Juno Recommends Soundtracks Best of 2020

Review: The Joker film has been one of the biggest successes of the year, and the Chernobyl TV series was not far behind. What both have in common is their soundtracks, which were written by Icelandic musician and composer Hildur Gudnadottir. Eschewing all the usual tried and tested tropes, she contours up supremely absorbing pieces from violins, synths, distant drums and builds tension in fascinating new ways. That is the case here across a series of magnificent peaks and toughs that leave you looking over your shoulder. Once again then Gudnadottir proves she is in a class of one right now when it comes to soundtracks.

Review: The recent passing of one of the 20th century's greatest cinematic composers, Ennio Morricone, had many scurrying to streaming services to check out the best of his vast catalogue of work. Those who did will attest that his work touched on numerous themes, genres and styles. This compilation provides a more focussed retrospective of the late Italian composer's work. It concentrates purely on cinematic themes and incidental pieces - most from the 1960s and '70s - that could be loosely termed "lounge music". In reality, the assembled material is a mixture of smooth jazz, easy listening and tongue-in-cheek, library style kitsch. There's nothing quite as stirring as some of his more acclaimed works for movies like The Mission, but the music is certainly cheeky, cheery and highly entertaining.

Review: You might think the score to an episode of Charlie Brooker's acclaimed dystopian nightmare simulator Black Mirror is the last thing you need to hear right now. Well, you'd be wrong. While there's plenty here to set nerves on a sophisticated and musically-accomplished edge, the classical, ambient, drone and found sound-style compositions aren't all that troubling.

The subtle drama of 'Shot', which uses reversed string refrains to create a sense of hide and seek, the tolling of whatever that noise is above the waves of synth on 'Degrade', and the wondrous hope of 'This Is My Last Day''s pianos are all incredibly pleasing to the ear. But don't get too comfortable. The distorted chaos of 'Chain Smoking Addict', foreboding atmospheres on 'Reverse Surface' and ominous sci-fi sounds of 'Gun Is Real' and 'Shot' all lie ahead. And like most reflections in the Mirror, it doesn't end reassuringly but you won't regret the ride either.

Review: Rams was the name of Gary Hustwit's 2018 documentary about cult German industrial designer, Dieter Rams. He chose Brain Eno to soundtrack it and the legendary studio wizard stepped up in fine fashion. Now all 11 unreleased instrumentals are served up with full colour inner and outer sleeves on heavyweight vinyl. Some are superbly tender and empty ambient pieces that float you in space and time and others are more melancholic and broody. It is yet another fine entry into the ever impeccable discography of one of the UK's greatest living musicians.

Review: Apparently there's a history in Italian cinema of "sexy comedy", which we can only assume is a slightly more racy and explicit version of the innuendo-laden British comedy movies of the 1960s and 70s (think Carry On, Confessions Of A Window Cleaner etc). During the 70s and early '80s, many of these "sexy comedy" flicks boasted disco-centric soundtracks, which is where this superb compilation comes in. It's full of obscure, Italian-made disco workouts that veer between camp silliness and tongue-in-cheek fun to string-drenched brilliance, down-low disco-funk heaviness, synth-driven madness and the kind of Clavinet-happy goodness more obviously associated with US "Blaxploitation" films.

Review: This is a newly recorded version of the Music From the Game of Thrones, which is no doubt one of the biggest TV series ever. A show filled with epic scenes, plenty of narrative twists and turns and untold drama needs a suitably big soundtrack and so this proves: from the giant strings of the main theme to the intricate acoustic guitars of "The Pointy End" via rueful numbers like "King of the North" and the tense, rumbling drums of "Don't Die With A Clean Sword" this is an enthralling listen whether or not you like the TV show it came with.

Review: Talk about a sonic time capsule. Misha Panfilov never ceases to impress with his compositions, but on Rain he arguably breaks the mould. The tracks are as groove-laden and funky as anything the 1970s could possibly have come up with, all laidback funk rock stylings, and play out across this album like a series of found sounds in full song form.

The phrase 'library music' springs to mind, only here it means the kind of eye-catching accidentals that would perfectly soundtrack a classic TV show, movie introduction or cut scene. They exude so much cool you can almost see the record strutting its stuff through the streets of Paris in the throws of youth revolution , and the smoke from a hundred Galwans wafting over your head. At times mysterious, often playful and occasionally raucous and rabid, it's all very sexy indeed.