Mogwai - Soundtracks (2020)

I've been a fan of Scottish post-rockers Mogwai from their very first recordings, way back in 1996 with their 'Summer' 7" single. Every album release has been excellent, and I can't recall another band who have been around for so long who don't seem to have put a foot wrong in their career, garnering the same respect now as they did when they spear-headed the whole post-rock movement in the late 90's. Their music has always been cinematic in scope, and so it was no surprise when they moved into soundtrack work, after a couple of films in the early 2000's had used their music on their soundtracks. After collaborating with Clint Mansell and The Kronos Quartet on 'The Fountain' in 2006, they were given their first commission, to compose and play the score for 'Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait' the following year, which was released as an album to universal acclaim. Since then they've composed the music for the international hit French TV series 'Les Revenants', as well as scoring the soundtracks for such worthy films as the 2015 documentary on the legacy of Hiroshima 'Atomic', and Leonardo DeCaprio's climate change film 'Before The Flood', as well as contributing to Amnesty International's PEACE Project in 2010. As some of this work could easily be over-looked, even by fans such as me (I didn't get the 'Zidane' album until some years after it was released, as I didn't consider it a 'real' Mogwai album), I've picked a representative example of their work from each of the films that they've been involved in, and collected them together in one showcase of what a diverse and talented band they are.    

Track listing

01 I Know You Are But What Am I? (from the film 'Wicker Park' 2004)
02 Auto Rock (from the film 'Miami Vice' 2006) 
03 Tree Of Life  (from the film 'The Fountain' 2006) 
04 Terrific Speech (from the film 'Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait' 2007)
05 Cody (Cava) (donated to Amnesty International's 'PEACE Project' 2010) 
06 Hungry Face (from the TV series 'Les Revenants' 2013) 
07 SCRAM (from the film 'Atomic' 2015) 
08 Huaynaputina (from the film 'Before The Flood' 2016)
09 Helicon 1 (from the film 'Beautiful Boy' 2018)
10 Eli's Theme (from the film 'KIN' 2018)   
11 Moon In Reverse (from the TV series 'Zerozerozero' 2020)

Various Artists - Don't Be So Dramatic (2020)

I've just finished watching the mesmerising German Netflix drama 'Dark', and having heard the theme song twenty-six times in two weeks it's worked its way its to my brain to become one of my favourite songs of the moment. Another theme tune that did that was the one for the Scandinavian crime thriller 'The Bridge', so much so that I actively sought out the identity of the artist after about four episodes. There have been many outstanding dramas coming over here to the UK from the US and Europe in the last decade, and a number of them have had the most memorable, haunting theme tunes, so I've put together an album of some of my favourites. With the exception of 'Game Of Thrones', which is quite upbeat, in general they all have an oppressive, sinister feel to them. The dramas they come from tend to have an underlying threat to their storylines, from the horror of 'The Walking Dead' and 'American Horror Story', via the crime thrillers of 'Breaking Bad' and 'The Killing', to the supernatural fantasy of 'Les Revenants' and 'Stranger Things'. 'Chernobyl' was one of the outstanding series of last year, and the music fitted the visuals so perfectly that it became an integral part of the viewing. It was composed by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, and incorporated sound recordings from an actual nuclear power plant. Danish political thriller 'Borgen' was a surprise hit with me, as I didn't think I'd like it but by the end I was hooked, and 'Le Bureau Des Reves' is part of a new wave of French thrillers which are making their way over here. This album won't be for everybody, but if you have a fondness for atmospheric instrumental music such as that purveyed by the likes of Godspeed! You Black Emperor then I think you'll find much to enjoy on here.

Track listing

01 Hollow Talk (Choir Of Young Believers) [from 'The Bridge']
02 Game Of Thrones (Ramin Djawdi)
03 The Killing (Frans Bak)
04 Stranger Things (Kyle Dixon/Michael Stein)
05 Hungry Face (Mogwai) [from 'Les Revenants']
06 The Walking Dead (Bear McCreary)
07 American Horror Story (Cesar Davila-Irizarry/Charlie Clouser)
08 Borgen (Halfdan E Nielsen)
09 Goodbye (Apparat) [from 'Dark']
10 Breaking Bad (Dave Porter)
11 Evacuation (Hildur Guðnadóttir) [from 'Chernobyl']
12 Le Bureau Des Reves (Théo Bernard)