As everyone looks back on the year that was, I've found myself returning to a few moments in the movies that resonated especially well thanks to a phenomenon that achieves soul-stirring status so rarely, though not for lack of frequency: Song choice. I'm not talking about dropping the latest Kelly Clarkson/Natasha Bedingfield ditty into a crap rom-com. I mean the special, skin-tingling magic that occurs when a song is married so perfectly to a character, story, or feeling that the music and the moment swell within us with new, layered meaning. Join me and let's hash it out: Which movie(s) used music the best in 2011?
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Ryan Gosling fans, Nicolas Winding Refn devotees, and soundtrack obsessives, take note: As of today, you can download the '80s/electronica-influenced soundtrack to Drive, the crime-thriller-romance that should be on your must-see list for fall. Available for purchase on Amazon today, the album -- combining original tracks by the likes of Johnny Jewel's Desire and Chromatics with an atmospheric electronic score by Cliff Martinez -- should make the perfect aural accompaniment to your Drive tour of L.A.!
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The musical partnership between director Nicolas Winding Refn and electronic musician Johnny Jewel dates back to Refn's Bronson, which used a track from Jewel's group Glass Candy to strike its stylized period feel. For Refn's latest film, the L.A.-set crime thriller Drive, he turned once more to Jewel to help create an '80s-tinged pop synth sound -- and the inspiration seemed to go both ways, as evidenced by drawings and a full collection of Drive-inspired tracks created by Jewel and his musical collaborators.
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