Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TRENT REZNOR'S FILM MUSIC

I was really excited that Trent Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross won the Oscar for Best Film Score for David Fincher's The Social Network. Having seen the film again over the weekend, I can definitely say that the score is like an extra character in the film, much like Neil Young's score for Dead Man.

But it's not the first time Trent has done music for films, it's just that he usually compiles soundtracks.  The first time he did this was in 1994 for Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers soundtrack.  It featured an original Nine Inch Nails song, "Burn," which is rocking. The film plays like an incredible mix tape; it includes Leonard Cohen, L7, Bob Dylan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Peter Gabriel, Dr. Dre, Lard and Patsy Cline.

In 1997, he followed this up with the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway. More focused and less gothy, it featured a NIN classic, "The Perfect Drug." It also has one of the best Smashing Pumpkins songs, "Eye," and even a good Marilyn Manson song, "Apple Of Sodom." There's also songs by David Bowie, Lou Reed and there's some solo Trent music.

There's also two great Nine Inch Nails performances on non-Reznor soundtracks: He covered Joy Division's "Dead Souls" for The Crow in 1994, and there's also the little heard "Deep" from 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider soundtrack.

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