Uncut Gems is a soundtrack album by electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, containing the original score for the Safdie brothers' 2019 film Uncut Gems.[1] It was released via Warp on December 13, 2019.[2] It received positive reviews from critics.[3] It peaked at number 44 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart.[4]
Uncut Gems | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | December 13, 2019 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Electronica | |||
Length | 51:56 | |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer | Daniel Lopatin | |||
Daniel Lopatin chronology | ||||
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Background
Film co-director Josh Safdie worked closely with Lopatin on the score, which began with a "Frankenstein" score using library and new-age music before Lopatin began sketching out compositions.[5] Safdie described the soundtrack as "a medicinal new-age soul of a film," in contrast to the "pulse" of their previous collaboration Good Time.[5] Lopatin described it as "more beautiful, ethereal, it's more orchestral, it's goofier."[5]
The "cosmically synthesized" score uses a Moog One synthesizer, and draws inspiration from artists such as Isao Tomita, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis,[6] as well as the 1970s-80s new-age duo Emerald Web.[5] Lopatin and Safdie used Moog's synthesizer library and Omnisphere to search for "earthy melancholic sounds that had a cosmic twist," as well as saxophone and a choir.[5] The track "Fuck You, Howard" is a reinterpretation of Haydn's Symphony No. 88,[5] while "Windows" is a homage to "Kaneda's theme" from the anime film Akira.[7]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 74/100[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Exclaim! | 7/10[8] |
The Guardian | [9] |
The Line of Best Fit | 9/10[10] |
Mojo | [3] |
Pitchfork | 7.4/10[11] |
Uncut | [3] |
At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 6 mainstream critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]
Thomas Johnson of The Line of Best Fit called the album "further proof Lopatin will be held in the same esteem as Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter, Vangelis and so on."[10] He stated that the album is "filled with heartfelt synth lines, gorgeous revolving, spacey sequences and emotive samples" in contrast to his narrower score for Good Time.[10] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian wrote that "lesser composers try to merely mirror the action on screen and intensify it, boringly magnifying your emotions."[9] He added, "Lopatin is showing how contradictory, confusing and vital our dumb human impulses are."[9] Mina Tavakoli of Pitchfork stated that the score "has a large blast radius in the movie, itself a funny character in an ensemble of unintentionally funny characters."[11] Matthew Clark of Exclaim! wrote: "Not only does this collection of music have a cinematic quality that lends it its soundtrack purpose, it also stands alone as an engaging set of songs and motifs on their own."[8]
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Ballad of Howie Bling" | 8:26 |
2. | "Pure Elation" | 1:01 |
3. | "Followed" | 1:32 |
4. | "The Bet Hits" | 2:51 |
5. | "High Life" | 1:00 |
6. | "No Vacation" | 0:54 |
7. | "School Play" | 6:16 |
8. | "Fuck You Howard" | 2:42 |
9. | "Smoothie" | 1:10 |
10. | "Back to Roslyn" | 2:02 |
11. | "The Fountain" | 2:21 |
12. | "Powerade" | 0:52 |
13. | "Windows" | 5:06 |
14. | "Buzz Me Out" | 2:49 |
15. | "The Blade" | 1:32 |
16. | "Mohegan Suite" | 4:42 |
17. | "Uncut Gems" | 6:40 |
All tracks are written by Daniel Lopatin
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes. Some tracks are intercut with dialogue from the film.[12]
- Daniel Lopatin – performance, production
- Conor Abbott Brown – choral production, arrangement
- Maxwell J. McKee – vocals (1, 8, 16), arrangement
- Rob Geldelian – track engineering, edit engineering
- Matt Cohn – engineering, mixing
- Ian Lavely – engineering assistance, mixing assistance
- Jaclyn Sanchez – additional engineering
- Nolan Theis – additional engineering
- Mario Castro – flute (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10), saxophone (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10)
- Josh Safdie – snake bites (1, 6, 16, 17)
- Emily Schubert – vocals (1, 7, 14)
- Maureen Bailey – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- John Boggs – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Brian Du Fresne – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Chelsea Kendall – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Claire McCahan – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Rebecca Myers – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Daniel Parks – vocals (1, 8, 16)
- Eli Keszler – drums (1, 13), percussion (1, 13)
- Adam Sandler – voice (3, 6, 7, 12)
- Ronnie Greenberg – voice (3)
- Marshall Greenberg – voice (3)
- Idina Menzel – voice (6, 7)
- Keren Shemel – voice (6)
- Aren Topian – voice (6)
- Gatekeeper – synthesizer (7, 16)
- Sebastian Bear-McClard – vocals (11, 16)
- Julia Fox – voice (12)
- Kevin Garnett – voice (12)
- Patricia Sullivan Fourstar – mastering
- Caleb Halter – design
- Inez & Vinoodh – cover photography
Charts
References
Further reading
External links
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