Music - The Academy Awards

All Samuels Public Library cardholders are eligible for three free downloads a week from Freegal, a massive online database containing over 500,000 songs.  Sifting through such an enormous selection of music can be a daunting task, so we here at Samuels have decided to offer a few suggestions for the overwhelmed (or new) Freegal user.  This week we focus on songs from this year's Academy Award winners:

Adele
"Skyfall"
From the Skyfall soundtrack

This excellent title song helped Skyfall become the first James Bond movie to win an Academy Award since Thunderball took home an Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1966.  With enough sultriness to match Shirley Bassey and more class than any Bond theme singer in recent memory, Adele has rightfully earned a place of honor in the long history of memorable Bond performances. 

 

Mychael Danna
"Pi’s Lullaby"
From The Life of Pi Soundtrack

Mychael Danna won Best Original Score for his work on The Life of Pi, Ang Lee’s film version of the celebrated novel by Yann Martel.  Danna enlisted Indian singer Bombay Jayashri to provide lyrics and vocals for the film’s enchanting main theme, a swirling concoction of classic Hollywood strings and Eastern instrumentation that sets the mood for Pi’s story. 

Rodriguez
"Sugar Man"

From Cold Fact

This year the Academy Award for Best Documentary went to Searching for Sugar Man, an amazing story about the slow rise to fame of an obscure 1960s folk rock artist named Rodriguez.  The heart of the movie definitely comes from the generous selection of songs by the poetic and down-to-earth singer. One of the best tracks is “Sugar Man,” a raw, psychedelic portrait of the streets of Rodriguez’s native Detroit.