FYMS * "Drive" Re-scored :: New Soundtrack Curated by BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe

Last week, BBC Radio One DJ Zane Lowe released the re-scored soundtrack project for the popular movie "Drive", starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, and Bryan Cranston (among others). The 2011 film received numerous accolades upon its release, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival and winning the Best Director Award (Nicolas Winding Refn). The original score, composed by Cliff Martinez (drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers '83-'86), received a great deal of praise for being an extremely integral piece to movie itself. The 80s-reminiscent electronic-synth vibe of the soundtrack created an ethereal and abstract view into the driver's mindset - necessary, I think, due to the lack of dialogue. 

The re-scoring project featuring songs curated by Lowe was met with skepticism, mostly because the original score is just so incredibly fitting for the film. The "new version" of Drive, complete with its new score, premiered on October 30 on BBC Three (UK). What caught my eye was the impressive list of contributing artists on this project, with every song but one being brand new and specifically made for the soundtrack (according to Pitchfork and AXS). The full line-up features Chvrches, Foals, SBTRKT, Jon Hopkins, Laura Mvula, The 1975, Baauer, BANKS, Bastille, Bring Me The Horizon, Eric Prydz, The Neighbourhood, and ZZC (Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro). With the exception of Baauer, BANKS, Eric Prydz, and The Neighbourhood, the rest are UK musicians and artists (not a big surprise). 

Given that this was primarily a British thing, it's been extremely difficult to find all of the tracks for you to listen to. Here are the songs of decent quality that I could find ::

Chvrches - "Get Away"

The 1975 - "Medicine"

ZZC - "To The Bone" 

Bastille - "The Driver"

And here is a cool little Behind the Scenes clip to watch ::

From what I can tell, the best track is "Medicine" by The 1975 - one of my favorite bands whose synthy-electronic sound fits well with the original score. As stand alone songs, I also really like the Bastille song, "The Driver" and of course Neil Simon's song "To The Bone".

It's difficult to judge how the new score fits without watching the completed project, and unfortunately I don't think there are any plans to show this new version in the U.S. Based on the few tracks that I've been able to find, I think I might actually prefer the newer sound - 80s music was never really my favorite, and I'm not sure that I understand why the 80s seemed to be an underlying theme (the jacket, the opening/closing credits tracks..). And the addition of songs with lyrics would help, in my opinion, as a filler. Also not really sure that I understand the movie in its entirety (What is the underlying message? What is up with the ending? Did I totally miss the part where he established any sort of meaningful relationship with Irene? What?) 

But as far as the music goes, we can pick up what we can from the internet and use our imaginations to fill in the rest. [Check out this article that gives a rough timestamp for each song.]] Fingers crossed that the movie + new score will eventually make its way across the pond. 

-FYMS-