Snow Snow (Brokeback Mountain) is emblematic of Gustavo Santaolalla’s minimalist, and egoless songwriting. There’s an unusual dissonant chord position at the end of each cycle. It catches you off guard. While Santaolalla is probably following his ear when writing music, he has a proclivity for […]

Hold the Door I thought the music was very touching for final scene of The Door, Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 5. With the intensity and chaos of what was happening, the decision to favor a gentle motif was a perfect counterbalance. It made […]

The X-Files My wife and I are really enjoying the new season 10 of The X-Files. I specifically liked episode 3 with the were-monster (or were-human?). A very funny and comedic episode for The X-Files. I’m a massive Rhys Darby fan from his days as […]

Untitled Guitar Finger Picking Demo Elliott Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith’s primary instrument was the guitar, and he had a distinctive vocal style, characterized by a “whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery”, and often used multi-tracking to create […]

Making a Murderer Making a Murderer, released in 2015, is an American true crime documentary television series created by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. The series chronicles the investigation and murder trial of Steven Avery, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he […]

The Revenant The Revenant is a 2015 American western survival film, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. It is based on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name, which is inspired by the real-life frontiersman Hugh Glass. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass, a […]

L‘Ultima Diligenza di Red Rock L’Ultima Diligenza di Red Rock (The Last Stagecoach to Red Rock) is the main theme from Ennio Morricone’s score for the 2015 film, The Hateful Eight. It is a haunting and atmospheric piece of music that evokes the harshness and […]

Tuyo “Tuyo” (Yours) is a song by Brazilian singer-songwriter Rodrigo Amarante, written and composed for the Netflix original series Narcos. It is a bolero that is sung from the perspective of Pablo Escobar’s mother. The song is about her love for her son, and her […]

One of the draw backs to get older is that you really do lose touch with the younger generation. Fortunately I teach guitar for a living — primarily to young people — and that keeps me abreast of what’s happening culturally. One of my students, […]

Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales) Gustavo Santaolalla is an Argentine composer and record producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006). He has also composed music for a number of other films, including The Motorcycle Diaries […]

Fury Fury is a 2014 American war film directed by David Ayer. It stars Brad Pitt as Wardaddy, a tank commander who leads a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film’s score was composed […]

I love You Too Much “I Love You Too Much” is a song by Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla, written for the 2014 animated film The Book of Life. It is a beautiful and haunting ballad about the power of love and the importance of family. […]