Zooey Deschanel on the 'Winnie the Pooh' Soundtrack

Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward (She & Him) share their feel-good music on the soundtrack for the upcoming Winnie the Pooh movie. Below is a promo for the song "So Long." Pooh hits the big screen on July 15th.

[via IFC]

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Soundtrack Worthy: The Robotanists

The Robotanists offer a sweet indie rock version of Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" with an ode to Los Angeles called "Exiled State of Mind." If you're an indie rock lover you can't ask for a better cover. Soundtrack worthy!

Official Site: www.robotanists.com

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Soundtrack Worthy: Obi Best

Obi Best offers a dose of quirkiness with their music video "It's Because of People Like You" that includes dancing with a robot and Xanadu-like adventures. Alex Lilly anchors the band with her distinctively sweet voice that Blackbook calls "the Miranda July of postmodern quirk-pop."

And here's a live recording of "Tropical Fish"

Official Site: www.myspace.com/obibest

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Soundtrack Worthy: Twilight Sleep

Twilight Sleep is the the kind of music that comes from deep space, the future, a land more cerebral than here. There's something intergalactic about their sound, it puts you in a trance, all hazy and star-eyed. When you close your eyes you can swear you're on Jupiter or something. Tracy Marcellino's voice beautifully blends with the synths and guitar melodies. They mostly play in the Los Angeles area (specifically Silver Lake and Echo Park) and they're the kind of band you can see several times and still be impressed by every show.

It's hard to pick a favorite song but check out "Broken Record," "Don't Fire Your Guns" and "The Other One" first.

Listen now: www.myspace.com/twilightsleep
Twitter: @twilight_sleep

[Photo credit: Joya Martuscello]

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Soundtracks: "I Want You" by Fefe Dobson + "28" by Lorene Scafaria

Drew Barrymore's Whip It was one of my favorite movies last year.  It's the kind of movie you watch over and over again with a bunch of friends. It's wildy fun and the soundtrack features music by The Raveonettes, The Breeders and The Ramones. But here two songs not officially on the soundtrack...

Fefe Dobson's "I Want You" played on the TV spots and every time I hear the song I'm reminded of the movie.

I stayed until the end credits to listen to Lorene Scarfaria's "28" which offers a somber and poetic final culmination on the pains (and beauty) of growing up.

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Spotlight - Wendy & Lisa

Childhood friends Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman are musicians who were part of Prince's The Revolution during the mid-'80s, released five albums of their own, and score music for film and television. While Wendy primarly plays guitar and Lisa plays piano and keyboards, they are also credited with playing other instruments including bass, drums, harmonica, harmonium, oud, tamboora, and congas. Lisa began playing with Prince in 1980 and Wendy joined the band in 1983, as they began filming Purple Rain. After the massive success of Purple Rain, Wendy and Lisa continued to work with Prince until 1986.

They have also worked with kd lang, Grace Jones, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Neil Finn, Joni Mitchell, and many others. They released their debut album, Wendy & Lisa (Columbia), in 1987 which featured the ethereal R&B dance music that they helped to create for Prince. By their third album, Eroica (Virgin, 1990), they shifted towards more of a rock sound. They self-released their fifth album, White Flags of Winter Chimneys, in December 2008 after a ten year hiatus. Wendy and Lisa have scored many projects including Heroes, Dangerous Minds, Something New, Mercy, and most recently Nurse Jackie. They will appear at this year's Wondercon to discuss their work at the 'Setting the Score: Composing for Film & Television for Sci-Fi/Fantasy' panel on friday. For more info and to pre-order the Nurse Jackie soundtrack go to wendyandlisa.com

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PAFF: Andy Allo

Andy Allo performed at the Pan African Film Festival's Night of Tribute that honored Glynn Turman, Tatyana Ali, Nate Parker, F. Gary Gray and Nollywood filmmaker Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima.

Allo and her band played a couple songs that have a neo-soul/folk vibe. Whether you're into that genre or not, the music video is really cute...

Official Site: www.andyallo.com

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Soundtrack Review - The Book of Eli

Atticus Ross makes his feature film debut with a haunting and atmospheric score. Ross incorporates electronic elements within a classical sound to create the sonic landscapes of the Hughes Brothers' post-apocalyptic world. Creepy electro-blips permeate throughout the score creating an off-kilter sense of threat. 

"Panoramic" starts things off with an epic theme that effectively uses synthesizers to create a somber yet hopeful motif. This mood is reflected throughout the diverse album. Ross often employs low-key vocals and tribal drums ("Outland", "The Journey"). There is some ominous brass linked to the villainous characters ("Amen", "Convoy Destruct"). The action scenes dip into industrial rock ("The Convoy"). "Solara Violated" uses sparse sound design to make an uncomfortable scene even more powerful. There are also more traditional tracks like the simple piano melodies on "Human" and "The Passenger". "Carnegie's Demise" rumbles along with an unsettling assortment of baritone sounds. It's not all gloom though, sentimental strings frame "Blind Faith" and the hopeful closer "The Purpose". 

It is one of the more original scores I have heard and is one of my favorite aspects of the film. Ross previously worked on Nine Inch Nails albums, including the Grammy-nominated instrumental Ghosts. He wrote the score with his wife, Claudia Sarne, and brother, Leopold Ross. This marks his third collaboration with the Hughes Brothers, having also scored their TV show Touching Evil and their segment of New York, I Love You. 

The soundtrack is currently available on Reprise Records as well as iTunes [which offers a deluxe edition with four bonus tracks] and will be released on 2LP vinyl on Feb 23rd. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of NIN or electronic music.

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Soundtrack Worthy: Morgan Grace

Morgan Grace's music would be a great fit for an indie film soundtrack. Her song "You're Gonna Ruin My Life" has the perfect vibe for an all-seems-lost love scene. "Saddest Song Ever" is beautifully somber and "Eyes In The Back of My Head" is short but definitely sweet.

 Here's the music video for "Valentine"

Official Site: www.morgangracemusic.com
Listen Now: www.myspace.com/morgangrace

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Soundtrack: "Emotional Champ" by New Buffalo

Gardens of the Night deals with a dark subject: kidnapping. But if you make it to the end of the film you get rewarded with this beautiful song by New Buffalo (Sally Seltmann):

Official Site: www.sallyseltmann.com & MySpace

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Favorite End Credit Songs?

They're the songs that set the final tone for a film and if the rest of the soundtrack is great then they're like a cherry on top. A couple of my favorites are "What I've Done" by Linkin Park (Transformers) and "Extreme Ways" by Moby (The Bourne Ultimatium).

What songs did you stay in your seats for?

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Soundtrack: "Feeling Good" by Muse

I watched Seven Pounds again (I saw it twice in theaters). This time I fast-forwarded to my favorite scenes. One of them is where Muse's "Feeling Good" plays. Without giving away the plot, I'll just say that it fits the mood precisely.


If you haven't seen Seven Pounds yet give it a try. The cinematography is impressive (I like Philippe Le Sourd's style) and the lead actors, Will Smith and Rosario Dawson, have good onscreen chemistry. If you're into reading screenplays it will make you appreciate the story even more.

Other notable songs from the soundtrack include "The Crisis" by Ennio Morricone and "One of These Things First" by Nick Drake.

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Soundtrack: Broken Social Scene

Not only do they have a cool name, their music is...how do I describe it? Awesome. Broken Social Scene is exactly the kind of band you want on a soundtrack with their subtle indie rock big band sound.


You can hear "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in The Time Traveler's Wife where the band performs at a wedding scene.

"Stars and Sons" "Shampoo Suicide" and "Da Da Dada" are featured on the Half Nelson soundtrack.

And if you're in the mood for a thriller romance then check out their song "Lover's Spit" in Wicker Park.

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Lights Debuts New Video: "Saviour"

It's an explosion of color. Her creativity is inspiring. Here's what she said about it on her website:

"Basically in this video you're going to get a cheap ride into my alternate universe--a little look at how my ideas spawn, whether from writing or drawing or just looking at things around me in real life."

This video captures how many writers, singers and artists feel when they're in that zone and their imagination runs wild. It's a fun place to be.


Lights new album, The Listening, comes out September 22 in Canada and October 6 in the USA. For more info visit www.iamlights.com

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Soundtrack-worthy: Mat Kearney, Deastro, Mono and Au Revoir Simone

Check out the latest from...

• Mat Kearney - City of Black & White
  
  
• Deastro - Moondagger
  
  
• Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
  
  
• Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light

Mat Kearney's music has been played on Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. Au Revoir Simone is on the soundtrack for Medicine for Melancholy and Dedicated. The other two bands, I'm not so sure about their placement but they definitely have soundtrack potential!

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"My heart keeps beating like a hammer..."

"Help, I'm Alive" by Metric has been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks and every time it comes on the radio I smile. Somebody has to put it on a film soundtrack.

Acoustic Version:



Radio Version:


Official Site: www.myspace.com/metric

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Lights chats beginnings...

Not movie related, but I'll try to sneak in as many Lights updates as I can. Why? Because her music is intergalactically cool. Duh. Check out this video on how she got started in the music biz:


Official Site: www.iamlights.com

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Concert Watch: Angel Taylor

I saw Angel Taylor perform over the weekend and...wow! She played the keyboard, the guitar and sang about my favorite warm beverage: "Chai Tea Latte." She has a cool but quirky stage presence and told some funny stories.

Here's a snippet from the show:


Tia and Toya over at Black Girls Like Us were the ones who highly suggested that I see her in concert and they were right! Angel is currently on tour with Kate Voegele and they're traveling all over the U.S. so catch them when they come your way.

Official Site: www.angeltayloronline.com

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Lights is Canada's New Artist of the Year

Lights won a Juno award over the weekend. Doesn't she look completely stoked?

I had my first interview with her about a year ago and she was super sweet and a pleasure to chat with. She's a great live performer especially when she rocks out on her keytar. Here's to hoping she makes it big in the U.S. with her upcoming album.

To watch her acceptance speech click here (fast forward to 4:00).


Official Site: www.iamlights.com

[Hat tip Ricky Luu]

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Corbin Bleu - "Moments That Matter"

Corbin Bleu of High School Musical fame has a new album, Speed of Light, that came out earlier this month. Here's the first video:


My favorite songs are "Speed of Light," "Moments That Matter" and "Fear of Flying." I'm not a big dance/R&B fan but those tracks are iTunes worthy if you can get over his HSM label.

You can catch Bleu this Thursday on Tyra.

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