15. “Sharp Objects”
Director Jean-Marc Vallé is obsessive about music, and his projects can often feel like a DJ spinning through a collection of his favorite personal tracks. But the filmmaker has a knack for capturing a mood, and character through music creating an expressive, emotive style. He also has a fondness for soulful classic rock, folk, Motown, re-contextualizing those songs, and then somehow receiving approval for the use of these famous tunes from some of the some of the most notoriously difficult and picky bands and music to clear —a testament to how he uses his musical choices and how they jump out at you. For “Sharp Objects,” it’s another deep playlist of these bands, this time all diegetic source (through stereo speakers or an iPod) Bob Dylan, Carole King, Johnny Cash and others. But key is the hot, riotous, angry, and sexy songs of Led Zeppelin that become the personal soundtrack— a personal howl of cathartic escapism always played at full volume— for the damaged “Sharp Objects” lead Camille (a phenomenal Amy Adams; and five cuts at that that feel as if you’re hearing them for the first time). Aside from being emotionally wounded, and messed up, “Sharp Objects” and its lead are the type to fuck the pain away, the series is angry, frustrated, boozy and it is Missouri humidity evocatively sweaty, perhaps best captured with some of the more modern steamy, dreamy and sinister electro-pulses often found in the closing credits of each ep (LCD Soundsystem, The Acid, Vitalic, LAUREL, Sivu). Vallé creates a soup of music, plaintive piano pieces (Alexandra Stréliski, Lucas Jayden, Mario Vinuela), blues (Joe Tex, Willie Dixon), country (Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers, hip-hop and more. And while it sounds like a lot, it all makes for a killer soundtrack, easily the best one on TV in 2018. – RP
14. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
A product of the hyperactive mind of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie“), the kinetic and post-modern ‘Spider-Verse‘ is all kinds of awesome, meta-irreverence that brings the hero into the modern age, but also a soulfulness that nails the character arguably like never before on screen. And it’s achieved musically two ways as well, an anthemic, thrilling, and gorgeous score by Daniel Pemberton (“Steve Jobs“) and an eclectic, cutting-edge trap, EDM, and hip-hop soundtrack featuring the likes of Vince Staples, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and more. Pemberton’s been at the cusp as one of the best composers working today, but he breaks through in a major way here, joining Ludwig Göransson in bringing hip-hop to heroism. The score feels like a proper caped composition and the instrumental to booming anthem rap. His creative mix of different sounds and emotions always amplifies the setting and the movie’s eye-popping pop-art animation. Extra credit for the film’s undercurrent of pop and rap on its soundtrack, featuring a killer Staples track, “Home,” which played on last year’s stunning teaser, the Post Malone/Swae Lee collab “Sunflower” and, believe it or not, the Jaden Smith boomer “Way Up.” The Staples track, in particular, feels representative of the film. You instantly think of it when you see Miles Morales, suspended in sun-stroked free-fall upside down in mid-air behind the New York skyline, diving into the wondrous possibilities he Spider-People will surely continue to give audiences for years. – CW
13. “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs”
Life is cruel and unforgiving, mercilessly so in the United States, which is perhaps why the Coen Brothers’ latest, a Western, mosaic anthology made up of disparate stories told on the brutal, violent American frontier, tracks exacting fate in all its forms; sad, blackly funny, somber, absurd and morbid. Leave it then to the Coens’ constant musical companion, composer Carter Burwell, to navigate this portmanteau of styles and tones with a unifying thematic tenor (and one laced with melancholy; death, in the end, is no laughing matter). Burwell brings such a beaming, hopeful air to much of the majestic, score; so many of these stories are about the promise of the American West, the prosperity that feels like it’s just one stroke of luck around the corner. But this being the Coen brothers, not everyone’s a winner, and life has its harsh realities—Burwell captures that lugubriousness of tragedy too and with such a heartfelt dignity that belies the joke the inscrutable brothers can’t help but tell over and over again. ‘Buster Scruggs’ is undeniably uneven, some vignettes are just better than others and you only need to see them once, but throughout, the trusty, dependable Burwell is a warm sheepskin that ties the thing together nicely. – RP
12. “Annihilation”
Truth be told, any given piece of music taken from the score for “Annihilation” does not sound like it was recorded by humans. Heaven-like soundscapes, ethereal vocal melodies, and otherworldly ambiance serve as the musical background for Alex Garland’s surreal sci-fi film. Composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, the music injects the listener with a claustrophobic blend of awe and unease as the tracks’ intensity gradually fuse into one another, each song growing more immersive and dreamlike than the last. The penultimate entry, “The Alien,” is arguably the opus among the soundtrack’s 18-song tracklist, and might be one of the most memorable pieces of film score to come out in the past couple years. Horrifying, beautiful, and hypnotic, this music takes listeners on an unearthly journey into the void. – JC
11. “Hereditary”
Put simply, Colin Stetson’s score for “Hereditary” sounds like it was ripped straight out of a jazz club in a David Lynch film. Merely describing this soundtrack as “unnerving” does not encapsulate how masterfully this soundtrack captures a sincere sense of terror. Nerve-rattling sound design and stomach-churning instrumentation almost render these songs too uncomfortable to endure more than once. Whether it’s the mood-setting hums of “Funeral” or the jarring tone shift in “Classroom,” listening to this hour-long experience is dreadfully unpleasant in the best way possible. This is a gorgeous assortment of nightmare fuel that will bring to mind the absolute worst of your past traumas and life-ruining fears. – JC
