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The songs play in the foreground, in the background, over montage sequences and triumphant climaxes. Sometimes they move the plot along, and sometimes they just move us. And, much as in real life, the right song at the right moment can mean the difference between something ordinary and something truly transcendent.
Music has always been a vital component of film, but in this decade a number of directors pushed the art of the soundtrack further than ever before, offering them up not as disposable souvenirs of some cinematic experience but as important cultural artifacts in their own rights.
The great movie soundtracks of the past ten years proved as crucial to their respective films as any starring actor or tangible set-piece, and today we celebrate ten of the very best.
10: The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Atlantic] (2009) Swirling, moody contributions from Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, and St. Vincent playing with Bon Iver make this feel less like just one more entry in the teen-vampire-flick brand mania and more like a mix-tape meant for wooing some hard-hearted hipster, but—oh wait, that's probably just what Alexandra Patsavas and co. were going for. We'd feel bad about liking it so much if—like Edward Cullen himself—it wasn't all just sooo pretty. Rachael Maddux
9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [Hollywood] (2004)
Featuring the instrumental compositions of Mark Mothersbaugh, Paco de Lucía and the Sven Libaek Orchestra; classics by Joan Baez, Iggy & the Stooges and Devo; and, best of all, four liquid-hypnotic Portuguese-sung acoustic Bowie covers from the inimitable Seu Jorge, this ultra-chill soundtrack is the aural equivalent of Wes Anderson's strangely relaxing and easy-paced ocean-exploration flick. Steve LaBate
8. Vanilla Sky [Reprise] (2001) Cameron Crowe's follow-up to Almost Famous was confusing, aching and beautiful, and the music and that played throughout its disorienting scenes—eerie selections from Radiohead and Jeff Buckly, plus oddly jaunty moments thanks to Peter Gabriel Todd Rundgren—perfectly augmented that off-kilter mood. As a bonus, Crowe tossed Sigur Ros in the mix three years before Steve Zissou and his crew confronted the jaguar shark to the tune of "Staralfur." Rachael Maddux
7. High Fidelity [Hollywood Records] (2000) Like the "play at home" version of the movie, High Fidelity's soundtrack lets you, the viewer, act out all the best scenes from the film. Anguish over an ex-lover to the 13th Floor Elevators! Turn people on to the Beta Band! Make your sweetheart a mixtape to Stevie Wonder! Stand in the rain to Bob Dylan! The game's as fun as the movie is funny. Austin L. Ray (Listen on Lala)
6. Juno [Rhino Records] (2007)
Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman's hearbreakingly clever and lovely film deserved nothing less than a heartbreakingly clever and lovely soundtrack, and that's just what it got, from the opening scene tracked to Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want Is You" to Michael Cera and Ellen Page's clumsy rendition of the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You." What could have been a smorgasboard of toothaching twee fare from Belle & Sebastian and Kimya Dawson is balanced by retro cuts from The Kinks and Buddy Holly, echoing the film's tension between precocity and naivete. Rachael Maddux
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BULL FUCKING SHIT
In my opinion, it is a huge oversight for The Proposition's soundtrack by Nick Cave to be excluded from this list.
NEW MOON?
of the ENTIRE decade?!?
into the wild, 8 mile, the whackness, slumdog millionaire...
just a few that deserve it more
No Jon Brion??? Eternal Sunshine or I Heat Huckabees... Or Leonard Cohen: "I'm Your Man" documentary...
The Twilight inclusion is a joke.
Jon Brion did some awesome work this decade, and Nick Cave's Proposition soundtrack was great, but we counted those more as scores than soundtracks—it can be tough to compare the two. A list celebrating great, mostly-instrumental film music is probably in order.
Also, we're no huge fans of the Twilight series, but we see that soundtrack as a pretty telling cultural signifier. In terms of "indie" music having its day in the mainstream sun, this is its biggest outing yet. Our concept of "bestness" here wasn't just limited to pure artistic value—although if New Moon gets thirteen year old girls listening to Bon Iver instead of Owl City, that'll be awesome.
The Proposition is, by definition, a score, not a soundtrack.
Two notable exclusions from the list;
(500) Days of Summer.
The soundtrack, like the film itself, seemed like an updated and upgraded version of Garden State.
and my personal favorite, the vastly, vastly underappreciated and unknown
BROTHERS OF THE HEAD
An entire album of 70's vintage proto-punk was created by the producers of the film and actors of the fake band in the faux-documentary about conjoined twins being exploited and igniting a musical revolution. The soundtrack is as eerie as the film - as an added bonus you get acoustic and live takes to flesh it out, plus a few tunes from some real bands of that era. The whole thing is as exhilerating as it is riveting.
If you want a starting point check out "Doola and Dawla"
how about "Hallam Foe" ?!! that unforgettable dark and cold feeling..
How can you be so retarded to claim this? THIS!?!?!?!
Is this genre new to you? Have you not been around? What is wrong with you and do you need some help or an introduction to what SOUNDTRACKS ARE!?!?!
Clearly you don't seem to fathom what it means to write a review of what actually IS one of the best Soundtracks of the decade! Cause it ain't here!
Ah well, all you've done is made this site which was otherwise unknown to most, become the laughing stock of the entire internet.
Boohooo too you!
I think that the "Songcatcher" soundtrack was fantastic. I don't know if it beats the aforementioned, but definitely deserves a spotlight. ESOTM was a piece of art and definitely one of the best soundtracks of the past decade if not of cinema.
the only sensible reply is that "the Passte Staff" are a bunch of blooming idiots.
I rolled my eyes at the inclusion of the New Moon soundtrack, until I saw the artists listed. You guys realize you can buy a soundtrack and not read the book or see the movie, right? Or are you more worried about what someone will think about what you're listening to than whether it's actually any good or not?
Compiling a 10 Best list is a thankless job, and no one deserves to be called an "idiot" just because your tastes don't match up perfectly with an anonymous internet poster. Of the soundtracks on this list that I'm familiar with, I agree with their inclusion, although I'd have moved High Fidelity up higher.
The only one I disagree with is Juno. Since even the writer of its entry on a Ten Best! list finds the Kimya Dawson stuff "toothachingly twee" (I would have said "unlistenable"), I'm sure another soundtrack from a 10-year span could have replaced it on the list, a soundtrack that doesn't prompt you to skip half the songs (even if, as in this case, the rest of the songs are so great). I think either of the Kill Bill soundtracks (or the two of them treated as one soundtrack) ought to have been included.
Why are you (and every other media outlet) putting out best of the decade lists this year? The decade is from 2001 - 2010. You are a year early.
+1 for the Thumbsucker soundtrack (Elliot Smith + The Polyphonic Spree).
+1 for the Dan in Real Life soundtrack (Sondre Lerche).
"a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decade
When people refer to the 1930s they usually mean to include 1930 and not 1940. 'Course it's all arbitrary, anyway.
Shennanigans!
Forrest Gump's Sountrack did not make this crappy list? Be ashamed!
Um, Forrest Gump was in 94, so that can't count regardless. New Moon actually is a credible soundtrack, and I want nothing to do with anything Twilight.
Times Square hands down the best of all time. It had: The Ramones, The Cure, XTC, Lou Reed, Gary Numan, Talking Heads, Suzi Quatro, Roxy Music, Robin Gibb & Marcy Levy, Patti Smith and The Pretenders in 1980.
I know it's cliched, but what about Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette? And since I guess it's a score I can understand why it's not included, but Para One's music for Naissance des Pieuvres was absolutely incredible in my opinion.
Glad you like my song on the JUNO soundtrack ("All I Want is You")
You should come hear some of the covers on the new tribute album put together by fans....it's called "We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar
There are three different covers of my song from JUNO....plus lots more: 60 songs in all !!!
http://www.barrylou.com/tributeAlbum.html
Oh come on, New Moon and no Whip It?
Bon Iver and Death Cab for Cutie are without a doubt my favourite bands, but the songs from them on the New Moon soundtrack are just downright dissapointing compared to the rest of their musical library.
Whip It was 59 songs of pure genious that fit perfectly with Drew Barrymore's brilliant directoral premiere, and the 20-something that made the final cut for official soundtrack were absolutely stunning. Little Joy, The Moldy Peaches, and who could forget the piece specially composed by The Section Quartet, The Road to Austin?
Nevertheless, it was good to see Garden State on here. It gets neglected so often.
this list is a worst list i have ever seen
there are other movie soundtrack that deserve more than this like "into the wild"
Slumdog is a clear omission, especially when you put New Moon on the list
That is a fine list really. Once I saw both High Fidelity and Almost Famous on there.
I do think New Moon is a bit premature, and yes the soundtrack for Into the Wild was excellent (though the movie was less so.)
I still listen to the High Fidelity soundtrack every once in a while though. 10 years later, one of my favourite films.
Not including the Into the Wild Soundtrack was criminal, no special fan of Eddie Vedder but that soundtrack is beautiful and absolutely fits perfect for a near perfect film.
I understand this is your opinion of of top 10, and totally respect it, but do question if you've seen Into the Wild/Heard Soundtrack, I've listened to most of these and love most of these listed and agree with everything, it's just really bugging me.
ONCE was, by far, my favorite, so thanks for putting it up to #2. Not only are Hansard and Irglova great, but also Fergus O'Farrell and Interference's GOLD from the film.
ONCE was, by far, my favorite, so thanks for putting it up to #2. Not only are Hansard and Irglova great, but also Fergus O'Farrell and Interference's GOLD from the film.
Another great soundtrack was to THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
I'm very glad Garden State's Soundtrack is on the list. I knew it would be.
WTF how can you even consider thinking that anyone, employer & editor included, can ever take you seriously when you put the TWILIGHT score over the Into the Wild soundtrack? Hereby all credibility is gone, if you watch the movie and don;t immediately come to such a conclusion then somethings just a bit off...
You don't like Hans Zimmer. You don't wanna include Dark knight, Pirates of the Caribbean. And what about Michael Giachino? UP, ratatouille?
WHERE IS INTO THE WILD OR 8 MILE!?!