Girls - Volume 1: Music From The HBO Original Series - (24/02/2013)
The soundtrack to the hip(ster) TV show currently running on a high from its critically acclaimed first season is bound to include some pearlers. Indeed, Girls Volume 1: Music From The HBO Original Series nails it. At least some of the time.
The track list reads like a representative slice of what's hot and who's who in Indie music: including names such as Belle & Sebastian, Robyn, Fleet Foxes, Icona Pop, and Grouplove.
The music supervisors who compiled the soundtrack are known for their work on other super trendy shows such as Community and New Girl, and are also responsible for the soundtrack to end all soundtracks, Donnie Darko.
Lena Dunham, creator of the show that is touted as Sex & The City for a new generation of girls who are poorer and fatter than their predecessors, cites music as a big part of her creative process. She reportedly compiles playlists to write by, so The Vaccines may have been the inspiration behind your favourite gritty sex scene.
The soundtrack nails it at least half of the time. Icona Pop's smash 'I Love It' is Indie-Pop at its best, and Robyn's cover of 'Dancing On My Own' is a strong album opener, electro-pop with uber cred.
Grouplove provide roaring Indie track 'Everyone's Gonna Get High', which is fittingly a high point of the soundtrack.
The highlight comes from relatively unknown Connecticut singer-songwriter Lia Ices, whose melodic ballad 'Love Is Won' is a slow-burner that will get under your skin. Ices is signed to Jagjaguwar, the label that is home to Bon Iver.
A weaker moment comes from indie-pop trio fun. whose paint-by-numbers 'Sight of The Sun' is saccharine and bland.
On the whole, this is a solid collection of Indie songs with a few golden moments bound to expand your musical consciousness.
Rebecca McCann
The track list reads like a representative slice of what's hot and who's who in Indie music: including names such as Belle & Sebastian, Robyn, Fleet Foxes, Icona Pop, and Grouplove.
The music supervisors who compiled the soundtrack are known for their work on other super trendy shows such as Community and New Girl, and are also responsible for the soundtrack to end all soundtracks, Donnie Darko.
Lena Dunham, creator of the show that is touted as Sex & The City for a new generation of girls who are poorer and fatter than their predecessors, cites music as a big part of her creative process. She reportedly compiles playlists to write by, so The Vaccines may have been the inspiration behind your favourite gritty sex scene.
The soundtrack nails it at least half of the time. Icona Pop's smash 'I Love It' is Indie-Pop at its best, and Robyn's cover of 'Dancing On My Own' is a strong album opener, electro-pop with uber cred.
Grouplove provide roaring Indie track 'Everyone's Gonna Get High', which is fittingly a high point of the soundtrack.
The highlight comes from relatively unknown Connecticut singer-songwriter Lia Ices, whose melodic ballad 'Love Is Won' is a slow-burner that will get under your skin. Ices is signed to Jagjaguwar, the label that is home to Bon Iver.
A weaker moment comes from indie-pop trio fun. whose paint-by-numbers 'Sight of The Sun' is saccharine and bland.
On the whole, this is a solid collection of Indie songs with a few golden moments bound to expand your musical consciousness.
Rebecca McCann