Uncut Gems (soundtrack)

Uncut Gems is a soundtrack album by electronic musician Daniel Lopatin, containing the original score for the Safdie brothers' 2019 film Uncut Gems.[1] It was released via Warp on December 13, 2019.[2] It received positive reviews from critics.[3] It peaked at number 44 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart.[4]

Uncut Gems
Soundtrack album by
Daniel Lopatin
ReleasedDecember 13, 2019 (2019-12-13)
Studio
  • Electric Garden, Brooklyn, NY
  • Gaia Studios, Brooklyn, NY
GenreElectronica
Length51:56
LabelWarp
ProducerDaniel Lopatin
Daniel Lopatin chronology
Age Of
(2018)		 Uncut Gems
(2019)

Background

Film co-director Josh Safdie worked closely with Lopatin on the score, which began with a "Frankenstein" score using library and new-age music before Lopatin began sketching out compositions.[5] Safdie described the soundtrack as "a medicinal new-age soul of a film," in contrast to the "pulse" of their previous collaboration Good Time.[5] Lopatin described it as "more beautiful, ethereal, it's more orchestral, it’s goofier."[5]

The "cosmically synthesized" score uses a Moog One synthesizer, and draws inspiration from artists such as Isao Tomita, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis,[6] as well as the 1970s-80s new-age duo Emerald Web.[5] Lopatin and Safdie used Moog's synthesizer library and Omnisphere to search for "earthy melancholic sounds that had a cosmic twist," as well as saxophone and a choir.[5] The track "Fuck You, Howard" is a reinterpretation of Haydn's Symphony No. 88,[5] while "Windows" is a homage to "Kaneda's theme" from the anime film Akira.[7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
Exclaim!7/10[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[10]
Mojo[3]
Pitchfork7.4/10[11]
Uncut[3]

At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 6 mainstream critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[3]

Thomas Johnson of The Line of Best Fit called the album "further proof Lopatin will be held in the same esteem as Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter, Vangelis and so on."[10] He stated that the album is "filled with heartfelt synth lines, gorgeous revolving, spacey sequences and emotive samples" in contrast to his narrower score for Good Time.[10] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian wrote that "lesser composers try to merely mirror the action on screen and intensify it, boringly magnifying your emotions."[9] He added, "Lopatin is showing how contradictory, confusing and vital our dumb human impulses are."[9] Mina Tavakoli of Pitchfork stated that the score "has a large blast radius in the movie, itself a funny character in an ensemble of unintentionally funny characters."[11] Matthew Clark of Exclaim! wrote: "Not only does this collection of music have a cinematic quality that lends it its soundtrack purpose, it also stands alone as an engaging set of songs and motifs on their own."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Daniel Lopatin.

No.TitleLength
1."The Ballad of Howie Bling"8:26
2."Pure Elation"1:01
3."Followed"1:32
4."The Bet Hits"2:51
5."High Life"1:00
6."No Vacation"0:54
7."School Play"6:16
8."Fuck You Howard"2:42
9."Smoothie"1:10
10."Back to Roslyn"2:02
11."The Fountain"2:21
12."Powerade"0:52
13."Windows"5:06
14."Buzz Me Out"2:49
15."The Blade"1:32
16."Mohegan Suite"4:42
17."Uncut Gems"6:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[12]

  • Daniel Lopatin – performance, production
  • Conor Abbott Brown – choral production, arrangement
  • Maxwell J. McKee – vocals (1, 8, 16), arrangement
  • Rob Geldelian – track engineering, edit engineering
  • Matt Cohn – engineering, mixing
  • Ian Lavely – engineering assistance, mixing assistance
  • Jaclyn Sanchez – additional engineering
  • Nolan Theis – additional engineering
  • Mario Castro – flute (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10), saxophone (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10)
  • Josh Safdie – snake bites (1, 6, 16, 17)
  • Emily Schubert – vocals (1, 7, 14)
  • Maureen Bailey – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • John Boggs – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Brian Du Fresne – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Chelsea Kendall – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Claire McCahan – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Rebecca Myers – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Daniel Parks – vocals (1, 8, 16)
  • Eli Keszler – drums (1, 13), percussion (1, 13)
  • Adam Sandler – voice (3, 6, 7, 12)
  • Ronnie Greenberg – voice (3)
  • Marshall Greenberg – voice (3)
  • Idina Menzel – voice (6, 7)
  • Keren Shemel – voice (6)
  • Aren Topian – voice (6)
  • Gatekeeper – synthesizer (7, 16)
  • Sebastian Bear-McClard – vocals (11, 16)
  • Julia Fox – voice (12)
  • Kevin Garnett – voice (12)
  • Patricia Sullivan Fourstar – mastering
  • Caleb Halter – design
  • Inez & Vinoodh – cover photography

Charts
Chart Peak
position
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[4] 44
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References
  1. Slingerland, Calum (October 29, 2019). "Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin Details 'Uncut Gems' Soundtrack". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  2. Bruce-Jones, Henry (October 29, 2019). "Warp Records to release Uncut Gems soundtrack from Daniel Lopatin". Fact. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  3. "Uncut Gems (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Daniel Lopatin". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  4. "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  5. Castillo, Monica (December 12, 2019). "Daniel Lopatin and Josh Safdie Dig Deep For the 'Uncut Gems' Score". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  6. Halperin, Shirley (January 9, 2020). "The Music of 'Uncut Gems': How Moogs and Moods Combined for the Movie's Score". Variety. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  7. Weekes, Princess (January 6, 2020). "There's an Awesome Akira Shoutout in Uncut Gems". The Mary Sue. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  8. Clark, Matthew (December 11, 2019). "Daniel Lopatin Uncut Gems". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  9. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (December 13, 2019). "Daniel Lopatin: Uncut Gems Original Soundtrack review – vital, nerve-jangling score is a jewel". The Guardian. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  10. Johnson, Thomas (December 30, 2019). "Is Daniel Lopatin his generation's finest film score composer?". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  11. Tavakoli, Mina (December 16, 2019). "Daniel Lopatin: Uncut Gems (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  12. Uncut Gems (booklet). Daniel Lopatin. Warp. 2019. WARPCD308.CS1 maint: others (link)

Further reading
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