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They're the perfect gateway for Twilight fans to open experience what we shall call "the shit " by bona-fide artists who aren't a product of extensive market studies or internet gimmicks. What we have here is far too accomplished to be passed over as "sparkly vampire crap".
Twilight (the first movie) brought us some rocking tracks from Paramore, Muse (who've popped up on every Twilight soundtrack since), a gorgeous Iron & Wine ballad, and even a self-penned track from Edward Cullen himself. And then New Moon came along, still my favourite of the three so far and an album I've returned to time again, like a junkie in need of a fix. Never have Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver or Thom Yorke, with his best solo track since… well, the last time he released anything, sounded so sublime, so attuned to the dark and dangerous emotions that dominated the Twilight Saga. And kudos to Howard Shore for keeping his score work spare, adding pretty little pieces of instrumental music to close out the soundtracks.
Eclipse is no different. It blows my mind, the calibre of talent that this franchise can attract: from Canadian indie darlings Metric, to Brit baroque-pop It Girl Florence & The Machine, grime-electro masters UNKLE to something I could only have conjured in my dreams – a collaboration between Beck and Bat for Lashes. Just HOW does the Twilight Saga soundtracks get to be so damn cool?
Sounding less morose and doom-laden than New Moon, Eclipse nevertheless ups the beauty quotient to a whole new level – and the opening track "Eclipse (All Yours)" by Metric is pure perfection. I've been a longtime fan on Metric singer Emily Haines (and anyone even remotely associated with the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene) so her presence here is both apt and amazing. But that's just one jaw-droppingly stunning track from a wealth of others. Sia, Florence & The Machine, raw-as-f*** blues-rockers The Black Keys and Jack White's other supergroup The Dead Weather create otherworldly moods and landscapes that, darn it, makes me want to watch the movie about a hundred more times.
What I've always loved about the soundtracks is how new/under-the-radar artists are seamlessly interweaved amongst the established names: Fanfarlo's "Atlas" is sun-kissed folk and LA unknowns Eastern Conference Champions make a strong case for the album's standout track with the dense, Radiohead-esque melodrama of "A Million Miles An Hour".
While Muse's over-the-top "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" is perfectly placed in the Twi-universe, it's possibly the least interesting track, coasting by on theatrics and typically apocalyptic lyrics. Though it's the dubby Beck/Bat for Lashes contribution that forms the pulsating heart of this ensemble piece. Spaced-out, urgent and just a little creepy, it's magnificent. "Let's Get Lost" is what they called it. How thrillingly perfect.
Twilight (the first movie) brought us some rocking tracks from Paramore, Muse (who've popped up on every Twilight soundtrack since), a gorgeous Iron & Wine ballad, and even a self-penned track from Edward Cullen himself. And then New Moon came along, still my favourite of the three so far and an album I've returned to time again, like a junkie in need of a fix. Never have Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver or Thom Yorke, with his best solo track since… well, the last time he released anything, sounded so sublime, so attuned to the dark and dangerous emotions that dominated the Twilight Saga. And kudos to Howard Shore for keeping his score work spare, adding pretty little pieces of instrumental music to close out the soundtracks.
Eclipse is no different. It blows my mind, the calibre of talent that this franchise can attract: from Canadian indie darlings Metric, to Brit baroque-pop It Girl Florence & The Machine, grime-electro masters UNKLE to something I could only have conjured in my dreams – a collaboration between Beck and Bat for Lashes. Just HOW does the Twilight Saga soundtracks get to be so damn cool?
Sounding less morose and doom-laden than New Moon, Eclipse nevertheless ups the beauty quotient to a whole new level – and the opening track "Eclipse (All Yours)" by Metric is pure perfection. I've been a longtime fan on Metric singer Emily Haines (and anyone even remotely associated with the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene) so her presence here is both apt and amazing. But that's just one jaw-droppingly stunning track from a wealth of others. Sia, Florence & The Machine, raw-as-f*** blues-rockers The Black Keys and Jack White's other supergroup The Dead Weather create otherworldly moods and landscapes that, darn it, makes me want to watch the movie about a hundred more times.
What I've always loved about the soundtracks is how new/under-the-radar artists are seamlessly interweaved amongst the established names: Fanfarlo's "Atlas" is sun-kissed folk and LA unknowns Eastern Conference Champions make a strong case for the album's standout track with the dense, Radiohead-esque melodrama of "A Million Miles An Hour".
While Muse's over-the-top "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" is perfectly placed in the Twi-universe, it's possibly the least interesting track, coasting by on theatrics and typically apocalyptic lyrics. Though it's the dubby Beck/Bat for Lashes contribution that forms the pulsating heart of this ensemble piece. Spaced-out, urgent and just a little creepy, it's magnificent. "Let's Get Lost" is what they called it. How thrillingly perfect.
