New Moon: The Soundtrack of the Year?

Although I hate to admit it, I am one of the many fans of the Twilight novel and movie series. I retain my dignity, however, because I do not like the series because of the content, but rather because what it brought to popular culture. Ever since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I have had a vampire fetish, far before it was the latest craze. Until the Twilight series, I had to rely on Buffy reruns and episodes of Angel to fulfill my vampire quota, but now, with tweens everywhere pining for Edward Cullen, vampires have become hip again and brilliant programs like True Blood have been getting the attention they deserve. What is even more significant is the musical resources now available to the vampire genre.

The soundtrack for the new Twilight movie, New Moon, was released in early October and has been captivating audiences with and without vampire love, simply because of all the good music in one place. The tracklist of the soundtrack is:

1. "Meet Me on the Equinox"- Death Cab for Cutie
   
2. "Friends"- Bands of Skulls
   
3. "Hearing Damage"- Thom Yorke
   
4. "Possibility"- Lykke Li
   
5. "A White Demon Love Song"- The Killers
   
6. "Satellite Heart"- Anya Marina
7. "I Belong to You (New Moon)"- Muse
   
8. "Roslyn"- Bon Iver & St. Vincent
9. "Done All Wrong"- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
   
10. "Monsters"- Hurricane Bells
11. "The Violet Hour"- Sea Wolf
12. "Shooting the Moon"- OK Go
    
13. "Slow Life"- Grizzly Bear
    
14. "No Sound but the Wind"- Editors
    
15. "New Moon (The Meadow)"- Alexandre Desplat

It is just an incredible plethora of good music that one might go so far as to say it is the best soundtrack I've heard since the Garden State soundtrack. Yep, I went there.

Here are a few of my favourites from the soundtrack, enjoy!'

MP3: "Hearing Damage" - Thom Yorke
MP3: "Satellite Heart" - Anya Marina
MP3: "Roslyn" - Bon Iver & St. Vincent

Pop Montreal

Last weekend I decided to go to Montreal to visit friends, which luckily enough, was the very same weekend as Pop Montreal, one of the best music festivals that the city hosts every year. Joel Plaskett, Young Galaxy, Sufjan Stevens and Kid Koala are just a few of the bigger indie names that played at Pop this year, but the amount of up-and-coming bands that are also playing is impressive. Pop is known as a festival that gives lesser-known local and national bands the opportunity to showcase their talent to a festival audience who might otherwise not know them.

On Friday night, myself and a few friends went down to the Montreal red light district in hopes of seeing Joel Plaskett, only to decide to spend the same amount of money to see three lesser-known bands, who had great reviews. We saw Slim Twig, Micachu & The Shapes and Clues, the highlight of which was seeing Clues.

Clues was founded by Alden Penner, former half of Unicorns and Brendan Reed, once a short-lived drummer for Arcade Fire, in 2007, playing small local Montreal shows until 2008, when friends Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble, and Nick Scribner became members. With the new members, they began to work on their debut self-titled album, which was released in May of 2009.



"On their startling, intricate debut, Montreal’s Clues enter the alternate universe of the Flaming Lips for a blast of contemporary underground pop driven by angular arrangements and gritty noise. Sudden and unexpected, Clues lead listeners on in a glorious way."
EXCLAIM