Soundtrack Saturday: Garden State (2004)

Image: last.fm

“You gotta hear this one song. It’ll change your life, I swear” Garden State (2004)

To kick off the first edition of Ticket Stub's Soundtrack Saturday, I have picked one of my favourite films with undoubtedly one of the most outstanding soundtracks. It is Garden State. 

Starring, written and directed by Scrubs star Zach Braff, this indie movie sees Andrew Largeman return back to New Jersey after the death of his mother. Although it may sound like a typically depressing indie film, there are many comedic moments along with incredibly moving drama. Natalie Portman is hilariously adorable, the script is slick and there's a young looking Jim Parsons, of The Big Bang Theory fame, briefly seen in a knight costume. But above all, the music is one of the main reasons why this film stands out as one of the best.

Mr Braff even won a Grammy for this album which sees the likes of Coldplay (one of my favourite bands) and the legendary Simon and Garfunkel complementing the distinctive sound and look of Garden State.

Other highlights include The Shins and Cary Brothers - who will be part of the soundtrack on Braff’s new project Wish I Was Here. You’ve probably heard about his KickStarter campaign for Wish I Was Here which reached its target of $2 million within an unbelievable three days. The total is now at $3,105,473. Raising money on the site means that Zach is now in the process of making the film in a similar way to how Garden State was – having control from casting to filming and, most importantly, final cut. There is no big studio pointing and screaming about how the film should be made and putting restrictions on his artistic freedom. I personally cannot wait to see the end result and if the soundtrack is anything as good as Garden State we’ll be on to a winner.

Best track: Only Living Boy in New York by Simon and Garfunkel. 

The track is played towards the end of the film with Andrew, Mark and Sam screaming on top of the infinite abyss in the torrential downpour. Check out the clip below.

Available on Spotify? Yes, although two tracks are unavailable.