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.

The Political Spectrum of Panem

Political socialization is the process in which we develop out beliefs about the political system.  It happens over time and starts from birth.  During this process several main factors such as race can influence our beliefs.  Those factors can also conflict with each other to create cross pressure where we feel the struggle in ourselves between different factors. In this three part series, I will examine the political environment of Panem during the three books, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay written by Suzanne Collins.  All of my source material with the exception of geographic locations come from the books themselves and my own education (I have a degree in Political Science).  My geography references to Panem's locations come from various maps online.

Part I - The Political Spectrum

Before we begin to discuss how Katniss Everdeen is socialized, let’s familiarize ourselves with the political spectrum.  The basic political beliefs comprise five different levels; Radicals, Liberals, Moderates, Conservatives, and Reactionaries.

Moderates 

If we were to draw a line, we could go from left to right but for the sake of comparison, I’m going to start at the middle.  Moderates are at the middle and they are exactly that.  These people are very in the middle about their beliefs.  They are not generally members of a political party.  They are moved by issues that pertain to their lives and while they vote and may be somewhat politically active, these concerns don’t impact their everyday lives overly much.  Most of the population is in the middle.  Their beliefs are not extreme.  They are concerned by issues that impact their lives such as if they are jobless or without health care and those issues cause them to be involved.  Moderates are not the same as independents.  Sometimes it’s easy to confuse them because moderates seem to keep themselves distant from the actual going-ons in government.  Moderates will have a preference for a political party when they are voting while a true independent votes for the person, a non-mainstream political party, and perhaps an issue rather than based on any mainstream party affiliation.  Independents are about 33% of the middle (in American society this number has grown).  In Katniss’ post United States world of Panem, most people are moderates.  Even Katniss starts out the novels as a moderate.  She acts in her daily life with little regard for the political situation beyond her own issue, starvation.  

In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples.  But always in sight of the Meadow.  Always close enough to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises.  "District Twelve.  Where you can starve to death in safety," I mutter.  Then I glance quickly over my shoulder.  Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you. Page 5, The Hunger Games

Taking out the whole idea of voting and just thinking about the issues, most people are concerned with survival and economic well-being.  If they are extreme in their views, depending on which way they go, they could challenge President Snow’s comfortable reign and put their lives in danger.  So they are moderates out of necessity.  And in the case of Panem, these are extremely apathetic moderates.  It's not that they don't care, it's that they can't act for fear of upsetting their personal lives.

Conservatives

Let’s take a tour to the right (not because I like them more).  On the right of our spectrum, there are conservatives and reactionaries.  Conservatives are between moderate and reactionary.  They see government as needing to be limited for fear of overreach.  Conservatives are concerned about the same social issues as anyone like whether or not they have health care.  But their views on how this is going to be accomplished is what makes them who they are.  They see that government is not the answer to solving problems entirely.  And for them, certain problems such as health care might be better solved by other establishments in society.  Conservatives tend to look at all of the participants in society as having a stake in it.  Their participants are government, business, churches, and social groups.  Conservatives tend to think that all politics are local and better solved by those closest to the issue.  So health care is provided by the business arena to workers to keep them healthy and available for work.  This means that any issues related to this might be best solved by the business sector.  Government is just one participant on the field and perhaps better suited to issues of foreign policy and defense because that’s closest to the needs of all people.  In the Hunger Games universe, there's no conservative presence because the government is in charge of production and any sorts of benefits, which would go against the grain of any conservative participating in government.  Since this government seems to be distinctly in the control of a dictator, President Snow, the fears of real-life conservatives have foundation that a federal government which is not limited can turn into a tyranny.  The emphasis on a strongly restricted federal government and an active local government that would normally be part of the conservative government are no longer present in Panem due to extreme economic difficulties and war.  Local governments voluntarily ceded control to the Federal government (now located in the Rocky Mountains).  But if there were conservative voices, they have long been stamped out.  Katniss' father does represent one of those disappeared conservative voices.  There's very little evidence of it, but most comes directly from Katniss and her memories of her father.  After all, a child does not fall far from the tree of their parent's belief systems.

"When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far off city called the Capitol." Page 5, The Hunger Games

The reference is subtle but she is parroting her father's words at a young age and he has expressed displeasure at the assumption of federal control over the government - the ultimate conservative reaction to the problems of society.

Reactionaries

Farthest to the right are reactionaries.  Reactionaries see that government and society have strayed too far from their roots.  They believe there is overreach on the part of government and society to solve problems wrongfully.  These problems often are merely growing pains of society as it moves or changes value systems.  But reactionaries attribute problems such as poverty, environmental damage, or the family unit declining as punishment for the changing morality or government negligence.  Reactionaries are (as their name suggests) reacting to pressure either from inside or outside society and want to protect what they believe are traditional values.  This shows up in Catching Fire when President Snow is responding to the pressure from Katniss’ performance at the Hunger Games by having a Quarter Quell.  This is reactionary on his part, and he’s attempting to stir up sentimental feelings at to Panem’s history during the 75^th Hunger Games.  As he reacts more to protecting the existing system, he becomes more violent towards the population especially Katniss and the game victors, targeting those closest to them as a way of keeping them in line.  His mission is presented to the people as a way of isolating or destroying any questioning parties who seek to rip apart any security Panem has.  Since most of Panem is moderate, they will not seek to act outside the system to test the President and he is comfortable in his position.  In Catching Fire, it seems that most of the populace is still isolated, concerned with their own welfare and survival so they welcome the games as a way of keeping their mind of their own problems.  Since there is not a vibrant press to question President Snow’s actions, one missing stylist will hardly faze the population.

Liberals

On the left side of the spectrum are liberals and radicals (at the far end).  Liberals believe that using the government to solve social and economic problems is the best because government has advantages over business and other areas of society.  Government has at it’s hand resources and theoretically should be unbiased in delivering those goods.  When there is overreach on the part of government, liberals argue that most often this overreach has happened at local levels and would be less likely to happen in a larger system such as a federal government because there are checks and balance built in on that government and not on local governments as much. The Federal government through it's checks and balances is more likely to act without bias and distribute the most goods to the most places.  As with the conservatives, it is difficult to imagine liberals in the Hunger Games universe, the closest to a liberal of any kind that I can find in the books might be Plutarch Heavensbee.  He works within the government to attempt to solve problems but it easy to imagine his mounting disillusionment with President Snow's tyranny.  In fact, as with all dictatorial governments, any political beliefs in the spectrum are stamped out to prevent any dissent and Plutarch Heavensbee would have found the same fate as Cinna and Seneca Crane had he been revealed for his true beliefs and actions ultimately against the government.  Again, just like the conservatives, the same fears have come true with overreach happening on all levels of government and the federal government (the Capitol) has no checks on it.  The local governments are running their citizens to the ground in efforts to produce at high levels for the Capitol.  As long as they meet their quotas, the Federal government leaves the local governments to institute any manner of abuses such as in District 11 where the Peacekeepers and local government are particularly brutal.  The worst fears of any liberal are seen in how the local populace are kept down with curfews and brutal measures such as food rationing.  

Radicals

Radicals are the far end of the left side of our spectrum.  They see that the government that is in place has been unable to deal with the problems of poverty and the system is not serving the needs of all people.  When the government before Panem was in place (we assume this was the United States), there was record of horrific catastrophes.

“He tells the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place once called North America.  He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained.  The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to it’s citizens.”  Page 17 Hunger Games

It is then theoretical that the radicals were the ones who rose up out of this chaos when the government was no longer able to function and stave off the attacks from the global disasters.  Radicals want to get a new government – start fresh with a foundation that isn’t built in history or dysfunction of the previous government.  They resent the liberals who like them see the same sorts of problems, inability of the government to deal with poverty, health care, energy resources, or in general provide for the people.  Their resentment stems from the liberals’ idealism that the government can be changed.  Radicals believe that the government can’t be just modified because the liberal’s changes are just an improperly applied patch on a deeper problem.  Like the extremes of the reactionaries, they will resort to violence to achieve their ends.  When the new government of Panem was instituted, the people caved in to their need for safety and allowed the new form of government throw out previously accepted freedoms.  So the Districts rose up against the government in protest, it was the radicals in the new Capitol who put down the revolution to protect the new government system and then instituted the Hunger Games.  If you were to take our spectrum and instead of a line, turned it into a circle, reactionaries and radicals would meet.  Their ends are often the same and achieved through violence or at least revolution.  At the end of the revolution, the Radicals quickly moved to the Reactionary position on the spectrum just to protect their power.

When the government becomes Reactionary through President Snow, the Radicals are the first to go, through purges such as the massive bombing campaign on District 13.  After all as both political camps know, it just takes a handful of revolutionaries to cause chaos.  President Snow refers to this and his words haunt Katniss in Mockingjay. 

“Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grown to an inferno that destroys Panem.”   

But here’s the catch, while we know that President Snow is a tyrant, we get little to no reading on President Coin.  We should be she’s presented as a very neutral and efficient character, certainly not an obvious threat.  She is one of the former Reactionaries who seems to have escaped the purges and come out of it in a better position in power within her rag-tag district.  While Katniss dislikes her intensely, the rest of the citizens of District 13 hold her in high regard.  She has been the mastermind of the attacks on the Capitol, threatening their government but she has also instituted a series of measures that have kept the citizens of District 13 alive in their underground city.  So President Snow is reacting justifiably to threats.  But does President Coin offer a valid government or has she gone the way of the extreme radical and is pushing just another brand of tyranny?  The “new” form of government that she has erected in District 13 after their standoff with the Capitol bears a striking resemblance to Communism.  District 13 has problems with production and so they seek to breed workers (an unexpected gift of new blood being introduced through the District 12 rescue-es).  They also have very strict schedules, automatic citizenship, and assigned housing among other commune-like features.  It is useful to note that not all radicals overthrow a tyranny to communism.  But there is a cleansing aspect to both reactionary and radical personas on the political spectrum.  They will attempt to move either farther towards what they know or completely away from any roots of previous governments. 

No matter who you are, you are going to fall somewhere on the spectrum.  How you then participate in this is determined by the value you place on these beliefs and a process called political socialization.  In my next Hunger Games article, I will focus on the different levels in which people participate in their government as related to the participation of those in Panem.  Please note that these are my own interpretations of Suzanne Collins' work.