Vanilla Sky
Music From Vanilla Sky
Reprise
Forget everything you’ve heard about a surprise ending. I’ll wager that the majority of people that saw Vanilla Sky saw the ending coming a mile away, especially in these post-post-modern days. For me, the high points of the film were the Barcelona name-check and Cameron Diaz’s early ’70s Chevelle SS. Oh, and the soundtrack. Say what you will about director Cameron Crowe’s hit-or-miss cinematic record, the man knows how to put together a soundtrack.
On here, we are given original tracks by heavy hitters like R.E.M. and Paul McCartney, plus some gems from Radiohead (the moody and pianomatic “Everything Is In Its Right Place”) and Todd Rundgren (“Can We Still Be Friends”). Nancy Wilson (Heart) contributes a couple of tracks, one as Julianna Gianni – the character played by Diaz. But the real highlights are the use of The Monkees’ “Porpoise Song” and Looper’s “Mondo ‘77,” both of which are instantly recognizable (at least to me) and completely unexpected.
Other artists on here are Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, Sigur Ros (the slow and stately “Svefn-G-Englar,” which clocks in at nearly ten minutes), The Chemical Brothers, Red House Painters, Peter Gabriel (“Solsbury Hill”), and Leftfield (a collaboration with Afrika Bambaata). Overall, a solid and surprisingly eccentric collection of music.
Official Site: http://www.vanillaskymusic.com
