Jen Clay
Staff Writer
Everyone wishes they had a great idea for a quirky, quarter-life-crisis movie, where money-grows-on-trees funds allow us to direct and act in the production, make out with Natalie Portman (girls, pretend it’s Brad Pitt), and most importantly, they got to compile the soundtrack?
Maybe living vicariously through “Garden State” writer/director/actor Zach Braff, whose little-indie-that-could was the most anticipated film of the summer, wouldn’t be a bad idea. It’s no wonder then, with that much creative control at his fingertips, “Garden State” mogul Braff compiled the film’s soundtrack as if burning a favorite mix CD for himself.
Luckily for music consumers and fans of the movie alike, Braff has good taste and a surprising lack of the normal indie-music-fan elitism. Two tracks from Albuquerque’s bubbling-under-the-radar The Shins (as well as a movie mention) stand harmoniously alongside contributions from acclaimed British acid-jazz band Zero 7 and the recently disbanded Remy Zero. (Am I the only one sensing a pattern?)
Adding a dash of ambient trip-hop for good measure (which proves especially helpful for those slowed-down, please-make-us-look-cool-Mr.-Director walking scenes), Braff embraces Washington, D.C.-based Thievery Corporation (“Lebanese Blonde”) and smartly cultivates Frou Frou’s forgotten “Let Go” (originally released in 2002) as the film’s unofficial theme song. It may be electronica, but it’s electronica for the masses.
But Braff hasn’t forgotten his music-fan roots. Classic musical storytellers including Simon & Garfunkel (“The Only Living Boy in New York”), Men at Work’s Colin Hay (the hauntingly understated “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You”) and the never-been-hipper Nick Drake (“One of These Things First”) bring a sense of awkward comfort to a film wishing to ponder just that.
And so we have to give Braff more credit than simply using Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 (“platinum” version, no doubt) to burn the ultimate mix CD for 200,000 of his closest friends. Braff’s soundtrack selectivity means Iron and Wine’s “Such Great Heights” cover makes an appearance on the album, beating out the original, KROQ-approved version of the track from hip labelmates The Postal Service. While the lyrics remain the same, Iron and Wine’s gentler version worked better in the context of the movie.
And Braff displays no shame at picking the two most popular Shins tracks over more obscure fare. He’s not looking for indie credibility here, but the best tracks for his film, and viewers couldn’t ask for more from a filmmaker.
Simultaneously telling a story of reawakening as well as running the gamut of human experience from that of a numb to a silly to a romantic variety, the soundtrack succeeds by simply acting in subordination to the film. A kind of June Cleaver to the film’s Ward, the soundtrack is always at the disposal of “Garden State” the movie, but able to stand on its own given the need.
Of course, there is always that track that I wouldn’t have included on my ultimate mix CD. (Bonnie Somerville’s “Winding Road,” but who’s asking?) It’s the soundtrack’s very innocence and organic feel that give it its charm. It’s a labor of love, and that’s something to shout over the side of a man-made cliff about.
09-09-2004
