The Beach [Original Soundtrack]

Overview

The soundtrack to Leonardo DiCaprio's latest film -- a screen adaptation of Alex Garland's excellent, edgy novel -- has thoughtful propulsiveness that goes well beyond your average soundtrack. Unlike so many slapped-together compilations that accompany movies these days, most of the songs here were actually written with THE BEACH's thrilling, youth-centric plot in mind. Set on a tiny island off Thailand, the story follows DiCaprio's involvement with a hidden community of Gen Xers who duck local drug lords and Thai authorities, but discover their real enemies are within themselves. In keeping with the characters' youth and ex-pat European makeup, the bulk of the accompanying music comes from electronica mainstays. Danceable but dark-edged tracks from Moby, Leftfield, Underworld, Faithless, and New Order all illuminate the story's LORD OF THE FLIES-meets-BRAVE NEW WORLD creepiness. Two exceptions come from British pop sensation All Saints, who contribute the bouncy, anthemic synth-pop tune "The Beach," and U.S. rockers Sugar Ray, who delve into synthetic sounds with "Spinning Away" (it even includes an orchestral-sounding synth break!). Asian Dub Foundation's instrumental "Return of Django" winks at both swinging jazz with sax and trumpet accompaniment and at dub, with a groovy, rubbery bass line running like a riptide through the track. A spare, new remix of Blur's "On Your Own" proves haunting, as do two tracks incorporating film dialogue into their eerie grooves: Barry Adamson's "Richard, It's Business As Usual" and "Beached," a collaboration between British techno masters Orbital and veteran film scorer Angelo Badalamenti. U.N.K.L.E.'s "Lonely Soul" features the searching vocals of The Verve's Richard Ashcroft, and his yearning, desperate tone fits the film's -- and the album's -- overall mood to a tee. THE BEACH could very well be 2000's TRAINSPOTTING: a soundtrack so hip and now, you'll want to own it as much for its timely relevance as for its musical acumen.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/01/2000
Label:	Rhino
UPC:	0643443107921
catalogNumber:	31079
Rank:	56965

Tracks

1. Snake Blood
2. Pure Shores
3. Porcelain
4. Voices
5. 8 Ball
6. Spinning Away
7. Return of Django
8. On Your Own
9. Yeke Yeke
10. Woozy
11. Richard, It's Business as Usual
12. Brutal
13. Lonely Soul
14. Beached

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mory Kanté   Track Performer
Harry Beckett   Trumpet
Blur   Track Performer
William Orbit   Guitar,Keyboards
Underworld   Track Performer
Richard Ashcroft   Vocals
London Session Orchestra   Strings
Steve Sidelnyk   Drums
Gavyn Wright   Strings
Saz   Guitar
Sister Bliss   Keyboards
All Saints   Track Performer
Faithless   Track Performer
Maxi Jazz   Vocals
Pauline Taylor   Background Vocals
Sugar Ray   Track Performer
Shaznay Lewis   Vocals,Background Vocals
Melanie Blatt   Vocals,Background Vocals
Nicole Appleton   Vocals
Natalie Appleton   Vocals,Background Vocals
Pilar Basso   Vocals
Simon DeSouza   Saxophone
Dzouras   Guitar
Steve Sidelnnk   Snare Drums
John Thernis   Guitar
Vanessa Quinones   Track Performer
Wil Malone   Strings,Conductor

Technical Credits

Barry Adamson   Producer
John Cale   Engineer
New Order   Producer
Moby   Composer,Producer,Engineer
William Orbit   Producer,Remixing
Orbital   Producer
Hardfloor   Remixing
Angelo Badalamenti   Producer
Darren Emerson   Contributor
Brian Eno   Producer,Engineer
Karl Hyde   Contributor
David Kahne   Producer
Leftfield   Producer
Bob Marshall   Engineer
Steve Osborne   Producer
Peter Oxendale   Producer
Nick Patrick   Producer
Stephen Street   Producer
Mark Tucker   Engineer
Gavyn Wright   String Conductor
Mark Endert   Engineer
Andrew MacDonald   Executive Producer
Sister Bliss   Producer
Asian Dub Foundation   Producer,Engineer
UNKLE   Producer,Engineer
Pete Tong   Executive Producer
Jake Davies   Engineer
Rollo   Producer
Adam Wren   Engineer
Sean Spuehler   Programming,Engineer,Pro-Tools
Dario G   Arranger,Producer
John Smith   Engineer
Louis Beckett   Engineer
Danny Boyle   Executive Producer
Crippa   Engineer
Sean Decherty   Engineer
Dario Gand   Arranger,Producer
Bobby Marshall   Engineer
Souledout   Producer
Pete Tony   Executive Producer
Andy Gray   Programming
Rick Smith   Producer
Wil Malone   Arranger,Composer,String Arrangements,String Conductor

Editorial Reviews

Like the soundtracks for Danny Boyle's other films, the music collected for his adaptation of Alex Garland's novel The Beach is a hip mix of British and American rock and electronica. Asian Dub Foundation's "Return of Django," Moby's "Porcelain," Leftfield's "Snake Blood," and the Hardfloor remix of Mory Kante's "Yeke Yeke" are among the album's electronic highlights, while Blur's "On Your Own (Crouch End Broadway Mix)" and New Order's "Brutal" add a touch of British pop to the set. "Business as Usual" is a collaboration between Barry Adamson (whose albums seem more filmic than most scores) and the film's star, Leonardo DiCaprio; composer Angelo Badalamenti and Orbital collaborate on "Orbital Mix." All Saints and Sugar Ray contribute the previously unreleased tracks "Pure Shores" and "Spinning Away," respectively, making The Beach an entertaining, if somewhat scattered, collection of music featured in the film.

All Music Guide - Heather Phares