Oh my... I listened to Country & Western music....

[Phillip Dampier]

A sure sign that Brokeback Mountain has really gotten to you is listening to the soundtrack and not shuddering over the country & western songs on it.  I actually enjoyed the Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle tracks.  The Linda Ronstadt song seemed totally out of place on the soundtrack, and many of the other vocals were 'so-so' in my book.

If you enjoyed the great score by Gustavo Santaolalla, you can find more of his music on the score for The Motorcycle Diaries.  It's too bad that songs like The Wings were so short... the mix of the guitar with the orchestral accompanyment has been an inspiration for me.

Any other music out there that fit the mood and feel for Brokeback Mountain?

[Drew Kerrigan]

I don't have a copy of the soundtrack yet but I will buy myself one once it comes out. Remember the few poignant strings of the guitar whenever the movie is quoted as a nominee or a winner in every awards night? Hell those tunes keep popping in my head! I'm definitely afflicted by the Last Song Syndrome (LSS)...

[Phillip Dampier]

All of those songs will be on Brokeback Mountain Radio when it launches.  I am still trying to build out the playlist for the streaming service to meet the requirements of the copyright agencies.  It prevents a straight playlist of soundtrack music.  I'm trying to find songs that fit the mood and build them into the playlist too.

There will be links to obtain BBM stuff up here soon too.  People who order through those links help pay the bandwidth costs for BetterMost (and now the cost of the streaming radio service when that launches.)

There's still a lot going on behind the scenes, which is why I am not as active in the forums the last two days....

[Thomas M. Witherspoon]

My only problem with the OST for Brokeback Mountain is that it is incomplete. For example, there is a completely unused sequence that is played over the scene in the tent on the night after the boys first encounter - and it is beautiful! Why are we given only 1-2 minute snippets of the music on the soundtrack? There are longer portions of it in the film. The music is spare and meant to be so, but surely we could have more of it. Perhaps it is like the time that Jack and Ennis had together - never enough!

[Phillip Dampier]

I don't have a copy of the soundtrack yet but I will buy myself one once it comes out. Remember the few poignant strings of the guitar whenever the movie is quoted as a nominee or a winner in every awards night? Hell those tunes keep popping in my head! I'm definitely afflicted by the Last Song Syndrome (LSS)...

That is probably The Wings.  It's the song used twice in the movie, but the sweeping strings section towards the end only happens during the final scene of the film.  That was my favorite score music from the soundtrack.  It's been part of my inspiration.  Unfortunately, it's way too short.  I have been hunting down any music that resembles it, and found some Pat Metheny soundtrack music for Brokeback Mountain Radio which comes close, but Gustavo's soundtrack score was quite unique.  I've been combing through libraries of 100,000+ tracks looking for appropriate music.  It's not easy.

[Phillip Dampier]

My only problem with the OST for Brokeback Mountain is that it is incomplete. For example, there is a completely unused sequence that is played over the scene in the tent on the night after the boys first encounter - and it is beautiful! Why are we given only 1-2 minute snippets of the music on the soundtrack? There are longer portions of it in the film. The music is spare and meant to be so, but surely we could have more of it. Perhaps it is like the time that Jack and Ennis had together - never enough!

There was some incidental music from the score they did leave out of the soundtrack, according to some media report I had read several weeks ago.  The feeling was the extra segments were incomplete, and some were extremely short (40 seconds or less). 

I am still combing out there.  I had an interest in new age music long before there was this soundtrack.  I recall several albums of ambient slider guitar music fom independent artists that would fit the mood.  As I dig them up, they'll go on Brokeback Mountain Radio too.

[Thomas M. Witherspoon]

There was some incidental music from the score they did leave out of the soundtrack, according to some media report I had read several weeks ago.  The feeling was the extra segments were incomplete, and some were extremely short (40 seconds or less). 

I am still combing out there.  I had an interest in new age music long before there was this soundtrack.  I recall several albums of ambient slider guitar music fom independent artists that would fit the mood.  As I dig them up, they'll go on Brokeback Mountain Radio too.

I'm thinking that the only way to get that music is to record it from the DVD when it becomes available. I have seen a DVD screener and have heard even more additional orchestrations that should have been part of the OST - not just the second night tent scene - and there is an additional "The Wings" orchestration that plays over the scenes just after the boys get back together, beginning when the boys are camping by the river. Ennis says "As long as we can ride her...There ain't no reins on this one" and Jack reaches out and touches his ear and hair. It plays over several scenes as time passes. Another piece of music, I don't know the title of, plays over the scene where Ennis goes to meet Jack for one of their get-togethers - this is the one where Jack is looking up at Ennis as he drives up to their camping site. There is also "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" from the scene where Jack goes to Mexico in his frustratration over Ennis not wanting to live with him. I guess they were trying to keep the OST recording short or had other problems getting rights to music, etc., etc.

Cheers!

[Phillip Dampier]

I have access to the audio for the actual film and zipped through some of it and did find portions of the soundtrack missing from the album.  Unfortunately, there is some dialogue and foley work on portions of it, so I don't know how useful that would be.  Perhaps one of the fans with Hollywood connections will find a way to get the rest of the music out on the net down the road in its original state.  I doubt we'll see another soundtrack or score CD coming out for Brokeback, so this would likely be the only way we'd hear the whole thing.

[Thomas M. Witherspoon]

I have access to the audio for the actual film and zipped through some of it and did find portions of the soundtrack missing from the album.  Unfortunately, there is some dialogue and foley work on portions of it, so I don't know how useful that would be.  Perhaps one of the fans with Hollywood connections will find a way to get the rest of the music out on the net down the road in its original state.  I doubt we'll see another soundtrack or score CD coming out for Brokeback, so this would likely be the only way we'd hear the whole thing.

Of course that's right! I bet the fire crackling, wind blowing. or sound of rushing water would be pretty distracting - and people may think there is something wrong with their computer or sound system! I listened to the BBM Radio today and I liked it very much! You're doing a great job so far Phillip.

[Br. Patrick]

Whoops... I've just uncovered a forum software bug!  This post is actually corrupted, as the quotes are evidently Brother Patrick's, but the replies you see below the quotes are not his - they are written by me!  I don't know how this managed to happen, but to make it clear to everyone, I'm editing the post to clarify who said what! -- Phillip

This order really works for me.  Maybe someone else could try it too.  It places the all too short symphonic/guitar pieces together followed by the Country & Western Songs.  The last tracks play out over the credits.  I added "The Wings" for the third time because, well, it just needed to be there.

Phillip: Outside of Emmylou's song, I wasn't really thrilled with any of the C&W songs on the soundtrack.  Others seem to get a lot out of Rufus Wainwright & Mary McBride's songs but I personally found them kind of jarring.  I am lukewarm about Willie Nelson personally - I think he's a bit too... I don't know... informal.  I liked Steve Earle's song - the fastest rendition of that song I've ever heard -and- his voice and accent makes his performance a believable story about a teenage delinquent.  But it doesn't fit the overall theme of the film at all.

I have one MAJOR problem with the lyrics of ONE song "I Will Never Let You Go".  The second verse starts "Even though this wasn't meant to be".

Phillip:In the context of the movie, that was Ennis' belief, based on the oppression he saw all his life.  I understand just how important lyrics are when trying to convey the feeling of the film.  Trust me I know because I sifted through hundreds of songs to try and build Brokeback Mountain Radio.  It's rough when you think you've found a great song and just one verse throws it out the window because it doesn't fit.  Ultimately, I had to compromise on several songs that don't exactly fit, but come close enough and are usually not jarring enough to throw the mood.

As far as instrumental pieces go, we have little to work with from Santaolalla's score, which was way too short on the CD.  It is amazingly hard to find good ambient slide guitar music that fits.  The thing that saved my cookies was finding a few desert-inspired albums which evoke the western feeling.  There are tons of basic acoustic guitar albums out there, but they don't speak to Brokeback Mountain at all.  I will always be out there looking, but we need a music expert in here who can help pin down tracks that work even more.