I’m sure any music snob will remind me, soundtracks aren’t proper albums. Apparently they succeed on false merits: would you still love the music so much without the memory of the story it accompanied?

Who cares?!  I long ago decided against forcing myself to listen to music objectively and I’m happier than ever listening to album after album fully embracing the emotional response I feel before, during and after hitting ‘play’.

And so it is that my next “Back to Discs” album purchase is a soundtrack which I keep on the iPod at all times: Garden State.  The movie is fantastic, highly recommended watching. The quirky love story is heart warming, funny and memorable, and the soundtrack not only provides a perfect accompaniment to the film, it stands alone as a wonderful selection of similarly quirky, laid back and emotional tunes.  A perfect album for background dinner party music or chilling on the common in the sun.  This is also the album and movie which introduced me to The Shins, a unique favourite band of mine, but more on them later.

Purchased from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0006GVJW6