The Top 20 Albums of 2011 - #10 - Grizzly Bear: Blue Valentine

The Top 20 Albums of 2011

#10 Grizzly Bear: Blue Valentine

Words by Dirk Calloway

Preface: for over two weeks now, we've been reviewing one of 2011's best albums each day. This is because I listened to 110+ records last year, and I'm a compulsive list maker. Catch up on the other entries here.


I blanched a little today. I wanted to review three soundtracks that were created by rockstars, and call them collectively "the tenth best" record of 2011. But that would be cheating. So, I had to make a difficult choice between the three. I had already typed reviews to the other two though, so I posted them up anyway here. The soundtrack that made it onto the Top 20 was Grizzly Bear's Blue Valentine soundtrack. Well, it's mostly their soundtrack. They share it with a couple of other songs, and I'll give those a shout-out first. Check this track out:

Just as a reminder again, that song, you may notice, was not written or performed by Grizzly Bear. In fact... for a few months after the release of the film... no-one knew who had done either job. The record had arrived in the movie at Ryan Gosling's request, and he'd found it from a compilation of 'lost records' by an obscure label called Prix. Once the film was released, the song became enormously popular, and someone's since been able to figure out the tune's history. It turns out it's by a group that never existed, beyond one hot afternoon in a studio, many decades ago. Its author died long before his song became the theme song to a magical film, and before it became the new hit among 2011's 'in' crowd. Penny & The Quarters' song You And Me is probably my favourite song of the year. But, they're only one part of this amazing soundtrack. Another great performance is this one, by the star of the film, Ryan Gosling, which is used as the backdrop for a stunning trailer:


Both of the above tracks are a) fantastic and b) essential to the movie itself. Their inclusion in the soundtrack makes my heart ache with the emotion of the two character's tragic arc. But the album is the gift that keeps on giving, because they also pack the record full of songs by the wonderful indie-rock group Grizzly Bear. The soundtrack is filled with their B-sides, instrumental versions of better known tracks, and rarities. Because they were used to such stunning effect in the film, each track recalls a scene, and this all helps add to a cohesiveness that "song based soundtracks" can rarely achieve. Rather than call out specific examples, I'll link to this compilation of the songs below:


Thanks for reading folks, check out the past reviews here. Come back tomorrow to find out who made the ninth best record of 2011.