From the fine folks at Sire Records comes Music From the Motion Picture (500) Days of Summer. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and is directed Marc Webb, who has a host of music video credits to his impressive resume. A hit at the Sundance Film Festival already, (500) Days of Summer has recently opened in select theaters across the nation. If this soundtrack is any sort of indication about the film, fans of Singles, Empire Records, Hi-Fidelity, and the like may have a new cult classic on their hands.
This soundtrack is en eclectic mix of old and new, the tie that binds being that all the music is rather melancholy in nature. Opening with what I assume to be the film’s opening moment (Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen doing a bit of narration), the voices declare that this is “not a love story” and off we go! The incomparable Regina Spektor then kicks the compilation off proper with “Us.” From there the album just stays in a cool melancholy groove that includes indie cool bands such as The Smiths, Feist, the aforementioned Spektor, Doves, Wolfmother, and She & Him (which features the stunning vocals of Zooey Deschanel- as anyone who saw The Good Life can attest to). It goes way beyond indie cool with the inclusion of Folk legends Simon & Garfunkel and the internationally renowned Carla Bruni as well. Even Pop giants Hall & Oates get a few minutes in the spotlight.
What’s truly great about this compilation of music is that I don’t particularly love any of the bands (perhaps Spektor and The Smiths can be excluded from that statement- depends on the mood I am in) but I do love this soundtrack. It’s wonderfully put together and my hunch is that music plays a major part in this film. Film are no film, if you are looking for a good set of uber cool indie pop songs that you won’t have to skip anything on than Music From the Motion Picture (500) Days of Summer is exactly what you are looking for.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
