Music

Soundtracks, obsessively

I don’t really listen to music. I listen to soundtracks.

Film scores blend classical instruments, my madeleine de Proust, with epic, driving rhythms that make everything feel cinematic. I’d rather code to Interstellar’s docking scene than whatever Spotify’s algorithm thinks I should hear.

At the top of it all, unsurprisingly, I endlessly replay Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, Dune, The Lion King being my favorites), Ramin Djawadi, Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Max Richter, and John Williams (Harry Potter, Jurassic Park).

Live in Prague, and in Lille

I’ve listened to Hans Zimmer’s Live in Prague an absurd number of times. The album is great, but mostly, I was at the concert (in Lille, not Prague) and it remains by far the best live show I’ve ever attended.

I’m also a long-time film concert obsessive. Hearing a full orchestra play a score you’ve listened to hundreds of times through earbuds is a completely different experience. I try to attend them whenever I can: La La Land, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, E.T., you name it. If it has a conductor and a screen, I’m there.

Seasonal rotation

Beyond soundtracks, my listening is weirdly seasonal. Metronomy, Air, Sebastien Tellier and French touch when the days get longer. Halloween and Christmas movie scores the moment fall hits — John Williams again, with Home Alone, my favorite of them all.

Year-round, I keep a few timeless favorites on rotation: Feu! Chatterton, Tom McRae, Belgian rock (Girls in Hawaii, Ghinzu, Puggy, dEUS) that probably comes from having lived there, and Pink Floyd, always, Atom Heart Mother Suite and Comfortably Numb in particular.

The backseat DJs

If you look at my charts and wonder why Sing and Demon Hunters show up between Zimmer and Desplat: I have kids. Although I feel no shame singing along to “This Is What It Sounds Like”, “Golden” and “Take Down”, or pretty much any song from any Disney movie.

I love quizzing them with Harry Potter or Disney blind tests when we’re driving. They’ve gotten scarily good at it. And in return, whenever I forget to put music on in the car, they’re quick to demand their favorites.