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Garden State

 
Album Review: Garden State
 

  • Artist: Original Soundtrack
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: August 10, 2004
  • Type: Soundtrack
  • Genre: Soundtrack

Review

The soundtrack to Zach Braff's Garden State is nearly as much of a piece with the film as the similarly sweet, quirky combinations of sound and vision in Wes Anderson's films and soundtracks. Garden State, however, is more modern in its outlook and more emotionally direct, with a mixtape earnestness belied by using not one but two songs from the Shins' Oh, Inverted World. "New Slang" is an obvious choice, as the song just seems to grow in stature as time passes, but "Caring Is Creepy," Oh, Inverted World's vulnerable, ever-so-slightly unhinged opening track, is not, and adds to the personal, diary-like feel of the album. The bright poignancy of the Shins' tracks stands out even more among the low-key melancholy of songs like Coldplay's "Don't Panic," Remy Zero's "Fair," and Colin Hay's "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You." The inclusion of Hay's track, Bonnie Somerville's "Winding Road," and the Cary Brothers' "Blue Eyes" shows that Garden State doesn't go for the hipster, too-cool-for-school poses that one might expect from the soundtrack of a hot indie movie, even with the inclusion of Iron & Wine's cover of the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights." Still, there's something of a collegiate feel to the soundtrack, especially with the re-rediscovery of Nick Drake ("One of These Things First") and Simon & Garfunkel ("The Only Living Boy in New York") as well as the tentative forays into electronica and trip-hop like Zero 7's "In the Waiting Line," Frou Frou's "Let Go," and Thievery Corporation's "Lebanese Blonde." Perhaps this collegiate feel comes from the fact that those years are often the time when many people are the most ready and willing to explore music that is new to them (but not necessarily new), but, as the success of Garden State's soundtrack shows, any time can be the right time. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Don't Panic Chris Martin, Will Champion, Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland Coldplay (2:16)
Caring Is Creepy James Mercer The Shins (3:20)
In the Waiting Line Sophie Barker, Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker Zero 7 (4:33)
New Slang James Mercer The Shins (3:51)
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You Colin Hay Colin Hay (5:18)
Blue Eyes Cary Brothers Cary Brothers (4:18)
Fair August Cinjun Tate, Shelby Tate Remy Zero (3:54)
One of These Things First Nick Drake Nick Drake (4:49)
Lebanese Blonde Eric Hilton, Rob Garza Thievery Corporation (4:46)
The Only Living Boy in New York Paul Simon Simon & Garfunkel (3:59)
Such Great Heights Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello Iron & Wine (4:12)
Let Go Guy Sigsworth, Imogen Heap Frou Frou (4:12)
Winding Road Bonnie Somerville Bonnie Somerville (3:27)

Credits

Art Garfunkel (Producer), Paul Simon (Producer), Robert Kraft (Executive in Charge of Music), David Bottrill (Producer), Joe Boyd (Producer), Dave Dale (Producer), Roy Halee (Producer), Colin Hay (Producer), Eric Hilton (Producer), Ken Nelson (Producer), Guy Sigsworth (Producer), Remy Zero (Producer), Chad Fischer (Producer), David Donnelly (Mastering), Hooshik Bayliss (Art Direction), Geoff Bywater (Music Supervisor), Amanda Scheer-Demme (Music Supervisor), Imogen Heap (Producer), Rob Garza (Producer), Danielle Diego (Music Supervisor), The Shins (Producer), Coldplay (Producer), Zero 7 (Producer), Buck Damon (Music Supervisor), James Mercer (Producer), Sam Beam (Producer), Christine Bergren (Music Clearance), Zach Braff (Executive Soundtrack Producer)
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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

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