Filmmaker Noah Baumbach is having a hell of a year, a hell of a few years, actually. “Frances, Ha” kicked off a mini renaissance in 2013, and this year, the director has two films done, in the can, and out to the world. At Sundance last week, Baumbach showed off his latest, “Mistress America,” which boasts an awesome ‘80s synth score by ex-Luna members Dean & Britta (read our review). But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Baumbach has another film coming out first. This one’s called “While We’re Young” and features a score by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, who already scored Baumbach’s “Greenberg.”
Starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, and even Beastie Boys‘ musician Ad-Rock, “While We’re Young” focuses on a pair of older, 40-something artists (Stiller, Watts) and the younger, 20-something millennials (Driver, Seyfried) who recharge their creative juices and give them a new sense of vitality and purpose. It’s also about careerism, ambition, and opportunism, and how all that plays together in the world of art, filmmaking, and more. At the New York Film Festival last fall, Baumbach jokingly said that the movie is based on LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge,” and while he was sort of being glib, the amusing complexities and insecurities that song so magnificently captures about aging, coolness, and its shelf-life are exactly what’s on the mind of the movie (here’s our review from Toronto last year).
So naturally, Murphy composed the score to Baumbach’s latest. Milan records revealed the tracklist, which also features Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Haim, and A Tribe Called Quest. Pitchfork adds that the CD and digital download will be available March 24, with vinyl to follow on May 19. A24 releases “While We’re Young” on March 27. Check out the tracklist below and watch the trailer if you haven’t already.
While We’re Young Motion Picture Soundtrack:
01 James Murphy: "Golden Years"
02 Antonio Vivaldi: "Concerto for Lute, 2 Violins and Continuo in D, RV. 93"
03 Lionel Richie: "All Night Long (All Night)"
04 A Tribe Called Quest: "Buggin’ Out"
05 The Psychedelic Furs: "The Ghost in You"
06 Danny Kaye: "The Inch Worm"
07 James Murphy: "Only the Stars Above Welcome Me Home"
08 Haim: "Falling (Duke Dumont Remix)"
09 Survivor: "Eye of the Tiger"
10 Antonio Vivaldi: "Andante du Concerto Pour Flautino en ut Majeur (From the MGM film The Wild Child)"
11 Foreigner: "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
12 Paul McCartney & Wings: "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
13 James Murphy: "We Used to Dance"
14 David Bowie: "Golden Years"