During the first screening of Richard Linklater‘s “Boyhood” at the Sundance Film Festival in January, one of the observations made from the audience during the Q&A was the jam-packed soundtrack of indie-rock songs, Coldplay, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Jeff Tweedy, The Arcade Fire, and so on and so forth; songs that worked like chapters of the beginning of each new year in this twelve-year saga. During said Q&A, Linklater noted that he had not attained licenses for all the songs in the film yet and cautioned that the music may not be final.
This lead to many journos speculating that the film’s final soundtrack could end up being distinctly different from the film screened in Utah. But those who’ve watched the music industry diminish over the last few years know that music licensing has become a completely different game. Licensing all that music in the late ’90s or early aughts would have been cost-prohibitive, but in this day and age where revenue streams have totally changed (most bands don’t make much money off their album sales anymore), so has the structure of music licensing. In short, it’s rather inexpensive these days and by the looks of the soundtrack details that have arrived today, Linklater scored almost all the major songs that were in the movie, including cuts by Cat Power, Bob Dylan, Wilco, Cobra Starship, even Paul McCartney & Wings and The Black Keys (among many others; the Tweedy track is new too and so far only played live). See? Toldja it wouldn’t be so bad. (The most notable absence? Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky,” which was in the Sundance cut, but not the release version.)
Anyhow, a little over a month separates many of our U.S. readers from Linklater’s ambitious coming-of-age film. Some of us caught the decade-spanning film at Sundance and liked it so much that last Tuesday we placed the intimate epic among the better offerings in the first half of 2014. You’ve already seen the evocative trailer and some clips, so why not take a peek at some new images from the sprawling film ahead of its theatrical release next month?
Additionally, eight new images from Linklater’s film have arrived online to get you all weepy and nostalgic for your long-gone childhood. In case you need a refresher, Linklater shot a few weeks worth of footage of Ellar Coltrane every year for the last twelve years, following his character from childhood into college with Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as his divorced parents. Though our initial review wasn’t as hyperbolic as some out there, we still found it “a remarkable accomplishment that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.”
“Boyhood” opens in limited release stateside on July 11th, the soundtrack comes out July 8th. Check out the stills and tracklist below. [Soundtrack via FilmMusicReporter]
“Boyhood” soundtrack details
1. Summer Noon – Jeff Tweedy
2. Yellow – Coldplay
3. Hate To Say I Told You So – The Hives
4. Could We – Cat Power
5. Do You Realize?? – The Flaming Lips
6. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
7. One (Blake’s Got A New Face) – Vampire Weekend
8. Hate It Here – Wilco
9. Good Girls Go Bad (Feat. Leighton Meester) – Cobra Starship
10. Beyond The Horizon – Bob Dylan
11. Band On The Run – Paul Mccartney & Wings
12. She’s Long Gone – The Black Keys
13. Somebody That I Used To Know (Feat. Kimbra) – Gotye
14. I’ll Be Around – Yo La Tengo
15. Hero – Family Of The Year
16. Deep Blue – Arcade Fire