Sunday, May 18, 2008

Prepare to be surprised


I don't know why it took me so long to see Dan in Real Life, given my celebrity crushes on both Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, but I finally Netflixed it this weekend was totally stunned by how much I loved it. Those of you who know me know that I'm a sucker for any movie with a good soundtrack (hello Bewitched?) and WOW - does this movie have a great soundtrack.

Almost all of the music was written by Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche specifically for the film, a la the Graduate or Harold and Maude (two movies cited by director Peter Hedges as major influences.) In the bonus features, Hedges talks about how important he felt it was to get the music right and how he absolutely fell in love with Lerche's acoustic sound. Both Hedges and Lerche worked hard to keep the sound intimate, raw and sweet (just like the film itself.) The result is one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long time.

To give you an idea of Lerche's sound in the movie (which reminds me of a much happier version of a former Euro-band crush of mine, the Guillemots,) check out this video of him performing "Prepare to Be Surprised" on Letterman last October, and then check out the whole soundtrack. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Irreplaceable


I haven't been able to get this song out of my head for the past month. It's been playing in heavy rotation on our local Urban AC station, which I have really been digging lately. Pop/R&B is going through a nice melodic thing right now that is way more interesting than anything happening on top 40 right now. Check it out!