Best Soundtracks of 2013

I typically do not like to do top ten lists.  I enjoy reading them though because I often learn about new books, movies, or music.  However, to create one, this means that I have to rank things in order (who can pick why someone really is the best?).  So instead I will just bring to your attention some of my favorite soundtracks. 

After 2011 and 2012, this last year was a bleak one for soundtracks.  While there may have been quite a few great movies out, the music to match was uneventful.  However, the year was not without a few stellar additions to my collection

Again, I won't rank them in order as that would create preferential system. 

Stellar Music Scores that you must go buy NOW
Oblivion - M83/Anthony Gonzalez (and You and The Night) - This really gets the award for sexiest music score of the year.  When paired with the movie's incredible visuals and complex love story, the music really carried Oblivion along.  Listen to StarWaves on a date night with your lover and I think you will understand the idea of passion encapsulated by music.  M83 follows up late in the year with You and The Night.  I haven't seen the movie but was instantly in love with the soundtrack and purchased Un noveau soleil (A New Sun) which has seen frequent play on my playlists.  Not quite as sexy as Oblivion, it resonates with a more dark, sad tone. 
Thor The Dark World - Brian Tyler - I don't normally buy Marvel movie soundtracks as whole albums.  Sometimes I will pick up a single or a track played during a battle sequence.  I find that Marvel has done little of interest with music and much of it seems to be controlled by the repetitive Marvel battle theme (which sounds a bit too patriotic for melodic listening).  But in assigning Brian Tyler to this soundtrack, they left their future in good hands.  He was nearly able to escape the control of Marvel in Iron Man 3 and fully able to with The Dark World.  Every track is operatic and tone setting.  The movie producers use the music perfectly inside the movie and nothing seems chopped up or underused.  Looking for inspiration for writing your next novel?  This is the soundtrack for you!  It's amazing. 
Man of Steel - Hans Zimmer - this man never fails to amaze me with his range.  Yes, just when you think, oh he's just doing another Superhero movie, he hits you with Man of Steel which is vastly different than his compositions for Batman and then different again from his Pirates saga.  Mr. Zimmer brings the tone of Superman's triumph of will into his music.  If you want some powerful motivational pieces, this soundtrack will tug at your heartstrings and even bring you to tears.  I use it while running to remind myself that I can succeed.  My only complaint about this soundtrack was that it was extremely underused in the movie.  I realize that we don't want the soundtrack to overshadow the movie itself but the story is so much in the music when I finally did see the movie (long after it was released on DVD and after I had listened to the soundtrack since it's release) I couldn't believe that it was chopped up and underwhelmed by the producers (shameful).

The Hunger Games music saga.  I waited the whole year for this and this is what I received (and it wasn't Christmas).
Catching Fire Various artists - I was leery of this soundtrack.  I avoid the concept of "various artists" with a passion.  I find that it is often a Hollywood gimmick to get their latest and most favorite pop stars on an album and get the teenagers to buy.  While this certainly might be the case with Catching Fire, the music is very good.  It hasn't yet reached my heavy rotation stage yet but I have a feeling that certain songs will especially the remake of the Tears for Fears song by Lorde that is one of my all time favorite songs and her remake is phenomenal. 
Catching Fire music score - James Newton Howard - Major disappointment here.  While I like the music score to this movie, I understand there were issues with the new music director and Mr. Howard (perhaps those are just rumors).  As in most second movies, they have taken the first movie's original themes and recycled them for later use.  There are a few stand alone tracks like Katniss but I had expected more.  This was a big disappointment.  My hope is that they bring on some new music talent (like they did with Alexandre Desplat in the Harry Potter movie franchise) and add some exceptional music scores to finish out the series.

The surprise in all of the Hunger Games, Catching Fire music saga was the release of the beautiful and moving music used in the trailers.  It is very rare to be able to get your hands on the music used in the trailers even though there's some fantastic songs.  Just before the movie was release, press releases revealed that the group T.T.L composed the music in the trailer, called Beyond the Fire.  It is now in my frequent rotation both the short trailer version and the extended version.  I wish that more movies would capitalize on this trend.  I've heard some awesome pieces of original music in trailers.
The H.G. music project -  this independently produced soundtrack isn't perfect but who cares!  It's actually an incredibly produced piece of work by the duo of Edward Underhill and Matt Dukaty.  If you haven't heard of it or them, please go check them out.  Their alternative soundtracks to Hunger Games and, late in 2012, Catching Fire are very beautiful tributes to the books.  I count them in my 2013 listing because their soundtrack to Catching Fire was new to me in 2013.  I am eagerly awaiting their Mockingjay soundtrack which their website says is due in 2013. 

Outstanding New-to-Me artist 
Dickon Hinchcliffe for Shadow Dancer (actually done in 2012) and Out of the Furnace 
Here are two soundtracks that are evocative of the quieter emotional parts of life.  Maybe you aren't always looking for action or wanting to feel like you are in an opera.  Perhaps you just need to reflect or snuggle quietly with a loved one.  I have a feeling you need Mr. Hinchcliffe to design the music to your life (or at least I might).

Pieces of Greatness
I can't buy whole soundtracks all the time (I would spend a fortune).  Sometimes I buy the best tracks and go back and get the rest later (if that's possible - a soundtrack is often meant to go together from track to track).  These are a few pieces that have found it into my heavy rotation.
Captain Phillips - Henry Jackman - I bought three tracks of this soundtrack, Second Attack, Safe Now, and Maersk Alabama.  They are full of movement and action but original sounding.  I have them in my heavy rotation and feel that they are often so separate from the movie that I don't think of them as part of it. 

World War Z - Marco Beltrami - The Lane Family is such a beautiful piece of music.  You get the sense of this delightful and loving family in their daily lives before chaos rules.  I also purchased Wales and The Salvation Gates.  There is very little 'actiony' about these themes.  They are also not very 'horror' movie.  I often consider buying the rest of the tracks but when I go back, I feel as though I culled the best from this soundtrack. 

Soundtracks from Television and Games
Disappointing this year was the lack of music from the television arena.  Previous years had brought out incredible soundtracks from Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.  Looking back over my yearly purchases, I realized that I only bought a few tracks from the Game Thrones soundtrack and not even from season 3.  I also bought the Longmire soundtrack - the theme and a few more songs used in episodes.  I had thought that television might be on the cusp of a few amazing changes for soundtrack junkies like myself but they seem to have stalled.  

I didn't buy any game music this year at all which seems odd since there were quite a few game music releases.  But none of them really captured my interest.  Being a big fan of some of the Halo music remixes, I have been hopeful that they would follow that trend and bring out some music remixes to Assassins Creed.  I checked out the music to Assassin's Creed Black Flag but just felt that it was too piratey even though it had been done by Brian Tyler (who says Piratey anyway).  Perhaps a remix by club artists might add a fresh outlook on it.  

Political Participation in the World of Panem

If you read my last article on the political universe of Panem, you would have read about the spectrum of beliefs held by people both in the real world and in Panem.  How they obtain those beliefs is called political socialization.  With their beliefs, then citizens act (or don't) inside the political system.  This is called participation and can come about in several ways.

The Masses – Most people in the Hunger Games universe participate at the level of the masses.  They come out into the political landscape when they have to.  Perhaps if there is an election of some sort, they might vote.  But for the most part, the masses are uneducated and uninterested.  This does not mean that they are stupid or don’t pay attention to some things.  A person who belongs to this group most likely has a steady job, is educated in their field of employment, reads, and produces like any good citizen should.  They just do it because that’s what their life is, not because they have any greater interest in political matters.  Citizens of the Hunger Games universe are productive as much as they can be.  They go to school as children and then to work in a job to provide for their families.  The goods that they produce go to the Capitol.  For the most part, if they are safe, these citizens won’t participate.  They may not always be happy with the government’s decisions but they don’t see that they have the power or understanding about government to really make a change.  And to be frank, they don’t care.  However, don’t underestimate this group.  When an issue or person hits upon something that they see as a crucial wrong, they will become active.  

Let’s take for example, Katniss’ mother.  She endured the death of her spouse, deep depression, poverty, and suffering.  She has a great amount of knowledge and power as a healer.  But she doesn’t want to talk about the politics of the Capitol because it’s dangerous.  She is too caught up in the everyday struggles of living to think about the wrongs being done outside of her own family.  She is by far “uneducated” but when the Founders used that term they may have meant more like “unthinking”.  She is consumed by her own life and does not have time to pursue the complicated world of politics and dissect each and every decision by the President.

As a different type of member of the masses, Gale is just the sort of person who is dangerous.  He has enough information and opinions about what he considers right and wrong to understand the political establishment.  But he may not be fully educated enough to question the motives of the politicians who surround him.  He goes along with President Coin when she recruits him for her army.  He goes along with Plutarch when he needs Gale to pressure Katniss into doing propos.  These politicians are seemingly upstanding and go along with his own sense of what is wrong in his political unvierse.  But they use his motivations to right the system against him, creating an unquestioning and violent soldier for the new government of Panem.  

The Attentives – There are attentives in the Hunger Games universe.  These are people who are just as their name suggests, attentive to the going-ons of government.  They are educated and interested in what government is doing.  They follow the actions of government and often question the outcomes of them.  Through their questioning, attentives can bring issues into the forefront that may have gone unnoticed by the masses.  They can expose the wrongdoings of government as well as the successes.  Cinna is very aware of the ability to impact the government.  He may not be directly in a government related job but he’s interested in it and was for awhile before Katniss came along.  Because of the thought that he puts into his clothing, I would guess that he’s been studying the government for awhile, getting frustrated with the decision making of those in power.  He’s very intelligent and pays attention.  He’s in an influential job and has the education to know what’s happening.  But Cinna probably didn’t expect to influence the government so much at first.  He was just using his talents and knowledge to save Katniss.  In tyrannical governments, these numbers dwindle.  Because of their vast knowledge and observant nature, attentives see things and question.  Different from the masses, not only do they question or apply their knowledge, they have position enough to be listened to by either the masses or those decision makers and heeded.  Right now it’s estimated that about 10% (I’ve heard as high as 20%) of Americans fall into this category.  

The Elites – These are the decision makers – those in power to make changes in the government.  The Game Makers are these types of people.  They can influence the arena.  Haymitch is one of these people even though he’s been in denial about it for a long time.  In a tyrannical government such as President Snow’s, there is a need to get rid of any elites who do not agree with the current government.  So for Haymitch, while he may be in the position to influence and change events, since he hasn’t always seen eye to eye with President Snow or the Game Creators, his status has been downgraded.  Take for example, Senaca Crane who was the Head Gamemaker.  His decisions cost President Snow some security inside of the districts when they didn’t believe that Katniss’ ‘trick with the berries’ was just about love.  Head Gamemaker Plutarch is a very good example of an elite.  He uses his elite status to design a Hunger Games where he can actually start a revolution.  So his status works at first for President Snow who wants a Quarter Quell that will triumph over every previous Hunger Games. Then, his status transfers to District 13 where he becomes a decision maker in the propaganda war against the Capitol.  Plutarch is a natural elite.  He uses his connections and knowledge to propel himself to power with both governments.  He is always part of the decision making team and rarely allows himself to be without knowledge.  But remember, no one is electing him President.  He doesn’t see himself in that role within the government.  Not every elite is actually in a political position.  Some of them are behind those who are.  They are the driving forces who get the politician where they want to go.

Who is Katniss?
Katniss, during the three books, moves from being part of the masses.  In the first book, she's just trying to survive.  In the second, she's part of the attentives, taking in every abuse in the districts as she travels through on her tour.  She begins to question the presence of the Peacemakers and the riots that happen just when they arrive.  In the last book, through her propos and then her involvement on the ground during the rebellion, she becomes an elite but the cost is great to her.  At the end, she actually does not retreat, determined to use her knowledge to prevent another costly war in her society through the scrapbooks, which might retire her to an entirely new level, Historian.