Good music similar to Garden State soundtrack

June 1, 2007 7:49 PM

I find the Garden State soundtrack to be a masterful collection of music. I've already purchased albums by most of the artists; are there any similar good artists or compilations out there?
posted by seiryuu to media & arts (48 comments total)

I really love last year's Stranger Than Fiction movie, and the soundtrack is also great (but I already liked Spoon, which has three cuts on it, the rest are a lot of british invasion stuff from the 60s). That soundtrack for some reason reminds me of the Garden State one.
posted by mathowie at 8:06 PM on June 1, 2007

Zach Braff also compiled the soundtrack for The Last Kiss. The movie wasn't great, but the music was pretty stellar.

Also, you should check out Paste Magazine. Every issue comes with either a great compilation CD or a music DVD, and the bands they feature tend to be of the folkish-indie-rock variety.
posted by arianell at 8:06 PM on June 1, 2007

I would download the "Almost Famous" soundtrack if you don't have it already.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 8:07 PM on June 1, 2007

Death Cab For Cutie

The Postal Servce

Gomez

Eskimo Joe

Feist

Doves

The Decembrists

I could go on. Really. Indie is the genre you're looking at. Go out and explore! This is also a cool list.
posted by liquorice at 8:12 PM on June 1, 2007

This will sound hilarious, but check out the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack, it's about 10 years old but there are lots of great songs on it.
posted by bcnarc at 8:19 PM on June 1, 2007

Check out Take Away Shows, a website with short impromptu concerts on the streets of Paris by a huge assortment of indie bands along the same lines as those mentioned above. Scroll down to bottom where it says "show all take away shows" for more.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:24 PM on June 1, 2007

The various O.C. soundtracks are pretty similar. Veronica Mars soundtrack as well.
posted by smackfu at 8:25 PM on June 1, 2007

I second the Paste magazine tip.
posted by vagabond at 8:32 PM on June 1, 2007

The Catch & Release soundtrack as well as the soundtrack for In Good Company are excellent additions. I love love loved the soundtrack to Garden State. It's one of my top five albums.
posted by santojulieta at 8:36 PM on June 1, 2007

The Grey's Anatomy soundtracks are fabulous, as are the Six Feet Under soundtracks. Very indie-friendly.

Please get the Shins albums, as well as Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens. "Chicago" (by S.S.) is beautiful.

And speaking of "Chicago," Snow Patrol name drops Stevens and that particular track in "Eyes Open."

Also, get Doves. They're a lot like Coldplay. As is Travis. And Keane.
posted by santojulieta at 8:39 PM on June 1, 2007

I really like the soundtracks to Gilmore Girls and the PowerPuff Girls. The latter does tend to really lean toward powerpop.
posted by nimsey lou at 8:41 PM on June 1, 2007

Seconding the In Good Company soundtrack, if for nothing else than Iron and Wine's "The Trapeze Singer." I could listen to that song on repeat forever. Definietely check out The Magnetic Fields as well.
posted by fishmasta at 8:42 PM on June 1, 2007

I would pay a visit to my blog, because it's almost as awesome as I am.
posted by Mach3avelli at 8:46 PM on June 1, 2007

Check out Meredith Bragg and the Terminals.
posted by Alt F4 at 8:54 PM on June 1, 2007

AFAIK, the same music supervisor that does Grey's Anatomy did The OC.
posted by sharkfu at 9:03 PM on June 1, 2007

Liquorice got a bunch of good ones. Here are some others. Suggested songs in parentheses.


Electric President

Duncan Sheik (Such Reveries, For You)

Yo La Tengo (Especially "Little Eyes" and "Season of the Shark" off of the "Summer Sun" album)

Kevin Devine (Not Over You Yet)

The Weakerthans (Aside, This Is A Fire Door Never Leave Open)

The Hereafter

Ryan Adams (Link to his Myspace -- his band website was kind of annoying)

Nada Surf (Blizzard of '77, Paper Boats, Blankest Year)

Phantom Planet (Lonely Day, Local Black and Red)

Aqua Lung

Imogen Heap

Junior Boys

Lou Barlow (Home)

Damien Rice (Lonelily)

Pete Yorn (For You, Losing You)

Sufjan Stevens (Chicago, The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!)

Also, the music from the films Igby Goes Down, Wicker Park, and Closer might be close to what you seek.
posted by roomwithaview at 9:17 PM on June 1, 2007

Check out the Vanilla Sky and Wicker Park soundtracks. They're pretty amazing as well.
posted by purephase at 9:37 PM on June 1, 2007

The Decembrists

That's Decemberists.

To the OP, just start reading pitchfork and look at their best new music and year end lists and stuff. Then you'll be as hip as all of your indie mates down at the billiards hall.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:59 PM on June 1, 2007

The Scrubs soundtrack, in which I believe Zach Braff also had a say.
posted by amro at 10:10 PM on June 1, 2007

I agree with the pitchfork suggestion. Also check out the soundtrack for The Last Kiss, which Zach Braff also made. (The movie, unlike Garden State, is pretty bad.)
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 10:34 PM on June 1, 2007

Soundtracks to High Fidelity and Gross Pointe Blank.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:36 PM on June 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Snow Patrol and The National are good choices too.
posted by phaded at 12:09 AM on June 2, 2007

Never Mind the Mainstream rocked in 1991. And still does! God, I feel old.
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:46 AM on June 2, 2007

I actually made a "Garden State Soundtrack II" for a friend at one point. If I can remember, or still have it, i promise i'll post it when I wake up tomorrow (I can't do it now, cause it would be on the desktop, and i'm on the laptop). (I might yousendit it for you, even).

In lieu of that, I know what you're looking for. That sort of sound/vibe is a part of the larger genre that's generally called "indie." "Indie" is pretty catchall term for music that music snobs and music bloggers like.

There are a million bands that have that 'garden state soundtrack' vibe/sound out in the indie world. I second to start lurking pitchfork, reading paiste, reading music blogs, and using last.fm for suggestions. It's a big can of worms, and it's not all low-key stuff (my guess is you'd like that part of the indie rock an the indie pop too, but it's not what you're asking for, so I won't go into it.)

Additionally, check out the OC soundtracks. Really.

To name a few bands that you might like that haven't been touched upon before, try:

matt pond PA
the winter songs EP is a good place to start, but it all fits that vibe. I like the adjective "pretty" for these guys.


Some of Modest Mouse's stuff
But not really the new album, although chances are you'd like it anyway. (Most of) The Moon and Antarctica is what you're looking for.

If you think you'd be into (or at least wouldn't mind) the lyrics being in portuguese
Seu Jorge (The Life Aquatic sessions) is most likely right up your alley.
That link is to the wikipedia entry, as his site is in portugese

Radiohead, but you probably already know who they are.

The Arcade Fire

Arab Strap

Belle & Sebastian

Isobel Campbell's (The Belle from Belle & Sebastian) solo work. Get her collabration with Mark Lanegan, too.

Bens are always a good call for this kind of music, strangely.
ie:
Ben Gibbard, who is behind the aforementioned Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service

Ben Lee

Ben Harper
et al.

pretty much anything Emily Haines does (aside from solo work, she fronts Metric, who is a might too uptempo to be included on a Zach Braff picked album, but you'd probably like nevertheless)

The Evens (brainchild of, strangely, Ian Mckaye of Minor Threat fame)

Regina Spektor

Feist

There's a ton more. seriously. It's a fucking can of worms. But I need to go to bed. so that's it for my contribution.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:05 AM on June 2, 2007

Try the mysterious Please Enjoy mix which some of us who took part in the MeFi CD swap recently received anonymously. It's in a similar vein to some of the more electronica-y parts of the Garden State soundtrack.
posted by greycap at 1:16 AM on June 2, 2007

Sorry, messed up the link.
posted by greycap at 1:17 AM on June 2, 2007

These record labels consistently put out quality "indiepop"* records:

Merge
The 6ths, Arcade Fire, Richard Buckner, Camera Obscura, The Clientele, Destroyer, David Kilgour, Lambchop, The Magnetic Fields, The Rosebuds, Spoon, M. Ward

Sub Pop
The Album Leaf, Band of Horses, Beachwood Sparks, Constantines, Dntel, The Elected, Fruit Bats, The Helio Sequence, Holopaw, Iron & Wine, Mark Lanegan, Loney Dear, Low
, The Postal Service, Rogue Wave, Trembling Blue Stars, Wolf Parade, Zumpano

Matador
A.C. Newman, Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian, Neko Case, Cat Power, Chavez, Mark Eitzel, Fuck, Guided By Voices, Interpol, New Pornographers, Pavement, Yo La Tengo, M. Ward

Arts & Crafts
Apostle of Hustle, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Phoenix, Stars, American Analog Set

V2
Bloc Party, Brendan Benson, Elbow, Grandaddy, Josh Ritter, Mercury Rev, Os Mutantes, The White Stripes

Astralwerks (US)
A Band of Bees, AIR, Badly Drawn Boy, Beta Band, Hot Chip, Kings of Convenience, Willy Mason, Beth Orton, Erlend Oye, Phoenix, Placebo, Royksopp, The Sleepy Jackson, Sparklehorse

Southern
The Black Heart Procession, Geoff Farina, Karate, Les Savy Fav, and they also distribute for a ton of cool little indie labels.

Elephant 6
The Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Chocolate USA, Dressy Bessy, Elf Power, Jeff Mangum, Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal

Another good way to keep up on and explore this stuff is to cruise the college radio promotion services. My favorite was always Advanced Alternative Media's Sunday Service.

I could go on, but half the fun of it is snooping around on your own. Explore allmusic. Take chances. Listen to everything you've never heard (or heard of) before. The Garden State soundtrack was a tiny pop culture surfacing of a truly immense body of "indie" music. There are hundreds of little and not so little labels putting out thousands of great albums every year—Zach Braff didn't even scratch the surface. All he did was let you in on a little snippet, just enough to change your life.

* "Scare quotes" 'cause it's a genre that doesn't exclude corporate-owned label releases anymore.
posted by carsonb at 2:10 AM on June 2, 2007 [5 favorites]

I cannot recommend the soundtrack to the Royal Tenenbaums highly enough! Both the actual songs and the incidental music on there are works of beauty. The Life Aquatic soundtrack is also worth a go, especially if you think you might be interested in Portugese acoustic covers of David Bowie songs! Both were put together by the inimitable Mark Mothersbaugh.
posted by featherboa at 2:22 AM on June 2, 2007

One other thing about these record labels (those I mentioned above, and so many more) is that many issue label samplers every year. The majority of them are dirt cheap, 8 or 9 bucks on down to 4 or 5, and they're packed with the catchiest tunes from each of the labels' bands releasing a record that year.

In fact, Matador just put one out recently that's free with purchase at Borders.
posted by carsonb at 2:42 AM on June 2, 2007

If you like Iron & Wine on the Garden State OST, you may also like Calexico. Check out their album called Feast of Wire.
posted by donut at 3:41 AM on June 2, 2007

When you're checking out the Scrubs soundtracks, make sure you listen to Colin Hay from Men at Work. Fantastic solo stuff.
posted by shinynewnick at 4:44 AM on June 2, 2007

Seconding the Six Feet Under soundtracks.
posted by phatkitten at 5:32 AM on June 2, 2007

A little quirkier than the Garden State stuff, but I've started watching "Weeds", and the music on that is pretty great. There are a couple of soundtracks out, I believe.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:27 AM on June 2, 2007

Ooh, some great suggestions here. A few more:

- Death Cab for Cutie (especially their later stuff) and the Postal Service

- Can't believe no one has recommended Rilo Kiley, but you will definitely like them

- Seconding The Royal Tenenbaums.

- You may want to check out live streams of KCRW in LA and The Current in Minneapolis. These are both public radio stations that play eclectic music, much of it in the vein that you like. You can either go to their websites or listen to them on itunes.

KCRW in particular has a show called "The Morning Becomes Eclectic" which you can download as a podcast and which I enjoy.
posted by lunasol at 6:47 AM on June 2, 2007

Yeah it's all the indie scene.

My favorites: Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst), Iron & Wine (Sam Beam), The Decemberists, Band of Horses, Calexico (esp. their work with Sam Beam), Death Cab (of course) and The Postal Service, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket, The Shins, Ryan Adams, Wolf Parade...

And of course, if you aren't already an Elliott Smith fan, you probably should be!
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:10 AM on June 2, 2007

check the idolator blog.. they post several mp3's a day mostly in the indie-ish variety... (i am not affiliated... just a great blog)
posted by chasles at 7:20 AM on June 2, 2007

It's me again.
I couldn't find Garden State II, sorry.

(I really liked, and second carsonb's list of good 'indie' record labels.)

To supplement a few that he didn't touch on,

Saddle Creek (Here be the infamous Omaha twang.)

Polyvinyl (Here be some of the bands I mentioned earlier)
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 7:47 AM on June 2, 2007

Polyvinyl! Damn! I'm even on their mailing list. Goes to show I shouldn't try to answer questions in the middle of the night.
posted by carsonb at 7:59 AM on June 2, 2007

It's not new or anything, but "Mouthfuls" from Fruit Bats is a favorite of mine for this kind of stuff.
posted by troybob at 8:39 AM on June 2, 2007

Rushmore is excellent.
posted by vito90 at 8:54 AM on June 2, 2007

Listen to carsonb.

"Indie" is pretty catchall term for music that music snobs and music bloggers like.

Come on now. Not to derail, but let's not make this thread any goofier. Indie was originally an abbreviation of "independent," and meant anything that wasn't released by a major label. The implication of the term was often that the music would be quirky or offbeat, the production values were often lo-fi, sometimes with packaging done by hand, etc. There are all kinds of indie releases that encompass many different styles of music.

A lot of the music that started out in the independent world has achieved mainstream success in recent years. Some of the indie labels these days, while still technically independent, have become quite large, and the bigger ones share distribution schemes with the major labels. Particularly popular are a certain type of indie rock and indie pop bands. The term indie, particularly in the UK, has morphed into a shorthand for this kind of music.

Mainstream "indie" is currently defined by bands likes The Shins (who achieved major crossover success post-Garden State), Death Cab for Cutie (one of the first in the recent wave of indie bands gone major), Modest Mouse, The Decemberists (also recently signed to a major label), The Arcade Fire (still on the excellent Merge records), Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, etc. I think some people would probably throw The Killers in there, too, but that would be distasteful.

Anyway, my point is that that's still a pretty narrow genre. There are many many things that music snobs and music bloggers like that are not "indie" in the sense of indie rock and the Garden State soundtrack.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:51 AM on June 2, 2007

The same producer that made the Garden State OST have a new compilation called His and Hers.

How has this not been mentioned yet? (apologies if it has...I only page searched).
posted by cowbellemoo at 3:09 PM on June 2, 2007

CBC Radio 3 has good podcasts too.

In other news, Meredith Bragg is a famous (well ok, fame is relative) indie musician?!?!?! I went to high school with him and had no idea. Golly. Thanks for the tip.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:04 PM on June 2, 2007

At ludwig_van:

You're totally right. I would also throw interpol onto that list (on interscope now), but you are completely right. That was my disdain for the music blogging scene showing through in a little swipe that was hardly the truth, and probably out of place.

that sentence should have read (had I not just been over on the 'blogosphere,' getting all snarked up):
"indie rock is pretty much a catchall term for music that doesn't easily fall into a well defined genre of rock and/or roll, and isn't produced by a major label."
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:07 AM on June 3, 2007

"indie rock is pretty much a catchall term for music that doesn't easily fall into a well defined genre of rock and/or roll, and isn't produced by a major label."

Well, I hope I don't sound overly argumentative, but like I alluded to, people these days will call plenty of things indie rock even if they are on a major label. Interpol, to use your example, is on Capitol Records.

I think indie rock can be defined by its musical features (i.e. we can listen to something and say "This sounds like indie rock"), although I won't undertake to articulate such a definition here. I might say something about "post-punk influences," though.

Also, when I actually think back to the Garden State soundtrack, I think a lot of answers in this thread miss the point. The best songs on there are by Simon and Garfunkel and Nick Drake. "New Slang" is basically a Simon and Garfunkel song, and Iron and Wine doing "Such Great Heights" isn't very far off, either.

So instead of 2000s indie rock, the OP should be listening to 70s folk.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:33 AM on June 3, 2007

I mean, it's kind of funny how the Garden State soundtrack is in the cultural consciousness as this big indie/mainstream music crossover thing, when really it's just got two Shins songs and an Iron and Wine cover of The Postal Service. Of course the way New Slang was featured in the movie probably plays a part there.

The O.C. soundtracks are a lot closer to the mark where the whole mainstreaming of indie thing is concerned.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:37 AM on June 3, 2007

Oh no, yeah, I concur that indie (in the sense that it has become shorhand for indie rock) has in the past two or three years much more become a certain sound and a certain set of influences than a classifier of the production style or label it was released on. It really is much less of a catchall now. I was sort of going towards the original sense of the meaning. You (and I) have to realize that when I respond to askmefi threads after about three, i tend towards vagueries and generalization. And tend towards putting interscope instead of capitol, because they share the first five letters of their respective names.

It's weird, though. I very recently got a 'free with purchase' CD from Urban Outfitters (I think), and it was seriously a solid third old 70's folk. There has been an odd resurgence in that too, no doubt because a few people have realized that it's profitable to re-release (very good) records by people like joan baez and nick drake and gram parsons, which had small circulation originally, but now would be enjoyed by the old folk buying crowd, as well as some of the younger folk who had an enjoyable window via the Garden State soundtrack, and other similar ventures.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 4:04 PM on June 3, 2007

On rereading, the last two instances of the word 'folk' should probably read people, to avoid conclusion. I just had folk on the brain.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 4:07 PM on June 3, 2007