Yeah, it’s a fucking slow day. Entertainment Weekly has talked to nine working soundtrack music supervisors and asked them to give a list of what they’re listening to. We whittled it down to one pick each; generally the music we happen to like the best from their picks and in some cases, the ones that sound the most interesting. We mainly posted this cause we’re fans of the work Poster and Leyh do.
RANDALL POSTER
Music supervisor for “I’m Not There,” most Wes Anderson films picks.
MAGNETIC FIELDS ”With a new album, Distortion, 2008 is the year perhaps that they put leader Stephin Merritt’s name on a Broadway theater or on a New York street sign or a school for gifted children.” (myspace.com/themagneticfields)
BLAKE LEYH
Our boy Blake, music supervisor for “The Wire,” and some kick-ass Omar stalking Marlo’s people scene set to fly soul tracks reccomends:
MULLY MAN; BOSSMAN; DIABLO ”If one of these Baltimore hip-hop artists doesn’t have a hit single in 2008, I’ll eat my head. The things they’re talking about are forward-thinking: It’s not just gangsta — they’re not afraid to be positive while talking about real things [affecting their community].” (myspace.com/mullyman; myspace.com/bossman; myspace.com/diabloflames)
NIC HARCOURT
Music supervisor for “Gone Baby Gone,” and host of the MOR-indie-lite taste radio show KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic
GOLDFRAPP ”They could cross over. Ethereal, retro, dreamy. [Lead singer Alison Goldfrapp] has got a dead sexy voice.” (myspace.com/goldfrapp) [ed. but whatever about Harcourt, Goldfrapp rules]
JIM PITT
Music booker for “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” suggests…
YEASAYER ”They manage to fuse a kitchen sink of musical styles (rock, pop, Middle Eastern, folk, dance) without it feeling like a train wreck. They’ve been compared to David Byrne and Brian Eno, but don’t let that scare you.” (myspace.com/yeasayer)
CHRIS DOURIDAS
Music supervisor for “American Beauty,” October’s “The Women“
LUCY SCHWARTZ ”An unsigned singer-songwriter who’s 18. Her dad was jogging by my house [in Pacific Palisades, Calif.] and handed me her demo. Her songs have the confidence of a woman twice her age.” (myspace.com/lucysong)
LIZA RICHARDSON
Music supervisor for “Friday Night Lights”
WHITE WILLIAMS ”He’s incorporating elements of Beck, Jim Noir, Roxy Music, T. Rex. Some of the songs are really catchy and fun and stick in your head, and some of it’s out there and weird.” (myspace.com/whitewilliams)
There’s also picks from Jay Faires – music supervisor for “Good Luck Chuck,” Dana Sano, supervisor for “Dan in Real Life” – and Joe Cuello – who oversees music for all MTV shows, including The Hills – but we can’t be bother to list them all as we’re sleepy and already grown tired of this post (plus in many cases we’re starting to think, “Huh? Jesus, we should have some of these people’s jobs.”)