This writer doesn’t watch TV, but he does appreciate a good soundtrack (send us HBO screeners, please).
Details of two TV soundtracks have arrived today. One is HBO’s “Bored To Death” starring Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson (it shoots in Brooklyn and we see Schwartz around too much, so perhaps it’s too close to home to pay attention to). Folks say the show features a lot of good music and the soundtrack attests to that with songs by Coconut Records (Schwartzman’s solo band; he does the theme to the show), M. Ward featuring Zooey Deschanel (apparently not an official She & Him track), Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Lykke Li, Andrew Bird, TV On The Radio and the awesome Cardiff, Wales ‘7os post-punk band Young Marble Giants (if you don’t have Colossal Youth in your record collection there is something seriously wrong with you). The soundtrack hits September 21 via Water Tower Music.
The second soundtrack comes from a series we know far less about. It’s the show, “The Vampire Diaries” and as you probably already know by now we pretty much automatically tune out when we hear the word vampires, especially when it involves TV (isn’t the horrifically melodramatic “True Blood” enough? yes, we occasionally tune in just to know what’s what). That show features actors we don’t know like Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Sara Canning, and Katerina Graham. The show’s soundtrack is scheduled for release on October 12 and features Placebo, Silversun Pickups, Bat for Lashes, Goldfrapp, The Smashing Pumpkins (has any band devolved worse than these guys?) and Gorillaz. We won’t buy it, but surely someone will.
Details below, but first, in related soundtrack news, the disc for Spike Jonze’s “I’m Here” wasn’t supposed to arrive until October 5, but it’s already available for purchase on iTunes now (talk about burying the more interesting lede).
“Bored To Death” Tracklist
1. Bored To Death Theme (Coconut Records)
2. Rave On (M.Ward featuring Zooey Deschanel)
3. Little Bit (Lykke Li)
4. The Prowl (Dan Auerbach)
5. Salad Days (Young Marble Giants)
6. When The Night Turns Cold (Tobias Froberg)
7. Lull (Andrew Bird)
8. Inside (Out Kaiser Cartel)
9. F****d Me Up Right (Sean Hayes)
10. Romeo (Dawn Landes)
11. Kilojoules (Freelance Whales)
12. Dirty Robot (Arling & Cameron)
13. I’ll See You In My Dreams (The Real Tuesday Weld)
14. Forever (The Explorers Club)
15. Halfway Home (TV On The Radio)
Track Listing – “The Original Television Soundtrack: The Vampire Diaries”
1. Stefan’s Theme – Mike Suby
2. Running Up That Hill – Placebo
3. Currency of Love – Silversun Pickups
4. Hammock – Howls
5. Sleep Alone (909s in the DarkTimes Mix) – Bat for Lashes
6. Bloodstream (Vampire Diaries Remix) – Stateless
7. We Radiate – Goldfrapp
8. Obsession – Sky Ferreira
9. Head Over Heels – Digital Daggers
10. Down – Jason Walker
11. Beauty of the Dark – Mads Langer
12. Cut – Plumb
13. All You Wanted – Sounds Under Radio featuring Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy
14. The Fellowship – Smashing Pumpkins
15. On Melancholy Hill (Feed Me Remix) – Gorillaz
16. 1864 – Mike Suby