FIVE OF THE BEST MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS TO TEST YOUR SYSTEM
These films are indelibly wed to the music, and deserve to be heard through a great speaker package
Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003)
It’s no easy task selecting only one of Tarantino’s works for this list – such is the brilliance and significance of his soundtracks – but here is where his sprawling eclecticism seems to peak. More than that, though, it never feels disjointed, even stirring together music from Nancy Sinatra, Isaac Hayes, James Last, Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone, Tomoyasu Hotei and RZA.
This Is England (2006)
A stark rites-of-passage story about growing up in a skinhead gang in the Midlands in the ’80s thrives on its realism, helped by a soundtrack entrenched in the subculture. Toots & The Maytals, UK Subs, the Specials and Percy Sledge feature, with the minimalist modern classical piano of Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi providing a blunt and sobering backdrop.
Goodfellas (1990)
Music was at the forefront of Scorsese’s creative process, with some scenes even filmed to the tracks that would eventually accompany them. Only tracks that were historically befitting were used, such as Giuseppe Di Stefano’s
Parlami d’amore Mariu and Layla (Piano Exit) by Derek and The Dominos. The perfect pairing of music and moving image.
Superfly (1972)
Curtis Mayfield’s incredible soundtrack to 1972 Blaxploitation crime drama
Superfly is not only equal to its film in terms of legacy: it surpasses it. Inspired by the script, Mayfield wrote one of the most socially aware and politically charged funk and soul albums of the decade, which spent four weeks at the top of the pop albums chart upon its release.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Music plays a hugely significant role in the sci-fi epic, with around half of it heard before the first and after the last line of the film’s limited dialogue. Works by Richard Strauss, György Ligeti, Aram Khachaturian and Johann Strauss II had originally been used as guide tracks, but adopted new significance once tethered to this masterpiece.