Synecdoche, New York (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The producer and instrumentalist Jon Brion has created scores for a number of Hollywood projects, including Magnolia, I Heart Huckabees, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The latter film was scripted by Charlie Kaufman, and when Kaufman made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, Brion was called upon to create the score. The Synecdoche soundtrack features a string orchestra joined at times by guitar, bassoon, piano, and other instruments. Moods and tones vary, from the ironically perky march, “Tacky Entrance Music,” to “Sex Based Decision Making,” which, despite the humorous title, is a somber piece for piano and strings. The album closes strongly with three songs: "Little Person,” which is used in Synecdoche’s trailer, voices the dream of finding the right mate in a fairly straightforward and touching manner; “Song for Caden” is a self-conscious love song with a morbid, it-doesn’t-really-matter attitude evocative of Randy Newman; “Schenectady,” a gloomy-but-funny slice of Americana that spotlights old-timey vocals, wraps things up on a bittersweet note.