Great film soundtracks of all time? I'm sure there are many contenders of greater stature, but this evening I will mostly be voting for 'Stealing Beauty'.
Whoever it was that was in charge of collating the set of songs for this film knew what he/she was doing, big time. I have played this CD over and over for many years, and have yet to tire of it. The film came out in 1996 but I only saw it some years later, and it was only on a second viewing a few years after that, that I fully grew to appreciate the diverse soundtrack. And in amongst it's glorious range of songs, (from Hendrix to The Cocteau Twins), there is Mazzy Star.
I had never heard of them, to my shame, (what can you do?) but I have since then bought (yes bought) all their albums. Perhaps the reason I had never heard of them is that you rarely hear them played on radio. This means that decades can pass before one finally wakes up to a distinct sound. Mazzy Star have been around since 19bloody89. Yet I hadn't heard of the name till some ten years later. Good grief. The reason why I suddenly bring this up now is that the other day I was listening to the Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie show on BBC Radio 2, (at least I think it was them) and they actually played Mazzy Star. Yes. I think this is the first time I have ever heard them on the airwaves. It re-ignited the flame.
I love the film too, by the way. A friend of mine said she thought it was just a load of old men chasing young girls. True I suppose, but I won't bore you now as to why I think it better than that. Anyway to finish off why not treat yourself, dear hapless reader, to a video of the great band itself, singing their biggest hit, "Fade Into You". As Stuart Maconie said, "it is a song which seems to stop time", or words to that effect.
