Five 2013 Original Film Soundtracks You Need to Hear

In warm up for our best films of 2013 list, here are some soundtracks, that as About to Blow followers, are really worth a listen. Be warned, if you’re looking for a list containing the monstrosity that is The Great Gatsby soundtrack, look elsewhere. So in no particular order:

Cliff Martinez – Spring Breakers & Only God Forgives

So already we’re cheating. Both soundtracks are great in their own right, but both could easily earn a place on anyone’s list – and the fact it’s the same composer means they should both be honoured. When it comes to scoring films, Martinez is prolific but hits a repetitiveness, so when working with films as radical as these, there’s nothing but joy to hear such inspired work. On the Spring Breakers soundtrack, the guy even made Skrillex sound like Daft Punk before the fell off after Discovery! Perhaps, for that alone he deserves a place on this list.

Jon Hopkins – How I Live Now

Mercury Music Prize nominee Jon Hopkins is best known for his breakthrough record Immunity, which sails through intense and immersive electronic waves of awesome. Yes. The soundtrack to How I Live Now is reminiscent of Immunity’s softer and angelic moments, but like the film, goes to some dark places and develops a real tension – the antithesis of Immunity’s completely freeing sensation.

Clint Mansell – Stoker

Best known for his collaborations with Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream), Mansell’s score for veteran Korean director uses the piano to conjure a dance of chilling terror and beauty. Yet the instruments surrounding the piano give a very modern feel to a potentially classical work, just like the film’s aesthetic.

Steven Price – Gravity

This isn’t really chilling out music. The ambient tracks are soothing and embracing, but when the danger builds in the music, you can’t help recall the disasters in the film, and suddenly whatever you’re doing becomes rather terrifying.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Lawless