Movie Soundtracks

Jim and Greg gear up for the Oscars by discussing the most important part of a movie: the soundtrack. Saturday Night Fever, Purple Rain, The Graduate... Tune in to see what made the cut.

Movie Soundtracks
Download Subscribe via iTunes

Music News

Jim and Greg don't like to give too much airtime to the Grammy Awards, but there was one upset worth mentioning (other than Amy Winehouse not getting a visa). Beating out big names like Winehouse, Kanye West, The Foo Fighters and Vince Gill for Album of the Year was veteran jazz musician Herbie Hancock.

River: The Joni Letters Herbie Hancock

River: The Joni Letters

So did Hancock deserve the award? Herbie Hancock is a critically acclaimed pianist who many listeners will remember for composing the 1983 jazz-hip hop fusion track "Rockit." But, according to Greg, this is a case of "right artist, wrong year." Hancock's winning album River: The Joni Letters is by no means the musician's finest work. With the exception of the one track on which Joni Mitchell sings, most of the songs have unsuccessful vocals. Greg gives this "muzak" album a Burn It. Jim calls River a "stultifyingly mediocre record" that isn't a fair representation of the year in music. The Recording Academy might give the album an award, but he gives it a Trash It.

Juno Kimya Dawson

Juno (Music from the Motion Picture)

Before Jim and Greg launch into their discussion of the best movie soundtracks of all time, they review the soundtrack that's currently getting the most buzz. Juno, the little movie that could, is not only a success at the box office, but with music consumers as well. The soundtrack became the first Rhino record to hit #1 on the Billboard chart, and it was even able to topple Alicia Keys' recent release. The success of the Juno soundtrack is surprising considering how obscure many of the songs are. The album is dominated by tracks from The Moldy Peaches and its former lead singer Kimya Dawson. The success is also surprising to Jim because, well... he hates it. He's gone on record as not liking the movie, but Jim also thinks the album is completely unsuccessful. He finds Dawson's songwriting amateurish and childish gives the soundtrack a big Trash It. Greg agrees, explaining that it doesn't seem like Dawson knows the difference between childlike and childish, or between cute and cloying. He says Juno is really tough to listen to and also gives the soundtrack a Trash It rating.

Great Movie Soundtracks

The biggest night in Hollywood is just around the corner, but that doesn't mean music fans can't get into the action. Jim and Greg decided to mark the occasion of the Oscars by playing bits of their favorite movie soundtracks. Here are their picks:

Jim

  • The Royal Tenenbaums
  • Silence of the Lambs
  • Sorcerer
  • The Craft

Greg

  • The Harder They Come
  • Hype
  • American Graffiti
  • Superfly

Listeners’ Picks:

  • 24 Hour Party People
  • Amelie
  • Rushmore

Dear Listeners,

For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!

edit