Other Mixes By Pop Kulcher
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Theme - Narrative
The Guaranteed Foolproof Indie Film Soundtrack
| Artist | Song | |
| Pixies | Wave of Mutilation | |
| Beat Happening | Other Side | |
| Neil Diamond | Sweet Caroline | |
| Elliott Smith | All Cleaned Out | |
| The Move | (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree | |
| Pavement | Transport Is Arranged | |
| Daniel Johnston | Honey I Sure Miss You | |
| Jesus & Mary Chain | Cherry Came Too | |
| Kimya Dawson | My Heroes | |
| The Shins | One By One All Day | |
| Rainy Day | Flying On The Ground Is Wrong | |
| Kaleidoscope | Jenny Artichoke | |
| Jonathan Richman | To Hide A Little Thought | |
| Barbara Manning | Talk All Night | |
| Spiritualized | I Think I'm In Love | |
| Sebadoh | Skull | |
| Nick Drake | Hazey Jane II | |
| Magnetic Fields | The Saddest Story Ever Told | |
| Small Faces | Long Agos and Worlds Apart | |
| The Aislers Set | Catherine Says | |
| Death Cab For Cutie | Your Heart Is An Empty Room | |
| Neil Diamond | Desiree | |
| Yo La Tengo | Cast A Shadow | |
| The Kinks | I'll Remember | |
| Shonen Knife | Top Of The World | |
Comment:
Sure, it was a bit slow and, you know, quirky, but it killed 'em at Sundance...Yes, folks, the blueprint for the next guaranteed, can't miss, instant cred soundtrack for the low-budget semi-indie sleeper hit of 2008. Free for the taking!
Naturally, we need to start things off with something indisputably cool, yet nonetheless anthemic. Can't go wrong with the Pixies.
Then, of course, we can commence sprinkling the lo-fi (and occasionally mentally unhinged) semi-acoustic indie rock throughout to establish our hipster cred.
Naturally, the lead character will be charmingly quirky, a fact we can establish by showing her love of some critically reviled artist from the past -- in this case, I've gone with Neil Diamond -- who, of course, will enjoy a brief commercial and critical resurgence based on the use of a couple tunes on the soundtrack. The other lead, presumably the love interest, will be uber-cool, which we can tell because he listens to Pavement and Sebadoh. To show he's not too narrow-minded, though, we'll be sure to juice his scenes with some can't-miss alternative tunes from the 80's (Jesus & Mary Chain) and more recent years (Death Cab).
Naturally, there will have to be a Shins song. Also Jonathan Richman. Oh, and of course the Magnetic Fields. But you already knew this.
We'll also need a few sensitive singer-songwriter-styled songs for the film's introspective thematic moments (and montages), and at least one song by a doomed folkie from the past (I went with Nick Drake; Nico just missed the cut).
Perched in the center of the thing, we'll need a spacey, psychedelic piece, as there will likely be some sort of trippy drug sequence. A nice, droning 8-minute Spiritualized song should do the trick.
In order to offset the largely downbeat indie rock & folk dominating the score, we're going to pepper the soundtrack with some long-forgotten (or originally overlooked) near-anthems from the tail end of the British Invasion (we call this "the Wes Anderson effect"). I am confident everybody will leave the theater desperate to download the Kaleidoscope song from iTunes.
Finally, and I'm not sure why this is -- maybe licensing issues? -- there will be a charmingly playful cover version of a guilty-pleasure oldie played over the closing credits.
See you at the show...
Feedback:
fantastic, could be a really nice soundtrack
hilarious! two thumbs up
Brilliant. Spot on.
I'm with all three of those guys in terms of the concept and like all but the Neil Diamond song as actual listening experiences.
Wait! Let me add BOTH Neil Diamond songs (I'd only spotted "Sweet Caroline" before, but now I've noticed "Desiree" which is UNFORGIVABLE) the Death Cab for Cutie song to the "dislike/detest" pile; the Elliott Smith, Yo La Tengo and the Aislers Set tracks to a new "indifferent to" category; and the Kimya Dawson and Rainy Day tracks to a new "unknown" pile. :-)
Great notes, and sadly accurate. Plenty of good tunes too (Beat Happening, Nick Drake, Kinks, etc.). Well done!
I like the Neil Diamond and don't care how "uncool" he is. I prefer him to Elliot Smith, for one. Just for the fact that Neil sweats Velveeta is a plus for me, that image of him in his leisure suit in Last Waltz forever isolated him from the literati of pop/rock culture...Well-developed concept, and sadly accurate, as Brother Funky put it.
Yeah, great concept and execution... except for the Neil Diamond picks. There are plenty of ND songs that would have worked well here but those two and in particular the first one is fingernails on the chalkboard stuff that might send me to the exit door or at least up for some popcorn. It's bad enough to hear the morons chant the chorus at a hockey game but please not at my indie film.
Otherwise a great mix and notes.
Otherwise a great mix and notes.
Wow... ok, much Neil Diamond antipathy here! Well, I haven't burned the final mix yet, so if anyone can suggest better ND picks to serve our film...
Quentin and Sophia are envious.
Sadly, the notes really are spot on. Even sadder is the fact that I would be one of the numpties that would run out and just have to buy the soundtrack. What can I say, they really are great tunes sans the Neil Diamond.
i have to sound off on the neil diamond issue. i know that he has committed atrocities in the name of music but i like a lot of his early stuff and i don't think it is because i was young and vulnerable when i first heard it. remember, neil wrote i'm a believer. i am unfamiliar with desiree (maybe it has slipped my mind) but it sounds bad. i recommend my favorite neil tune, brother loves traveling salvation show and substitute solitary man for the overused sweet caroline to guarantee your hit.
I've always had a liking for Cherry Cherry (perhaps as another possible replacement for Sweet Caroline).
So.... you didn't like Juno?
To add to my earlier comment... I think a Neil Diamond song works well in this soundtrack context. There's been a couple of good suggestions I would agree with and also anything from the Bang years. Heck, even something off the recent Rick Rubin produced album. It's just that I would stay away from anything routinely played at a sports venue or fireworks display.
I second the vote for Solitary Man, but I think Sweet Caroline could be better replaced with Brother Love or Shiloh. They are from the same schlocky period.Remember, a very wise man once said "I am, I said to no one there and no one heard, not even the chair"
I think you should include 'Love On The Rocks,'nah just jokin.' It's your mix Marc, so go with what you want and sod the rest of us!!!
Cliff is right, to paraphrase Mick, fuck'em if they can't take a joke...
i'm going to have to agree that the notes are sadly accurate (though hilarious & quite spot-on) - really unique & witty idea executed rather flawlessly. on the neil diamond front...oh, my, i'll just keep my mouth buttoned
You know, when commenters state that the inclusion of such and such on a mix is 'Inspired', I always think 'to be honest, it's just a collection of songs that I like...'. However, in this context I reckon the Spiritualized choice IS 'Inspired' and would work perfectly in your film...
And I like Neil Diamonds songs - having 2 on here is a bonus. Wouldn't it be great, though, if Jonathan Richman sang ALL these songs in the film. Whilst sitting in a tree or something..
And I like Neil Diamonds songs - having 2 on here is a bonus. Wouldn't it be great, though, if Jonathan Richman sang ALL these songs in the film. Whilst sitting in a tree or something..
Hmmm, if you wanted to go the quirky indy comedy route, you should have a Neil Diamond cameo!
Great idea. I think I created an exhibit for this sort of thing, if it still works. I'm curious though - is there any song or style that couldn't be co-opted by the greedy indie capitalists?
FYI--not that I intended to start a Neil thread--I *love* early Neil stuff. "Solitary Man," "Cherry, Cherry," "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime," "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow," "I'm a Believer," "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"... even "Holly Holy"! I just happened to think the two songs included here--while well-chosen for the effect he was intending to elicit on this "soundtrack"--suck. :-) (I'm sooooo with George on the "BUM-bum-bum" thing, but think that "Desiree" is infinitely worse.) As far as bad-but-absolutely-perfect-for-an-indie-flick-Neil goes, I'd nominate "Longfellow Serenade."
Alas, I ended up leaving the original Neil tunes. Having never attended a hockey game (bad enough that the kids make me take them to basketball games), I don't have the same negative associations with "Sweet Caroline," and thus it still strikes me as exactly the sort of thing that our quirky anti-heroine might choose as her oh-so-ironic personal anthem. And as for "Desiree" -- sorry, but having seen San Francisco's premiere Neil Diamond tribute band, Super Diamond, about a dozen times back in the 90's, I still see this one as a key crowd-pleaser from Neil's schlocky 80s period.
Thank The Lord For The Night Time, Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, the two tracks suggested by mahdishain
all most any of the Monkee tracks would be MY choices for N.D. tracks. That said, I'm with French Connection-it is your mix and you play them as YOU want to.
all most any of the Monkee tracks would be MY choices for N.D. tracks. That said, I'm with French Connection-it is your mix and you play them as YOU want to.
Great, great mix and brilliant liner notes. I vote for Shiloh!
Woops! I stumbled upon this one just in time to see the closing credits -- and hear the charming Carpenters cover serenade the audience as they leave the theater. I know this was compiled rather tongue in cheek, but this looks as good as any indie film soundtrack I've ever seen or heard. Over at I-Tunes, I saw a list of songs that the director of Juno almost used, and several of the artists are represented here. Shows that your're on the mark! Excellent and humorous notes too. The Neil Diamond revival begins here.
Excellent Pop Kulcher. This makes a splendid resume for that "Music Supervisor" gig. I have neither seen nor intend to see "Juno." I did see "No Country for Old Men" which has no "songs" and virtually no music. Filled mostly with the ambient sounds of split flesh and the scraping of boot heels. Just as god and Andrei Tarkovsky intended.
Great concept, great mix. Peggy Lee I think deserves the track 22 spot on one of these things in the future... but you coulda gone with so many choices overall.
has zach braff hired you for his next film yet ??