A follow-up on some commentariat curiosity from a few weeks back: Pitchfork’s review of the indie-pandering soundtrack to the forthcoming vampire flick Twilight: New Moon, penned by Marc Hogan. The grade: 5.4. The crux of the issue: “The New Moon OST has all the touchstones of what is considered, by many who consider themselves cognoscenti, “good” music… but it uses its tastefulness to solidify the borders of what is acceptable, not to broaden them.” (Ahem.) The best probably unintentional pun, since the word “sparkle” wasn’t used once: “Like the rest of the tracks here, [the Lykke Li contribution] pales in comparison to the work on her own records.” [Pitchfork] More »
Our look at the closing lines of new music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to the New Moon soundtrack, the indie-kid-pandering tie-in to the forthcoming Twilight sequel that arrives in stores and online today: More »
The video for Death Cab For Cutie’s “Meet Me On The Equinox,” the lead single from the information-worker-pandering soundtrack to the Twilight franchise installment New Moon, debuted on proper old MTV last night, which isn’t so much a testament to the rise of “indie” over the past 10 years as it is a sign that Viacom will go to the absurd extreme of giving prime-time programming over to playing music videos in order to pander to the sparkly-vampire set. The video’s your standard “movie tie-in” clip; gauzily lit shots of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are intercut with Ben Gibbard et al miming along with the muscular, melodramatic track. And from the first note to the last, slow-motion taking off of a shirt, one common thread remains: Everyone looks so serious! I know teenage love is totally life-or-death business, but would it have killed someone to crack at least one smile? Jeez. Clip after the jump. More »
The soundtrack listing for New Moon, the latest installment in the fangirl-insanity-inducing Twilight series, has been released, and as previously insinuated, it is pretty indie-tastic, with the likes of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Swedish enigma Lykke Li, the Jay-Z-beloved Grizzly Bear, and the one-two punch of Bon Iver and St. Vincent backing up Death Cab For Cutie’s lead single “Meet Me On The Equinox.” Muse is also contributing a remix of a song from their new album The Resistance, although Matt Bellamy sure sounds like he wanted to take the path of least, um, resistance when getting on the record: “He wants a rendition of that, but the only thing with the new film is they want the songs to be exclusive to the film. So he’s asking if I mind doing, or if we mind doing an alternative version of it.” Um, OK then! Full track listing after the jump. More »
The folks at industry rag Hits have a handy chart of the albums coming out in the last months of the year, which, who knows, may be the last one in which a chart like this is even necessary! But even though we’re a long way from the days of 50 Cent and Kanye West squaring off on the anniversary of 9/11, it’s still sort of fun to see what CDs will be landing at America’s retailers on the same day. After the jump, five of the best battles that could arise from the coming release-date schedule. (Marketing departments, get your beef stew recipes ready!) More »
The first single from the soundtrack to New Moon, the second installment in the sparkling-vampire Twilight series, isn’t by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, or Bon Iver. But you’re demographically close! “Meet Me On The Equinox,” which will debut during the Video Music Awards on Sept. 13, is actually by Death Cab For Cutie, who are so excited at the possibility of being the next Paramore that they’ve released a statement: More »
