sonic slang

500 Days of Summer soundtrack

Look out hipsters, 500 Days of Summer is here to end Garden State's five-year reign atop the indie soundtrack hall of fame.  Note the inclusion of Hall & Oates, adding a dose of that 80's irony the cool kids love so much.  (Though to be fair, they've been on the comeback trail for a while now.)  Anyway, for this summer's soundtrack that will change your life, keep reading:

01 Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen: "A Story of Boy Meets Girl"
02 Regina Spektor: "Us"
03 The Smiths: "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"
04 Black Lips: "Bad Kids"
05 The Smiths: "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"R
06 Doves: "There Goes the Fear"
07 Hall & Oates: "You Make My Dreams"
08 The Temper Trap: "Sweet Disposition"
09 Carla Bruni: "Quelqu'un M'a Dit"
10 Feist: "Mushaboom"
11 Regina Spektor: "Hero"
12 Simon & Garfunkel: "Bookends"
13 Wolfmother: "Vagabond"
14 Mumm-Ra: "She's Got You High"
15 Meaghan Smith: "Here Comes Your Man"
16 She & Him: "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"

New Cameron Crowe Film Heavy on Classics

A supposedly bogus story this summer gave us deets on Cameron Crowe's next project has turned out to be on the money.   So one can only assume that the partial tracklisting has at least a few tunes that will make the final cut.  ("Elevation" though, Cameron?  Tisk tisk.)

NEW VIDEO: Bishop Allen - "Middle Management"

It might not be the instant no-brainer that "Click Click Click Click" and Sony cameras was, but tapping Bishop Allen's "Middle Management" for the cutesy, hipster-baiting Michael Cera vehicle Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist was an almost equally inspired choice.  If Cera's fans are anything like the sensitive, awkwardly cool shtick he's perfected in the post-Arrested Development years, these Harvard-schooled lads are right up their ally.

Check out the official clip after the jump

OMFGG - Original Music Featured on Gossip Girl No.1

Admittedly, I've never seen an episode of Gossip Girl.  But I do appreciate the show's ballsy approach to advertising.  Now SS readers have another reason to pay attention, in a surprisingly solid soundtrack.  Sure, hipster-baiting song collections have already been done to death by The O.C., but what this set lacks in originality, it makes up for in sheer quantity of solid tunes.  And closing it out with Albert Hammond Jr.'s "Hard To Live In The City" - a stroke (hehe) of genius. 

Liz Phair Penning 90210 Tunes

Whether you love, hate or generally overlook her new stuff, you kinda have to respect Liz Phair.  No matter how much crap this gal takes for "selling out," she's thus far resisted aping her past glories with a calculated "return to form" album.  In fact, Phair seems to embrace your teeny bopperness more every day.  Case in point, guess who's one of the composers behind the 90210, version 2.0?

Is this cool for 90201, or lame for Liz Phair?  Both?  Let the hipster ranting begin!

Springsteen Wrestles with New Track

Bruce Springsteen has penned the title-track for Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream) upcoming film, The Wrestler. The movie stars Mickey Rourke as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, a veteran wrestler struggling to make a living in the ring. 

It might not be that Magic follow-up, but we'll take it for now. 

Radiohead to Score Choke Adaptation

It looks like we're not going to wait nearly as long as I suspected for some new Radiohead - Today author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) revealed that the band will be scoring the film adaptation of his book Choke.

Lost Boys: The Tribe Soundtrack Out Today, Doesn't Suck

A direct-to-video sequel for 80s vampire classic Lost Boys wasn't too unexpected.  I mean, The Coreys gotta eat, right?  But what I didn't see coming is a fairly kick ass official soundtrack, featuring  Eagles of Death Metal, Dave Gahan, The Hold Steady and G. Love and Special Sauce, just to name just a few.

None of it may top Echo and The Bunnymen covering "People Are Strange," but as sequels go, this is bloody good stuff (har har).  Stream the full soundtrack to Lost Boys: The Tribe at AOL Music.

Huey Lewis - "Pineapple Express"

Other than appearing in You, Me and Dupree, Seth Rogen hasn't led us astray yet, so if he wants Huey Lewis to write an original song (in classic Huey style) for the Pineapple Express theme, who are we to object?  Hey, "Heat of the Moment" rocked in 40 Year Old Virgin.  But where "Power of Love" or more appropriately, "I Want a New Drug" would have been good for at least an ironic laugh (with possible sincere air guitar), the title track penned in 2008 just sounds dated.  Nice thought though.

Take a listen at MySpace

Danny Elfman Returns to Pop with "Little Things"

So we got a couple of neat surprises during a weekend viewing of Angelina Jolie's latest ode to sadomasochistic fanboys, Wanted.  One, it's actually pretty good.  Two, the dark, 80s-fueled rocker "Little Things," that sets the tone for a few of the movie's coolest moments, is performed by none other than Danny Elfman!

Elfman is no stranger to film buffs, having made a name for himself as a composer in recent years through scoring the majority of Tim Burton's movies, but we haven't heard him lay down a pop song since Oingo Boingo bid us Farewell in 1996.  Though we seriously doubt this will mark a permanent return to rock stardom (he is 55, after all), it's pretty cool that he can still deliver the goods on a lark. 

Check out the track here, and if you're feeling inspired enough to create your own video mash-up, enter the Wanted contest at Rhapsody for a chance to appear on the DVD.