I don’t think it makes me any less of a music elitist that I like most of the songs played on The O.C. I feel the same way about The Gilmore Girls. Music should fit our lives the same way soundtracks fit TV shows, and so I say, whatever works for Seth and the gang works for me. Most bands only get snippets on the tube, and an even smaller number make it to the big screen. A spot on a big-budget movie soundtrack is quite an honor. So, when I heard that Explosions in the Sky did the entire Friday Night Lights soundtrack, my interest was piqued.
The soundtrack is good, but this record, released in 2003, is better. It’s the soundtrack to your life, whatever that may mean. It’s an album audacious enough to name its opener “First Breath After Coma,” recorded by a band good enough to make you feel just what that breath would be like.
Most songs, even the good ones, can only be enjoyed a certain context. As much as I love NWA’s “Fuck tha Police,” I don’t want it playing at my wedding. You can probably think of other examples, equally humorous. The thing with Explosions in the Sky, though, is that their music just seems so completely adaptable. It succeeds without words, without hooks, without anything, really. It’s forty-five minutes of atmospherics, and it gets into your life. It’s music to study to, music to get lost to, music to fall asleep to, and music to wake up to. I can’t tell you what my favorite song on this record is, but I can tell you that I feel better when it’s playing.
The problem with this kind of “background music” is that it’s hard to compare within the genre. Is it better than Sigur Ros? Is it better than Mogwai? If you had to push me, I’d say “no,” and then, “probably yes,” but that’s not the point here. The point is that an obscure indie band with a dumb name got to soundtrack a film about high school football, and that has to count for something. Maybe we’re winning after all. |