Music from 'Parenthood' : Bob Dylan

You can't say Parenthood doesn't like Dylan. If you were watching tonight's episode "Speaking of Baggage" and wondering what that last song was, it's "I Threw it All Away" by the afore mentioned Bob Dylan off 1969's Nashville Skyline.

Music From 'Parenthood' : Elvis and Junip

Let's Be Mad Together - 10/24/13

Parenthood went classic on tonight's episode. During a scene where Crosby takes a drunk Joel home, they sit in the car and talk about what a song "Burning Love" by Elvis Presley is. Indeed, fellows. Indeed.



The other big musical moment was during the last scene where Ryan goes to talk to Sarah and make his case for why he loves Amber and will not be the worst mistake she ever made. Gently manipulating our emotions in the background is "After All is Said and Done" by Swedish folk rock group Junip.

Music From' Parenthood' : Steve Earle and Y La Bamba

This week we had two musical selections worth noting on NBC's Parenthood. First off, there was "Lonely Are the Free" by Steve Earle from 2011's I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (Also the name of a Nashville episode. Coincidence? I think not.), which played over Camille and Zeke's heart-to-heart about whether they should sell their house.



The second was "Ponce Pilato" by Y La Bamba, which ran during Drew's Scrabble game with potential love interest and floormate Natalie. And no, "playing Scrabble" is not a euphemism. Geeze.

Five Reasons 'American Graffiti' Made Us Teenagers of ’62

I will fight anyone who says American Graffiti isn't a perfect movie. It's solid top to bottom. George Lucas captured both the end of a very specific era (the 50s) and the universal experience of growing up. The movie lets the viewer in on the experience in a way that has nothing to do with where you actually were in 1962. Lucas made it all feel like magic. Or maybe it was the music. 

It was definitely the music. Check out my latest for Consequence of Sound in which I layout my argument for why we all got to be teenagers of '62 thanks to American Graffiti.

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Stream 'The Great Gatsby' Soundtrack

I don't remember the last time a movie soundtrack got this much hype, but I suppose when you have Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jack White, Gotye, and a million other people with generally good standing contributing tracks, it's going to be– in the words of Vice President Joe Biden– a big effing deal.

And now you can stream that big deal early via NPR. Of course, what remains to be seen is exactly how well this anachronistic music fits in with Jazz Age East Egg, but the previews have been so fun and exciting, surely we have nothing to worry about.

This is about the Garden State soundtrack. I can't think of a snazzy title.

It's been quite the week, so unfortunately I've neglected The Musically Inclined a bit. The upside is that it's Friday and I've cleared my schedule to do precious nothing tonight...or that's the plan at least. Lord knows I'll wind up getting roped into something and probably go very willingly. In any case, I was trying to think of something to post about. The most obvious thing music-related is that the other day I watched Garden State for the second time. It's really a terrific movie, the kind of that's got a perfect balance of heart, soul, brain, and weirdness. Unless you've seen it before, you've got no idea where you're going until you get there. That's fairly representative of life, I think.

Garden State has been out a few years and I distinctly remember being more interested in it for the soundtrack than for the actual movie, because that's most of what anyone talked about. A friend gave me a copy of the soundtrack last year and that's ultimately what spurred me to rent it. Some soundtracks are weak, only having a couple songs worthy of purchase, but what makes this one different is that it plays like that perfect mix tape that someone gave you. I guess these days it's more about the playlist, but the idea is the same. From Nick Drake, Frou Frou, Colin Hay, Coldplay, and of course the Shins, there's not a track there that doesn't perfectly encapsulate the feel of the movie. Most strikingly, I knew exactly what kind of tone to expect before ever watching it.

That's some serious mix tape skill. At the same time the soundtrack is so solid and rich, I listen to it sparingly. These last couple days though, it's been on loop in my head and I don't mind hearing that wistful, calm, yet cathartic backdrop to my day-to-day life.

If for some reason you haven't seen Garden State, good freaking grief, get your butt into gear and watch it. Now.