon” is a mature track that blends acoustic guitar and synth in some unique ways. It is down tempo, something they couldn’t really do before and finishes with a super distorted breakdown reminiscent of “The Bends” era Radiohead. If this is any sign of OK Go’s future, this is good news.
Indie-music-laden soundtracks are most-often destined for success ever since “Juno.” This one is not going to be the indie album of the year as some have predicted, but it’s a solid collection. There are a few throw away songs, but there are also enough pleasant surprises to save the album. If people can swallow their pride and discount its connection to the movie, they will find some great material.
Grade: B-
Related Posts:- CD Review: Man on the Moon: The End of Day (October 19, 2009)
- CD Review: Brand New (October 5, 2009)
- CD Review (September 20, 2007)
- CD review (March 21, 2005)
- CD review: Of Montreal (January 29, 2007)
I didn’t like the soundtrack at all. I don’t want to say that but I just didn’t expect something so bad. I love the series and stuff but I expected rock like Papa Roach or something. This is just my opinion.
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i loved the soundtrack! much better than the first one. you forgot to mention my favorite song, roslyn, a collaboration between bon iver and st. vincent. beautiful song.
i disagree with jiffy, angsty rock wouldn’t fit new moon at all, indie-acoustic goes much better with the plot. and i think the film will be mostly score anyway.
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I didn’t like the soundtrack at first, but to be fair I made my self listen to it a few times. I had to do the same with the Twilight soundtrack when it came out. The New Moon CD is now the only thing that plays in my truck!!
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