With words from our very own Nick Hornby and music from America’s Ben Folds. Here are our thoughts on Lonely Avenue. Seek it out.

A Working Day
Appropriately it’s a sound similar to that of a typewriter tapping away that kickstarts the collaboration. A song for anyone struggling with the faith to put something out there, A Working Day, jumps from self-adulation to crippling self-doubt. Any aspiring writer with a hint of self knowledge, be it fiction or journalism, should chuckle at the lyric, “Some guy on the net thinks I suck and he should know. He’s got his own blog“.

Picture Window
Lonely Avenue mixes the cross-Atlanticism of it’s American songwriter with it’s British author with startling ease. Here, however, Ben’s voice serves as conduit for Nick’s Blighty take on things. The only song to reference London explicity (substituting ‘asses’ for ‘backsides’) also contains that intrinsically British appeal of pessimism with a hint of maybe, just maybe. The soft piano is perfectly unobstrusive, putting more weight to Hornby’s argument in 31 Songs that the reason Ben is often disregarded by critics is due to his “sophisticated simplicity”.

Levi Johnston’s Blues
Hornby realised that while good songs contain jokes, “the best way to ruin a joke is to repeat it in the chorus 7 times”. So this ‘tribute’ to Sarah Palin’s son-in-law has a chorus, (“I live to hang out with the boys, play some hockey, do some fishing and kill some moose“), that can espoused by any 18 year-old not wanting to be tied down, regardless of whether or not you’ve just knocked up the next president’s daughter. The duality of Levi’s inherent asshole qualities and the shitty situation he’s gotten himself in play out rousingly.

Doc Pumos
While the Levi ‘tribute’ was firmly tongue in redneck cheek, this ode to the blues songwriter who wrote Lonely Avenue for Ray Charles (hence the title) is heartfelt yet never maudlin. Crippled by polio, Hornby and Folds see him not as a pitiable man but one who turned his rage and anger into some of the greatest pop songs of all time.

Your Dogs
In some ways a catchier, poppier take on Phil Ochs, Love Me I’m A Liberal. Your Dogs tells of an educated man looking down on his neighbour, understanding that he’s had a tough life but wanting him to “be a little more like me”. Full of harmonies and a singalong style.

Practical Amanda
Says Hornby, “My wife’s name is Amanda. She is practical. She put a bedroom where a urinal used to be. Apart from these strange coincidences, this song is not autobiographical in any way.” And, for the record, Citizen Kane isn’t about William Randolph Hearst. The most gorgeous ballad to ever contain the word urinal since, well, erm, ever. A song for fans of Grand Designs.

Claire’s Ninth
Divorce and seperation aren’t unfamiliar to pop music but rarely do they get treated to somewhat uplifting sounds. Claire’s Ninth, the tale of a girl struggling to get a happy birthday from her parents takes on both sides of the story. The sympathy may lie with the just turned 9 year-old but pleadings from (the both divorced) Ben and Nick apologise for how things “got twisted”. The optimism hinted at in the music is contained in the four simple words, “the best of us”. Knowingly, however, these words are only thought not spoken.

Password
What would have been a great, if rather overly obvious choice of, end credit music to this year’s The Social Network, Password typifies the laptop generation in the same way that Fincher’s film managed. Mistaking knowing about someone, for knowing someone, Fold’s choice to make a spelling bee out of each fact proves it further. The message being, you may be able to spell out her mother’s maiden name but do you know what makes her sad at night.

From Above
The standout song on the album for a myriad of reasons. First up it’s the most accomplished musically, with female harmonies courtesy of Kate-Miller Heidke, but more importantly it sums up an ethos from both Hornby and Folds. Soulmates, and the search to find them. Taken on an explicit level, From Above, reads exactly like the kind of song that would fuck up Rob Fleming’s (Hornby’s High Fidelity ‘hero’) life. “Heartbeats becoming synchronized and staying that way forever”, if you haven’t got that perfection keep looking, keep ‘bouncing from rock to rock’. But Folds and Hornby’s songs are far too clever for simple readings and so the other side is suggested; Simply, “It doesn’t work that way”.

Saskia Hamilton
Again, another biography, but here the poet Saskia Hamilton is namechecked almost solely for her name. “No hard consonents in my girl Saskia!” Echoing Kate from Fold’s Whatever and Ever Amen, here’s a song as fun as it is funny. The Darkness style high notes (Ben once covered, Get Your Hands Off My Woman), synths and some of the best use of wordplay you won’t find in a big fat book of rhymes.

Belinda
If you search these pages you’ll find a piece on how hard it must have been for Bon Iver to tour an entire album about one girl. Belinda, is that problem magnified. A singer hocking his one hit wonder about the loss of his one true love, over and over and over again. Another brilliantly detailed character from Hornby’s mind.

Every reading above may not be quite on the money, some may be just plain wrong. In many ways that’s the beauty of these two getting together. Hornbys’ words may be untouched by Folds instead simply amplified by the music, but the author knew who he was writing for and to the uninitiated this could easily be a Ben Folds stand alone album. That it’s not is what sets it apart. If a further collaboration occurs in the next 12 months, expect as much praise this time next year.

Follow Owen on Twitter

It’s also being scored by Nine Inch Nail‘s Trent Reznor and the trailer (which you can click on and watch above) features a Scala reworking of ‘Creep’ by Radiohead. Instead of tiredly listing rubbish wordplay based on Facebook vernacular, i.e. Owen ‘likes’ new Fincher movie, updating status to ‘chuffing excited’ or I’d like to ‘poke’ Justin Timberlake in the eye with something sharp, instead let’s use this as an excuse to look back on Radiohead’s back catalogue, as featured on the silver screen.

Clueless
Not the first inclusion of Oxford’s Finest on celluloid, that honour goes to 90′s angst affair S.F.W.. So angst ridden was S.F.W. it actually stood for So, Fucking, What, years before text speak became the most common language in Britain. The song, unsurprsingly, was ‘Creep’. The much less angsty and much more popular Alicia Silverstone vehicle, Clueless, featured a stripped down acoustic ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ and a healthy dose of ‘My Iron Lung’. Shame Alicia never uttered the line, “Ed O’Brian is such a Baldwin” though. He really is.

Romeo + Juliet
Anybody who witnessed Radiohead’s blistering Glastonbury 2003 set will only need one sentence to bring memories flooding back; “This is for the people in the tents…” Cue opening bars of ‘Talk Show Host’ and crowd hysteria. Originally a B-side on ‘Street Spirit’ (potential desert island 7″ right there) it was remixed by Nellee Hooper for Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet cementing it as a ‘Head fan favourite. ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ on the other hand was purposefully written for the star-crossed lovers. In arguments over the “depressive nature” of the band’s material, ‘Exit Music’ isn’t the best choice for the against point-of-view. Just ask Father Ted.

Vanilla Sky
Hands up who has, as some point in their life, used ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ to wake them up in the morning a la Tom Cruise’s character in Vanilla Sky. Put your other hand up if you’ve continued to do it for the past 8 or so years (this is going to be tricky to type with just my nose…). A wonderful mix of character and atmosphere, the ‘Kid A’ opener will make you love the first few minutes of Cameron Crowe’s remake. Whether or not you’ll reach the mid-section of the movie and the use of ‘I Might Be Wrong’ depends on your tolerance of all things Cruise.

There Will Be Blood
When the Academy Awards sits on its deathbed looking back on its egregious mistakes, one error will stand out head and shoulders above the others. Forrest Gump. Slightly lower down the list, but still worthy of a regretful death rattling sigh will be their exclusion of Jonny Greenwoods incredible score for There Will Be Blood. Deemed ineligible for a nomination due to it not being fully written for said film, the Oscars should have thrown the rulebook into the Gulf Of Mexico (or somewhere equally oily like the cast of Jersey Shore‘s hair). That the opening 20 minutes of this epic is so painfully tense without a single word of dialogue uttered, is due in no small part to the Radiohead’s guitarist.

Twilight
Say what you will about the Twilight sag (sic) they do compile a pretty neat playlist. Dead Meadow, Muse, Grizzly Bear, even some Schubert. Unless he’s some sparkly vamp the latter probably didn’t give his permission though, what with him being almost 200 years dead. A man that did very much give his blessing to his music being used is one Thom Yorke. After ’15 Step’ being used as the exit music for the first Twilight he even went to the trouble of penning a ditty, ‘Hearing Damage’, completely for the sequel, New Moon. As unimpressed as many fanboys were, fuck it, at least its a new Thom Yorke song. Hurrah!

While it’s always fun to see the time honoured rant of ‘but you missed out Children Of Men, Choke, The Prestige, Whip It, Harry Potter, A Scanner Darkly, etc’ let’s instead open up the dialogue below to figuring out a percentage of ‘How Much Better Is A Film If Radiohead Feature On The Soundtrack?’… I’m gonna start the biddding at 27%

The importance of music to the series begins first not with the films but with the books, Meyer states that she can not write without music and has compiled playlists for each novel on her website which you can peruse yourself if you really want to. The common theme amongst these is Muse and this can be seen on the soundtracks for the films, with ‘Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever) featuring on the Eclipse soundtrack. There have been mutterings online that Matt Bellamy was less than kind to the franchise, though all I found was a quote about how he doesn’t mind if it seems uncool to gain new fans due to Twilight.

I have only seen the first film so I can’t comment on how the music fits in to the narrative and the style of all the instalments but as actual collections of songs the soundtracks are decent and have featured songs from other favourites of mine including; Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Death Cab for Cutie and Iron and Wine. The Eclipse soundtrack has Beck performing with Bat for Lashes, Sia, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Band of Horses, The Dead Weather and Unkle. One reason why I think the soundtracks get it right and why the fact that despite not being a Twilight fan, I will still listen to these compilations is the label behind them; Chop Shop Records. They are a label that specialises in soundtracks and are behind TV show soundtracks for The OC, Mad Men, Chuck, Gossip Girl and Grey’s Anatomy, all three have boasted some break out tracks, most of which I like. There is the exception with The Fray’s ‘How to Save a Life’ from Grey’s Anatomy but there is no denying what a big hit this was.

What this shows is that as far as the Twilight saga is concerned they pretty much have all their bases covered with merchandise; books (with Meyer having just released a new Twilight novella to add to her bank balance), CDs, clothing, jewellery and even the unofficial merchandise (including a freezable sparkling dildo- yes really). Fans are not just teenage girls, Twilight mums is a big thing co-existing with the new ‘cougar’ phenomenon and won’t be going away any time soon. In fact it has just been announced that the fourth book ‘Breaking Dawn’ will be a two film release and so the domination goes on for a little longer.

I may not really care who Bella ends up with but I’m excited as to what will be on the next soundtrack and if that makes me in part a Twilight fan then I will suck it up (very bad pun intended).

Topless chavs playing football in the park, offensively cheap cases of Dutch lager at major supermarkets, barbeques ruined by wasps and salmonella, British Summers have it all, but if there’s one thing we reallly do well it’s festivals. Whether it’s a murky moshpit at Download, a barrel of banality at V or fancy dressed frolic at Bestival we all have our favourites, my personal tipple being an unhealthy dose of weapons grade cider at Glastonbury.

But as the years drag on the percolation of the likes of Jay-Z and Shakira onto the once hallowed Pyramid leaves me with much more time to experience the lesser trodden paths of the world’s largest ‘alternative’ festival. Cups of chai in the Greenfields, a cider and a folk duo at the Bimble Inn or a just a good old monged ramble round looking for that new band that will be the soundtrack to the rest of my summer. For the latter the John Peel stage is becoming somewhat of a Mecca (despite it’s sometimes hit and miss sound quality), a place to check out bands in their prime, on their comeback or on the up.

Joining Foals and the Black Keys on the stage this year are Let’s Buy Happiness, a Newcastle five piece who use fresh, light, relaxed instrumentation to support the delicate and enchanting lyrics and vocals of lead singer Sarah Hall. They are a band strongly tipped to make it big in the coming year and will be headlining the BBC6 Maida Vale sessions on the 29^th of April. Sarah took a little time out from recording and writing to talk with us about, music, movies and ferrets.

Who are you, where are you from and what do you do?

I’m Sarah the lead vocalist for the band. I’m from Newcastle and I mostly write lyrics and do illustrative work.

What are you up to at the moment?

At the moment we’re doing a lot of song writing and recording, and I’m rattling about trying to do an animation puppet show type video for one of the songs, plus some scribbling for new single design.

How did you react when you found out you we’re playing the John Peel Stage?

There was a scream involved when I first found out! A prolonged one at that….. did some running up and down the stairs! We’re thrilled and think it’s just crackers!

What’s the first track somebody who hasn’t heard you before should listen to?

Devil Show, Works Better On Paper or In the Long Run. Hold out for our new stuff that we’re recording very soon!

How will you know when you’ve ‘made it’?

When I can finally stop asking my Mam for bus fare.

What’s your favourite film? Is there a film that everybody in the band loves that brings you together?

I love Tekkinkonkreet and 500 Days of Summer, but as a group doing ‘quote off’s’ it’s probably Kindergarten Cop

Favourite scene from said film?
“It’s a feeeeeerit”

Worst film you’ve ever paid to see?
spacemen vs vikings… I should of guessed by the title

What film or type of film would you like to write the soundtrack to?

Something like 500 Days of Summer or Where the Wild Things are, pretty films with really lovely sounds tracks.

What untruth would you like to have spread about you on the internet?

That I’m the only person in the world that knows how ‘Lost‘ will end.

Let’s Buy Happiness are supporting Idlewild this Monday in Newcastle, appearing live at Maida Vale with BBC6 on the 29^th and are currently booked to play The Great Escape Festival in Brighton in May and of course the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury in June.

For more check out http://www.myspace.com/letsbuyhappinessuk and you can buy their debut EP ‘No Hot Ashes’ from 7digital Indie Store here.

One was on ITV with viewing figures above the first election debate. The other aired on BBC4 and achieved viewing figures south of the number of people who are already getting fed-up with my constant election referencing. One featured ‘Talent’ in it’s title. The other featured talent on its show. The latter was Way To Blue: The Songs Of Nick Drake (still available on BBCiplayer).

For the uneducated Nick Drake was a musician of immense talent. Neglected by the masses whilst alive, since his death Nick’s work has grown and grown and he is now considered, both lyrically and musically to be one of the most influential artists our little Island has ever produced.

This Friday BBC4 put together a session of his best material performed by both artists who knew and worked with Nick and those who have subsequently been inspired by all he has done. Cited as influential by major acts as diverse as R.E.M, The Cure and Paul Weller, the core make-up of the show was lesser known talent. The most recognisable faces being Teddy Thompson, British folk musician, and Lisa Hannigan, former member of Damien Rice’s band, now notable multi-instrumentalist and singer in her own right.

In contrast to the million-selling acts that will be spawned by Britain’s Got Talent‘s eventual winners, every single perfomer on Way To Blue was there in appreciation of the music. Every single performer was exceptional.

Krystle Warren taking on Pink Moon with Teddy Thompson was an extraordinary revelation and should be marked down by any lovers of a true singing voice as ‘one to seek out’.

For those unimpressed with merely being ‘a bit good at singing’ Way To Blue also featured some of the most skilled bass and piano work aired on public television since Flea and Stevie Wonder teamed up for ‘Flea and Stevie’s Slap and Tickle’ (this show doesn’t exist but it should) as Zoe Rahman and Danny Thompson took on ‘One Of These Things First’.

The final words, and proof if ever proof were needed, that the Britain’s Got Talent contestants noteriety won’t last one sleep, let alone the eternal one belong to Nick himself. On Fruit Tree he infamously sang of post-humous fame,

Fame is but a fruit tree
So very unsound.
It can never flourish
‘til its stock is in the ground
So men of fame
Can never find a way
‘til time has flown
Far from their dying day

Stick that up your sphincter Mr. Cowell.

Yet if the producers ever make Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist 2: We Told You It Was Infinite, they couldn’t do any better than cast the Scottish rockers, Frightened Rabbit, in the role of ‘special ones’. For starters no other band can use the word ‘cunt’ in a song so moving it brings me to tears.

They’re also great enough to chat movies with us…

Name

Andy Monaghan

Occupation

Guitar/Keyboard/Backing Vocals – Frightened Rabbit

What is your Most Favourite Bestest Film In The Whole Wide World?

Wayne’s World. Ok it’s not challenging and never broke any boundaries it’s just a feel good movie and everything about it is classic. It has fantastic characters, the typical boy chases girl, loses girl, wins back girl just in the nick of time plot, a huge helping of early nineties rock, multiple endings and timeless wigs. Ultimately, It’s just a group of guys doing their own thing with a cable access TV show and having a bloody great time making it, isn’t this what everyone wants to do?

It has so many memorable moments and one liners, from the bohemian rhapsody sing along to the basement scenes, Garth wrestling with the man from suck-cut, “Get it off ME!” and salute to Claudia Schiffer, there’s one of the earliest “thats what she said” moments on film in there as well. Amaze-balls.

When I was growing up I’d think of myself akin to Garth, a socially awkward, mild mannered and hap hazard dude, now not so much, well maybe but I don’t live with my parents anymore. These guys were out of their league in the world of big budget TV and way out their league with the ladies and still they conquer all. Movies are fantastic and magical they can take you into someone else’s make believe world, out of all the movies I’ve seen I’d like to live in this fantasy land the most.

Favourite Scene From Said Movie

Every scene Garth is in is a classic! The giant cocktail glass, drumming, the foxy lady dance just Garth.

Favourite Line From Said Movie

Garth – “Uhm, Wayne? What do you do if every time you see this one incredible woman, you think you’re gonna hurl?”

Wayne – “I say hurl. If you blow chunks and she comes back, she’s yours. But if you spew and she bolts, then it was never meant to be.”

Never a truer word said.

First Movie You Remember

E.T is ingrained in my mind, not for its classic boy meets alien story nor its cinematic Oscar winning Sci-Fi beauty but because it was during the viewing of it that I overindulged for this first time. I remember going to a family friends house at christmas to watch the movie with my brother and a few other kids. It’s 1988 and I had just realised that around the festive period there are all the sweets a kid could ever want, so I really went for it and stuffed my face with marshmallows, chocolate and cola. About 40 minutes in I was sick all over Mrs Millers new carpeted hall and had to be carried home. Never seen the flying bike that night and I still can’t eat marshmallows.

Last Film You Saw

DVD – Sunshine by Danny Boyle. The soundtrack is amazing!

Worst Film You’ve Ever Seen

The Nostril Picker – I picked this beauty up for £1. It’s about a man who meets a weird magical tramp who gives him the power of turning into a school girl any time he picks his nose. He uses this power to get close to girls and kill them. I’m sure he gets caught, to be honest I can’t remember how it ends it was that bad I had to erase it for some other useless crap I’ve stuck in my head. I think it’s meant to be a horror but it fails to deliver on any gore and the acting is easily the worst I’ve ever seen. I think I’ll take it out on tour next week. Might be worth a laugh in the van.

Frightened Rabbit are currently on tour. The Winter Of Mixed Drinks (their third studio album) is out now. You can, and really should, buy it.

Using this new found notability Laura Marling chose to share with the London crowd the people and music that shaped her career so far. From the moment Ian McKellen’s dulcit tones informed the audience to switch off their phones, the congregation was settled into a very special evening indeed.

If the stage covered with couches didn’t invite enough of a cosy front room atmosphere, the perfomer kicked things of with a home-movie of herself interviewing ‘The Friends’. The amount of love shown to each musician could seem too much to the new-comer, but the evening was designed specifically to show the level of companionship these people share. If this smacks of backslapping to the casual reader, it certainly wasn’t taken that way by the sell-out crowd.

After the film Laura took to the stage and informed the audience of the nights proceedings. First she would play a song, then she’d introduce a friend to play a song, then she’d play a song and then she’d introduce a friend to play. Lather, rinse, repeat. This format could have easily upset the hard-core Marling faithful had it not been for the talent on display. Tour favourites Johnny Flynn and Mumford and Sons were well known to the majority of the crowd and garnered the apporpriate responses, but it was the lesser known acts such as Peggy Sue, Alessi’s Ark and Sons Of Noel And Adrian that really took the opportunity to show what they could do head on.

The only complaints would be that one-song a piece wasn’t nearly enough. The collaborative side was also not fully explored, but with musicians such as Andrew Bird flying all the way fom Oslo just to play a solitary tune, the at times ramshackle nature of the nights events can be forgiven. Considering the stage played host to 30 plus artists, that the night didn’t degenerate into carnage is testament to all involved.

With a line-up this well-honed the host had her work cut out to make sure all guests, especially the audience, were happy when she returned. Ultimately though the crowd was there to see the young artist herself. And she didn’t disappoint. If the speeches between songs showed her inexperienced side the music certainly didn’t. Songs from ‘Alas,I Cannot Swim’ received the biggest reactions of the night but thanks to the amount of material available on youtube, even the ‘new’ material was greeted with a thousand whispers of ‘I love this one’. Stand-out of the new material was a full band version of Rambling Man, a Dylan-esque ode to the Dr. Suess philosophy of ‘Be who you are’.

A remarkable night that showed the promise of a woman who should be around for some time. The cynics might say that hosting your own (filmed) concert before the release of your second album sways on the side of arrogance but if the level of modesty and respect for her fellow artists presented tonight can be considered arrogant, then long may her arrogance continue. A possible yearly event? Fans of discerning and deliberate songwriting should certainly hope so.

‘I Speak Because I Can’ is out Monday 22nd. The Special Edition features footage from the concert.

Oh and Laura, if you’re reading, you still owe me a few hundred words on Mighty Aprhodite…

For the media to ignore this problem for whatever reason is one crime and certainly a reprehensible one but to conveniently pick it up, fondle it for a few hours to fill some 24 hour news and then repress it the next moment like o so many drunken mistakes is horribly irresponsible. And the upshot of this complete lack of moral responsibility is Lady Blah Blah’s new range of porn films for children.

The fact that the song is as worthless as Dolf Lundgren’s career is neither hither nor thither. Horseshit fills the airways like the atomised contents of a hospital bin every day. But the fact that this trumped up shit goon can say; “I enjoy being a role model and I believe I have a lot to offer” to MTV one day and get her sloppy old gash out, wear cigarettes for glasses and Coke cans in her head in a piss poor lesbian bongo movie the next is yet another omen of the impending collapse of civilisation.

I can’t really speak for Beyonce’s part in all of this, she’s not really something I have any interest in understanding. Apart from being married to a walking pile of dog spaff she and her own brand of materialistic sassy feminism seem to be about as respectable as ‘pop divas’ get, especially when contrasted with the electrified whinings of Lady Baccy Blinkers and her insistence on dressing as if her cool glasses have given her ocular cancer resulting in her getting dressed blind, in a bin behind Etam. Surely calling a song ‘telephone’ and then putting a telephone on your head cannot be defended by anyone, it’s just simply inane, if a five year old did it you would probably send them for a special pair of glasses and some orthopedic shoes. I only hope her next song is called shit covered aids grenade.

I’m also painfully aware that this kind of titty showboating is purely designed to piss people off and cause outrage thus creating a publicity and financial windfall free of charge and that I am walking into it like a blind man into a leather bar. So what I resent more than children being shown porn disguised as music and the degradation of art to its lowest common denominator for the sake of marketing is me being made to feel like a 50’s dad. To counter this I’ve decided to beat them at their own game.

Next week I will be releasing the next ‘classic’ music video called ‘stem cells taste like pussy’ which will be made up of, amongst other things; A continuously looped sample of the sounds of a rape victim’s guilty orgasm played over a gabba beat set to images of puppies being boiled alive in tramp’s sick. I’ll call it art, and pay some well known wankers to do the same. I’ll say it’s a 21st century Un Chien Andalou and hang tampax off the puppy’s eyelids, for some compulsory product placement and to give my ‘piece’ a strong feminist message. Then I’ll prance around Shoreditch dressed as a lighthouse keeper with a picture of a bemused cormorant tattooed on my forehead while shoving cigars down my cock. The following outrage, confusion, praise and publicity will make me rich beyond my wildest. Then I can kick back, shit on a nun and declare myself a fucking good role model for kids.

As much as a film would seem incomplete without a decent soundtrack or score to manipulate, sorry, exacebate the emotional content of it, so the music world finds itself more and more snuggling up to the warm, comfortable bit of the film world.

Be it Blur dressing up as droogs from A Clockwork Orange in their video for ‘The Universal’ or The Divine Comedy referencing “the snows of Hoth” in their wonderful ‘Happy Goth’ song, the music world has always had an affinity with it’s celluloid cousin.

Here’s 10 of the best film inspired band names…well, nearly 10.

Noah and the Whale
Huge fans of Wes Anderson and all that goes with it, the name Noah and The Whale is a combination of Anderson’s long term screenwriter partner Noah Baumbach and Noah’s directorial effort, The Squid And The Whale. With their last album, The First Days Of Spring, combined with a film of the same name and a soundtrack to The Scouting Book For Boys under their belts, the love affair between Movies and Fink and co. shows no signs of abating. Sic Transit Gloria, indeed.

The Misfits
For a band that wears more skulls than an extra from Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom, a black and white film about cowboys, starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, seems an odd choice to mine inspiration from. As fans of all things dark and satan-y, the pick was most probably a blackly comic one as the film in question turned out to be Marilyn’s final on-screen performance. Except maybe the undertakers home-movie…

God speed You! Black Emperor
Of course, what an obvious one! Everyone knows that Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s documentary Goddo supiido yuu! Burakku emparaa was the inspiration for the Canadian post-rock band. Now probably more famous than the film itself, GY!BE have gone on to give back to the movie world lending out some awesomely atmospheric tunes to 28 Days Later.

Moloko
Bit more obvious this one and not strictly just a movie reference, with the book pre-dating the film by, well, being written first. But there’s no doubt that Kubrick’s vision of Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange was in many ways more iconic, and anyway pop stars don’t read so the naming of Moloko (the milk the droogs drink) must have been taken from the film.

Rolo Tomassi
Again another book to film reference but having listened to a good 15 seconds of Rolo on youtube I’m guessing they never picked up a book unless to scream at it for ruining their lives. Whereas movies you can quite easily sulk in the corner and listen to, lapsing in and out of consciousness as kids are wont to do these days. During one of these brief moments of clarity whilst watching Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential they’ll have heard the fictional name Rolo Tamassi mentioned and thought, “That sounds cool!, One day some hack journalist will include us in a pointless list!” My pleasure.

Save Ferris
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Yes! Yes! Yes! Ska? Ska? Ska? No thanks, I’m busy. A genre of music far too enthusiastic for me, I will offer props (that’s right isn’t it, props?) for a lovely subtle nod to one of the greatest movies ever made. Featured enough in the film to not be a tiny in-joke it’s also not obviously ramming it down your throat. Also kudos for summing up the movie with the music. Fun, positive and great to dance too. Maybe I do like Ska…

Zuzu’s Petals
The best reference belongs to the shittest band. An outdated grunge band (even in the early 90′s before grunge was outdated) Zuzu’s Petals, a reference to the Capra classic It’s A Wonderful Life, are two words guaranteed to make me cry around Christmas time. Now I may weep that these words have been taken in vain.

DVDA
Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s band is named after something you’ll see in some movies. If you’re unsure what DVDA stands for, wait until you’re on a safe computer. Not that it’s even possible. I’m not saying I’ve tried…

Mcfly
Fuck right off!

Amadeus Mozart
Born in 1756 the Austrian named himself after a Milos Forman film. True story.

Okay, not quite ten, but hopefully I’ve taught you something today? No, well, screw you! All I was attempting to do was help. You fucking bastards! I was just trying to give you some well researched titbits of information to impress you’re friends with and this is how you treat me…*sobs into his pancake mix*…

No, these singers have it all wrong. Instead they should have written a film about it and moved on. Like the makers of ‘(500) Days Of Summer’. Then you get to make your favourite mix-tape about it and release that. Genius! After all, no one band can articulate the feelings of being high as a kite, head-over heels in love with someone and at the same time show the crushing defeat of rejection. Except maybe The Spice Girls.

But compilation CD’s. This is how you remember someone. And with the Soundtrack to ‘(500) Days Of Summer’, the makers have created a string of songs that from this day forth will evoke recollections of the two leads, Tom and Summer.

The masterstroke of this CD isn’t just that when you play it after you’ve seen the film it flashes you back to the movie, but that it represents the highs and lows of that crazy little thing called love just as well as the film does.

The Joy Of Sex is represented with Hall and Oates’ ‘You Make My Dreams’. Which may have now pipped ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ to the song you hum while twirling round lamposts to, after a long, healthy bout of first time intercourse.

Longing and hope are covered in ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’. A Smiths song that so perfectly encapsulates the main characters naive thoughts it could have won an Oscar for Best Original Song had it not been written 20 years previously.

Throw in some Regina Spektor, Doves and Wolfmother and even if you think the film is a steaming pile of girly nonsense (it’s really not) you can’t help but admire the thought and care put into making sure the music fits the mood of the characters.

And from now until the end of time whenever I hear ‘There Is Light That Never Goes Out’ I’ll hear Summer singing along. To die in Zooey’s arms would be a heavenly way to die indeed.

As you can guess by the more than glowing look at the soundtrack I’m quite a fan of the film and an equally gushing review will follow soon. For now though, here are some more soundtracks to help you fall in (and out) of love.

The Graduate
The grandaddy of the OST. It’s now a criminal offence not to put Simon and Garfunkel on a soundtrack and here’s why. The Sound Of Silence, Scarborough Fair and, of course, Mrs Robinson, folk music is storytelling. So why not help your story out by adding some more.

Casablanca
You must remember this, ‘Casablanca’ would be a lesser work of art if it wasn’t for the music behind it. ‘It Had To Be You’, and ‘As Times Goes By’ help evoke Rick and Isla’s doomed relationship but the standout musical moment has to be the dualling songs of “Die Wacht am Rhein”/”La Marseillaise”. Viva la France, indeed.

Garden State
Like you need any other stimulant to help you fall in love with Natalie Portman. The soundtrack could have featured nothing but a building crew knocking down an orphange while the children were still inside and it’d still be the cutest little movie about brand new love. Thankfully it was Nick Drake, Iron and Wine and, who else, Simon and Garfunkel that tracked the sound to Zach Braff’s adorable debut and not the horrendous image I just put in your heads. And it helped make The Shins everyones favourite band for about a week.

High Fidelity
You’d best fricking hope a film about music and love would get the soundtrack right. ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators should be on everyones break-up CD (if you don’t have a break-up CD make one, they’re very useful) and ‘Fallen For You’ by Sheila Nicholls should be on everyone’s ‘I really like you!’ CD (just don’t ever mail it). High Fidelity rounds things off with Aretha, Bob, The Kinks, Stevie, Barry, The Jam… I think we have a winner.

Any more for any more. Post below. And yes, I know my taste is twee-er than a Twi-hard fan at a tweeting convention. I’m just a sensitive caring individual. That’s all. And if you post negative comments I’ll shit down your necks.