Mysterious Skin / O.S.T

Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Commotion
• ASIN: B0009HLC0G
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Neil’s Theme

2. The Memories Returning

3. Snowfall

4. Neil’s Farewell

5. Childhood Lost

6. Halloween

7. A Silhouette Approaches

8. Goodbye To Wendy

9. Brian’s Nightmare/ The Unknown, Part One

10. Twilight

11. The Unknown, Part Two

12. The Discovery

13. Loitering

14. The Writing On The Wall

15. One True Love

Editorial Reviews

Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie and legendary composer Harold Budd team to create a soundtrack of lush and atmospheric soundscapes to award-winning writer-director Gregg Araki’s critically-acclaimed new drama MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Guthrie and Budd’s sparse, tonal music reflects the contemplative journey of troubled boyhood friends Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Brian (Brady Corbet), whose lives as young adults weave them down a slippery and dangerous path of self-discovery in MYSTERIOUS SKIN. The film, based on the Scott Heim novel, has been hailed by critics as writer-director Gregg Araki's finest film to date, and has been selected for the Sundance, Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. Araki’s career spans nearly 20 years, during which he has written, directed, and produced many controversial and edgy films, exploring and dissecting the strange currencies of sexual relationships. His credits include SPLENDOR, THE DOOM GENERATION and NOWHERE.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious Ways, August 21, 2005

By 

Dogville (Sunny Island) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mysterious Skin / O.S.T (Audio CD)

Harold Budd and Robun Guthrie created magic with the score to the film Mysterious Skin. Listened on its own, this soundtrack is the perfect complement to the chilling film. Each track stunning on its own works seamlessly into one another to form a gorgeous collage of emotionally-charged instrumentals that amazingly reflects the mood of the poignant film then re-creates every scene in your mind. At times, the songs leave you feeling chilly and distant like the way it felt in the film.

One of the best scores of the year!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music to visit the house you grew up in., July 5, 2005

By 

A. Stribling (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mysterious Skin / O.S.T (Audio CD)

Some pretty gorgeous melodies here, and they all seem achingly sad. Doubly so since Budd has decided to retire from music. Some of them seem cribbed from earlier works (one sounds like a note-for-note remake of a tune from The Pearl), but it's not so much a repeat as a variation on a theme. Very much like Moon and the Melodies, minus the vocals, and much in the vein of The Serpent (In Quicksilver). Lots of piano sustain, wide synth washes, minor keys. Perfect mood music for lazy Sunday afternoons, solo hikes in dark forests, and floating adrift at sea in a life raft.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robin? Harold? Thank you., July 15, 2005

By 

Micah Newman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mysterious Skin / O.S.T (Audio CD)

I feel like I've been living inside this record the last few days. It is that wonderful and rich a musical experience. I don't plan on seeing the film to which this is incidentally a soundtrack, but I am an enormous fan of Guthrie (Cocteau Twins fan) and Budd, so finally hearing them do a full-on duet album is just fantastic.

It's hard to believe they hadn't done one like this until now, seeing as how they've occasionally worked together at intervals since at least 1986's monumentally gorgeous _The Moon and the Melodies_, but better late than never! They go together perfectly because the two of them do very comparable things with their respective instruments: they both have a ginger, intimately familiar touch on their instruments as regards the actual physical contact of musician-on-instrument, as well as a uniquely compelling and visionary feel for the possibilities of sonic space unique to their own instrument. There's a phrase that comes to mind to describe this same thing that they both do: tangible ether.

It's a good mix of material here, which seems to be split among Guthrie-type songs that Budd plays on and Budd-type songs that Guthrie plays on. There's your shorter, atmospheric interlude pieces, and somewhat longer, more fully-developed compositions. Many of these, such as "Neil's Theme," "Snowfall," "Halloween," and "Twilight" are among the most gorgeous pieces of music you'll ever hear, and are alone worth the price of the disc. Beg, borrow, or steal (Better yet, just BUY the thing! And NOW!) this record, and soak in it. Yes indeed, music fan, you now have in front of you a record in addition to The Pearl, Victorialand, and Imperial with which you can do that. Thank you, guys, for this magnificent music, and, although I specifically don't want to see the movie this is a soundtrack to, thank you, Gregg Araki, for putting Robin and Harold to it.