A Tale of Two Soundtracks: "Drive" vs "Themes For An Imaginary Film"

Here are the three immediate courses of action I took after watching Ryan Gosling's performance as a stuntman/mechanic/getaway driver in director Nicolas Refn's recent film, Drive:

1. Got in my car. Put on my leather driving gloves. Drove an intense ten minutes to the nearest Dick's Drive-In. Ordered a Deluxe with extra tartar sauce.
2. Googled "white scorpion jacket from Drive." Started planning my next Halloween costume.
3. Downloaded and listened to the movie's amazing soundtrack for the rest of the night.

New El-P album "Cure For Cancer"

Five years after El-P's last solo release, a new album titled Cure for Cancer is set to drop on May 22. The elder statesman of underground alternative rap, El-P founded the important independent label Def Jux (home to RJD2, Aesop Rock, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Cage, Murs and Mr. Lif) and has released four classic hip-hop albums: as a member of the seminal 90's group Company Flow (Funcrusher Plus), producer of Cannibal Ox (The Cold Vein), and under his own name (Fantastic Damage and I'll Sleep When You're Dead). El-P has managed to maintain a remarkable level of quality throughout his career as a rapper and producer and both released tracks from Cure for Cancer fit right in with the rest of his catalogue.

"Drones Over BKLYN" is an unmannered virtuoso track about the end of the world backed by an unnerving spliced drum sample that was one of the best but most underrated hip-hop tracks from 2011.
El-P-Drones Over BKLYN.mp3

The brand new "The Full Retard" is an abrasive slice of boom-bap filtered through the production of The Bomb Squad.
El-P-The Full Retard.mp3

New Arcade Fire "Abraham's Daughter"

The Arcade Fire have released their new track from the soundtrack to the upcoming young adult blockbuster The Hunger Games. With a steady, foreboding drum beat and chanted etherial vocals from Régine, the song sounds unlike anything the Arcade Fire's back catalogue. Frontman Win Butler describes the song and creative process:

“We were interested in making music that would be more integral in the movie, just as a mental exercise. And there’s an anthem that runs throughout the books, the national anthem of the fascist Capitol. So as a thought experiment, we tried to write what that might sound like. It’s like the Capitol’s idea of itself, basically. It’s not a pop song or anything– more of an anthem that could be playing at a big sporting event like the Games. So we did a structure for that, and then James Newton Howard made a movie-score version of it that happens in several places in the film.”

Another new track, the instrumental "Horns of Plenty" will also appear on the upcoming soundtrack. "Abraham's Daughter" is available for streaming here and here.