Album Review: The Hunger Games OST

The movie was so-so, but the The Hunger Games OST: Songs from District 12 and Beyond definitely fares better and comes produced with way more sophistication. Never have I heard so many songs in one sitting from an LP album, with all that acoustic strings. Songs like these used to only be associated with EPs and not 'matured enough' for mass consumption. But, the masses have hope yet, this genre is called BLUEGRASS- a modern twist on American native music and a slight dash of Country music. And which officially has become my favourite new music genre.

If anything, I was introduced to The Civil Wars, whatta awesome duo.

Yes, I'm CRA-ZY about the mostly indie artistes' tracks and their faithful combined take on both Bluegrass and The Hunger Games story. Previous OST albums which came worthily close to exciting me like this were few and far between- 1) Once 2) Twilight 3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1. No surprise this OST album has far exceeded sales records, being the only other album to debut at number 1 on the Billboard chart, the first being Michael Jackson's This Is It.

So, do excuse me if I use the word 'awesome' (in every sense of the word) one too many times in my track-by-track review:

1) Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire (3.5/5) = This Celtic-like, tribal choral World Music tune is dramatic, and a going-to-epic-battle-kinda song. Perfect in capturing the essence of The Hunger Games story, of a too young female heroine.

2) Tomorrow Will be Kinder by The Secret Sisters (4/5) = Let the bluegrass begin! :D

TIMELESS lullaby, along the line of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Lush, clear vocals win me over anytime. The amalgamation of all the different types of strings (mandolin? harp? bass? ukulele?) are divine. This is what Lana Del Ray should be singing, instead of the pretentious, abstract songs she spews on radio. Check out the cover I did on my Youtube channel, or at the end of this post below!)

3) Nothing To Remember by Neko Case (3/5) = Folksy tune, nice interlude in the album.

4) Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars (4.5/5) = Mad love for the duetting instrumental guitar strings by the folks of The Civil Wars.

It really is one of the best, & memorable tracks on the album. And that's not 'cause I'm Team Taylor. Speaking of which, T-Swift doesn't sound at all like herself. Instead of a jilted princess, she sounds like a friendly forest dweller, comforting our heroine.

5) The Ruler And The Killer by Kid Cudi (3.5/5) = This semi-metal tune with the ominous semi-reggae voice warning over and over, "You don't talk, you don't say nothing ok?" just ups the cool factor.

6) Dark Days by Punch Brothers (5/5) = Omg, sucha dreamy voice + acoustic strings= dream combo to my ears.

Music production is stellar, with the mandolin, ukulele plucking, violin solo, and bagpipes even? Awesome, awesome lyrics.

7) One Engine by The Decemberists (3.5/5) = Adult contemporary tune, again, another pleasant interlude to the album. I'd expected more from The Decemberists, really. Dunno what's with the complete turn in sound.

8) Daughter's Lament by Carolina Chocolate Drops (4/5) = Brilliant, acapella ditty, with relevant lyrics weaving the other-era story.

9) Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars (5/5) = The Civil Wars again (!):

This time, with even more intricate guitar work & epic vocals singoff from themselves pleading "don't you fret my dear, it will all be over soon. I'll be waiting here for you." I'm guessing this was highly a new song made just for this OST?

10) Take The Heartland by Glen Hansard (3/5) = This indie screamo band?(not! It's actually a solo artist!) jamming with such passion just gotta be loved, especially with those fiddle sounds thrown in, lol. Not what I'd expect from Glen, honestly (for quite some time, I'd thought he was the guy behind the song number 6 above, Dark Days).

11) Come Away by Maroon 5 feat. Rozzi Crane (4.5/5) = Maroon 5 GETS music. 'Nuff said:

People wrote them off as another formulaic pop band with 'the uck singer with that girly voice', but I personally loved their craftsmanship & strongly rooted for them from the start. Can I sing this semi-duet song with them at F1? :D

12) Run Daddy Run by Miranda Lambert feat. Pistol Annies (4/5) = Girlish but don't-mess-with-us country-styled vocals "Daddy can you heaaar the devil drawing near..." Percussions, with the double mandolin accompainment are awesome. Awesome collaboration.

13) Rules by Jayme Dee (3.5/5) = Singer-songwriters are so fitting to write such awesome lyrics. At first, I was meh about this singer's sleepy Meiko voice, but her diction was clear throughout, a quality which I always respect from my favourite singers out there. :)

14) Eyes Open by Taylor Swift (3/5) = Ms T-Swift's experimental vocals makes an apperance again. However, 'tis a standard pop tune. Swift tries to sound different from her usual self but comes off sounding like she's ripping Avril Lavigne's material. Not a bad effort though (Tay can never really do wrong with any of her songs, #realtalk). And hey, who doesn't love an 'encouragement/advice-y' kind of song? XD NB: I still don't get why her song Long Live isn't featured on any OST.

15) Lover Is Childlike by The Low Anthem (3.5/5) = Ambient-soundtrack-y music, and kudos to the thoughtfully crafted musical arrangement, as are all the other songs on this album awesomely are, actually.

16) Just A Game by Birdy (4.5/5) = Emo voice in the line of Sarah McLachlan, with great piano accompainment:

Beautifully awesome mood ballad, to send us off away from this precious album.

Album Rating: 4/5


Here's a cover I did for track number 2, Tomorrow Will Be Kinder (dunno why my eyes look so small, bleh), enjoy:

Movie Review: The Hungering Game for the ears

If a pastor of the church service you attend casually mentions he had watched the teen flick The Hunger Games and even quotes a few lines off of it during his sermon, only then you you know you're missing out if you don't catch it at a theatre near you pronto. :)

Not to mention, hearing some days later, during this week that the movie's opening weekend apparently broke some record for being the first non-sequel to do exceptionally well in the box office sales.

So, yours truly caught The Hunger Games last night, even though going into the cinema, I still mistakenly thought it was a barbaric-era styled flick heavy on the gory tournament fighting scenes (rolls eyes), a la Dead or Alive-style.

Instead, it turned out to be more a mixture of Survivor and Lord of the Flies thrown in.

Verdict? My hunger for the hype was somewhat satiated.

Delightful bits:
-Taking in the wacky appearances of all the well-off people living in the capital of the city. In the warped world that is the Hunger Games, a normal, middle-class person looks like a high-end model from say, a Tim Burton dream fashion collection while the heartland person looks 'peasantly', Amish-like and well, normal-looking. Keep an eye out for the welcome crowd scene when the bullet train finally pulls into capital city after its long journey to bring in our two young leads from District 12. Also, the scene where the hoity-toity sponsors view the contestants in person for the first time and are milling around, waiting for them to roll out in their chariots.

-Jennifer Lawrence is gorgeous. Though she may have your typical emo reluctant heroine (part Bella Swan)  voice act going on which alone may not win you over, the quietly confident steel in her demeanour just makes you not want to take your eyes off her for a second. Also, I love her smokey look. She's not called the 'girl on fire' in the show for nothing, eh.

-Well, a little bit of the futuristic X-Men: First Class element is in there, in terms of the kids and youths displaying their lethal weaponry skills during their training sessions in the lead-up to the game, which pleasantly surprised me because, like I said earlier, I'd expected a more gritty, dated setting for this film. Also, on first viewing, the talk show/commentator's lavishly pompous, goldeny-themed stage is gorgeous, with the guests' faces moving animatedly on the banners behind the host. Notwithstanding the Oscars Awards reference, the scene made the viewer like a part of the talk show, like it was almost 3D.

Also, the scenery shots of the city when we first see a glimpse of it, is great. Be awed by the life-like, and again, almost 3D effect of their version of a futuristic Hoover Dam.

Unsavoury parts:

-It's overall a teenage flick, and the trite Love trump card is miserably played out in the last third of the film. Also, 'teenagey' means the 'fight scenes' were almost non-existent, brief and overall action element was very tame. It makes the Twilight movies in comparison, seem violent(?), next to this. The director could have taken a leaf out of Sucker Punch's book, what with a female action heroine as its lead, but alas, the makers of this show chose an old dude to helm this project, and which he probably made it with his grandchildren in mind or something.

-Where were the emotional soundtracks playing predictably but lovably in the background during the pivotal parts of the film?? Narnia had Regina Spektor, why weren't Taylor Swift's aching voice featured for even a split second in a single scene? Why have all these creative musicians and instrumentalists like The Civil Wars, The Decemberists, Maroon 5, and Glen Hansard (of Swell Season fame) on the OST album but not bother to feature their works on the big screen? It didn't help that the audience of the packed cinema was mostly silent during the run of the film. Where were the memorable movie orchestral scores?? Hmppph.

-Therefore, the sound effects were similarly non-existent. I'd expected this flick to come under the 'Blockbuster' category but it's produced by the independent company, Lionsgate. So even though the cinema chains proudly advertise this show in it's 'digital form', don't expect to be blow away aurally. In fact, your usual Surround Sound ad intro to any ol' decent movies worth your bucks in the past, was not seen this time (or maybe because I had just came out of the theatre's loo and missed out on the first few second?).

The Hunger Games, left me wanting for a substantial more flavour and meat, if you know what I mean. (Especially as my salty $10 'Phai Si Ew' noodles at Siam Kitchen @ its Lot 1 outlet earlier on in the evening was a pretty horrid dish that suffered false advertising in its menu, as pointed out by the staff taking my order.)


To make up for my pretty bland night, below's the entire playlist of the OST ((it sounds pretty 'effin awesome btw) I whipped up on Youtube, enjoy, and who knows, you may get the full course if and when I review the album proper in my next few posts, we'll see. 


And apparently, for the MV of the first track Safe & Sound feat. Ms Swift, actor Johnny Depp pretends to play the guitar parts in there! Check it out: