On the Nature of Daylight Post-minimalism — or neo-classical, depending on who you ask — is a genre of contemporary music that sits somewhere between classical and electronic. It’s slower, more emotive, and deliberately cinematic. The composers who’ve mastered it have found a natural home […]

Impermanence Gustavo Santaolalla’s most underrated score is from the 2013 film August: Osage County – a 2013 American comedy-drama film that tells the story of a dysfunctional family that reunites into the familial house when their patriarch suddenly disappears. While the movie had mixed reviews, […]

Rein This song is from the film, Biutiful, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant, Babel, Birdman). Biutiful stars Javier Bardem who plays Uxbal: a conflicted criminal in Barcelona’s underground. Learning that he is ill and has just a few months to live, Uxbal races […]

The Last of Us (Astray) Astray is basically an iteration of the main title theme played on a Fender guitar bass: a six string bass that looks and feels more like a baritone guitar. Gustavo Santaolalla employed the guitar bass on other selections from The […]

Life in 12 Bars Life in 12 Bars is a behind the scenes documentary of Eric Clapton’s musical restlessness and personal tragedy. Clapton’s quest to grow his artistic voice saw him routinely abandon successful relationships with bands and women. His solitary pursuit of his craft, […]

Sendero I originally posed this song in 2012, but I’m much better at sound quality now and wanted to update Sendero for 2018. I love how Gustavo Santaolalla stays tight to the beat, almost like fingerstyle funk. As per usual, he’s only working with a […]

The Wings The Wings completes my arrangements for the Oscar winning Brokeback Mountain Soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla. This song is what initially drew me into Gustavo Santaolalla’s film score work, way back in 2005. The film was very controversial then, and I remember cleaning my […]

Brokeback Mountain 3 Brokeback Mountain 3 is an achingly beautiful piece of music from Gustavo Santaolalla’s Academy award winning Brokeback Mountain score – most of which was played on a single solitary acoustic guitar. ‘Wings’ is the most memorable theme from Brokeback Mountain. However, the […]

All Gone (No Escape) All Gone (No Escape) is originally an orchestral piece. It’s arguably the most achingly beautiful selection from The Last of Us soundtrack. It was fun to imagine what Gustavo Santaolalla might’ve played on guitar. The piece turned out to be a […]

The Last of Us (Variation) The depth and creativity of Gustavo Santaolalla’s The Last of Us soundtrack never ceases to amaze me, even years later. Two of my favorite themes are: the title theme, and The Choice. Inspired by Gustavo Santaolalla’s recent E3 performance, where […]

Brokeback Mountain 2 The Brokeback Mountain score is initially what introduced me to Gustavo Santaolalla’s music in 2005 — for which he won the first of his back-to-back Academy Awards. The minimalist approach and solitary delivery of a lone acoustic guitar was unlike anything we […]

Seguir “Seguir” by Gustavo Santaolalla, is an atmospheric instrumental piece that showcases the Argentine composer’s multi-instrumental talents and minimalist approach. Released in 2014, the track features Santaolalla’s signature use of the ronroco, creating a melancholic yet hopeful soundscape. The instrumental’s title is Spanish for “To […]