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 […]

The Shoe Maker The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a 2018 adventure-comedy film directed and written by Terry Gilliam. The movie is thought to be one of the most infamous examples of development hell in film history, with Gilliam unsuccessfully attempting to make the […]

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 […]

I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You Adrift is a 2018 American romantic drama film — based on a true story and set in 1983. The film stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin as a young couple that gets stranded in the […]

Bibo No Aozora First recorded in 1996, Bibo, is one of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s most famous pieces. The film Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, brought the song to the larger public conscience in 2006. Bibo No Aozora is used in the film’s finale. My version […]

Heart-Shaped Box Heart-Shaped Box was originally written by Nirvana from their In Utero album. It’s one of my all time favorite songs. Kurt Cobain was enigmatic. Behind every musical great is a strong original identity. Sometimes it’s deliberately conceived, and other times it’s innate. Kurt […]

You Only Live Twice This version of You Only Live Twice is from indie-folk-sister-duo, Beulahbelle (Kaitlyn and Mady Dever). It’s used as the title track in the movie, Tully. Originally I planned on doing something from Rob Simonsen who scored the film, however Beulahbelle’s cover of […]

Seguir Camino is Gustavo Santaolalla’s follow up to his 1998 album, Ronroco. By 1998, Santaolalla was a legendary Latin American musician and music producer. However, Iguazu (from Ronroco) kicked off his second act as film score composer, when Michael Mann used it to great effect […]

Post Malone A student of mine (thanks Alyssa) introduced me to Stay. Post Malone is definitely not on my radar screen, but I was taken aback by the musicality of this piece. Although Post Malone’s look and personality are unserious, he is a serious musician. […]

The Avengers The Avengers theme by composer Alan Silvestri is iconic. The way the chorus comes in gets me every time. You’ll hear it in the films when the tide has turned against the enemy, and the Avengers (specifically Iron Man) are really getting after […]

A Quiet Place Marco Beltrami is a great top tier composer. His film scores include: World War Z, Wolverine, Snowpiercer, and The Homesman – directed by Tommy Lee Jones. His piece from A Quiet Place, entitled, A Quiet Life, has some really slick transitions from melancholy […]

Lost in Space Lost in Space (Netflix) is a GREAT series, and family friendly too. It’s a reimagining of the 1965 series of the same name, that follows the brave and hyper-intelligent Robinson family after they’ve crash landed on the wrong planet. Joining the family […]