Reservation Dogs – One of my favourite shows concluded this year, as Reservation Dogs finished its third season. It’s a weird and wonderful show about friendship, grief and life on a reservation. The almost exclusively native nature of the show is extended to the soundtrack with most needle drops coming from indigenous voices or folks from underrepresented backgrounds. Season 3 includes some long time favourites like Black Belt Eagle Scout and Jay Som. But I also found some new artists that I like Micah. P. Hinson and LABRYS. There’s very few shows that have such a consistently good and interesting soundtrack.
Matt Paul
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 – I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 on a bit of a whim. A day with no childcare to do, no work to attend to, I walked to the local cinema intending to just go and see whatever was on soon and looked at least a little appealing. I’d enjoyed the previous two films in the series enough to think two hours in a dark room with a racoon and a root would be manageable, but I was more gripped than ever by the latest instalment right from the start. Why? An incredible opening scene in with Rocket sits and stares into the camera while singing along to ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, the song being used not only as musical accompaniment but as a way to bring us straight into the narrative. Some might think this is just another chance for me to write about Radiohead, but it isn’t only that moment – the film makes great use of music all the way through.
Fran Slater
Final Fantasy XVI – Oh look it’s Sam here again to talk about music from a Final Fantasy game as if it’s the only thing that exists. Yes, that is true and it would be silly for me to not mention how much I have listened to the soundtracks that have defined my life. The first properly numbered mainline entry in seven years, Final Fantasy XVI felt like a bit of a return to form for the series for veterans like me. The strongest cast, storyline and combat the game has seen in years and once again the soundtrack was spectacular. Mostly composed by Final Fantasy XIV’s composer Masayoshi Sohen, it’s diverse orchestration from ridiculously epic choral moments and more electronic moments made for a varied and wild soundtrack for a hugely expansive game. Clive’s journey wouldn’t be the same without music so good, I had to buy the extravagant physical version.
Sam Atkins
Eileen – Eileen is an odd, intriguing little film based on the novel of the same name by Ottessa Moshfegh. Built around the burgeoning relationship between Eileen and her new colleague Rebecca, it works by maintaining mystery around the two main characters before taking a deeply sinister turn towards the end. At the heart of the storytelling is the music, which elevates ordinary scenes into something special – particular as the two of them dance in a bar before Rebecca attacks an unwanted admirer. With a mix of well known, recognisable songs and a great score by Richard Reed Parry, this is a film which is improved upon by the music.
Fran Slater
Attack on Titan – Another show. Another finale. This time the anime Attack on Titan had it’s long awaited finale episodes. It was an epic few hours with all its trademarks: heavy handed messaging, batshit story and some of the coolest action sequences in anime. The music was essential to it going out on a high. First there are the intro/outro songs which though not my favourites, were perfect in tone sounding absolutely massive and quietly intimate respectively. Then there was the soundtrack to the show itself. Not only did they manage to integrate new tracks that amplified the action to the pinnacle it should be. But they also brought back a lot of tracks and motifs from prior seasons, helping to tie everything into a neat little bow. At least thematically. Just don’t get me to explain it all.
Matt Paul
Rye Lane – Feeling blue on a March Friday afternoon, with the weather glum and no plans made, we resolved to at least leave the house after work. Rye Lane was the only half-decent looking film showing at our local multiplex, so we walked down for the 5.30 showing. And oh my, how the world felt so much brighter after an hour and a half absorbing what I will unashamedly call ‘the feel good film of the year’.
Such creative direction from first time filmmaker Raine Allen-Miller. The candy colours peppering every scene. The sympathetic characters. The crackling comedic dialogue, and chemistry between the leads. And I loved Kwes’ soundtrack, where playful electronic flicks and flourishes helped to create a dreamlike atmosphere. I remember buying Kwes’ Meantime EP on iTunes way back in 2012, and it was lovely to hear an updated version of ‘Lgoyh’ more than a decade later, assisted by his now established friends Sampha and Tirzah. And the other collaboration between the three, ‘Open Up’, the song that plays over the credits, is hands down my favourite song of the year. A delightful film worth checking out if you haven’t yet had the pleasure.
Tom Burrows
The Bear – For anyone who hasn’t already seen The Bear, it might be hard to understand how a show about some cooks and a tiny restaurant can be so gripping, tense, and, at times, traumatic. You have to see it to get it. As well as all of those things, it is extremely funny, heartwarming, and honest. At the heart of all of this is a soundtrack that doesn’t just play gently in the background, but integrates itself superbly with the most important moments in the show. It makes a tense scene more overwhelming, a funny scene more hilarious, an otherwise standard cut scene absolutely enthralling, and it plays a key role in character development. Just watch Ritchie singing to Taylor Swift to get an idea of what I mean.
Fran Slater
Barbie – ‘Come on in, I’ll play the guitar at you’. As someone who learned the guitar as a teenager after my older, cooler cousin recommended it, for “reasons”, and as someone who later gave myself a tonne of credit for my guitar prowess, late at night with “the ladies”, the illusion I’d been living under unravelled before my eyes watching Barbie. My cinema companion, who had also lived in the same male hetero illusion for years, commented ‘I feel personally attacked’. Not only had he done the very same as me, but he went next level by confessing to playing Matchbox Twenty’s ‘Push’, the very same as the Kens, in the very same edge of romance situation. Whatever it said about me, I was crying uncontrollably with laughter. The funniest moment of the year by a long way.
James Spearing
Past Lives – The absolute state of me by the end of watching Celine Song’s Past Lives earlier this year. Total wet eye fest in that screening room. I was kind of glad I went alone; I didn’t need people I know to see me in that condition. The film centres around a woman and a man, both from South Korea, who were childhood friends but who are separated by circumstance and reunited at various points in their lives. It is beautifully shot, acted, and soundtracked – the latter by Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear. The music is a subdued background presence, rumbling along, soft jazz and twinkling piano forming a gentle backdrop to the twists and turns unfolding on screen. It’s a perfectly composed soundtrack to my favourite film of 2023. One of my aims for 2024 is to rewatch it to see if it was quite as good as I remember.
Tom Burrows
The Last of Us – Oh look, Sam’s picked another game. But in a shock it’s actually the music from a TV show version of a video game. Anyone who has played either of the fantastic games, The Last of Us Volumes 1 and 2 will instantly know that the music is such an integral part to the experience, Gustavo Santaolalla’s compositions creating such an intense and intimate feel. His soundtrack for the TV interpretation is no different, but also ends up elevated by the new medium in the way he expands and pulls from other genres throughout the series. David Fleming brings new themes and even more drama to every moment here. If anybody tells me that they didn’t cry during the extended ‘Bill and Frank’ episode then they are kidding themselves and the incredible music made it all the more memorable.
Sam Atkins
Picky Bastards 