By Angelo Badalamenti, 2001

Director David Lynch's affection for kitschy lounge music and emotionally overwrought mid-century pop has long since proven to be more than trend or irony; indeed, it's often the uneasy spiritual axis of his films. The soundtrack of Mulholland Dr. turns on the usual Lynchian motifs (the brooding atmosphere of Angelo Badalamenti's ominous synth-and-orchestra cues tossed with a dash of Lynch's own off-center compositions), yet manages to evoke a sense of foreboding that's distinctly its own.

Badalamenti leads off with a curve, the nervous orchestra swing-romp "Jitterbug," before descending into a dark soundscape that becomes murkier and more avant-goth at every turn. Bubbling through that morass are pop nuggets variously cheesy (Dave Cavanaugh's lounge-ready "The Beast"), lugubriously bluesy (Sonny Boy Williamson's take on Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home"), and alternately innocent ("I've Told Every Little Star") and liturgical ("Llorando"). Three tracks of the director's own (cowritten with John Neff) skulking Lounge Music from Hell ratchet up the tension even further; it's the perfect garnish for this darkly delicious film-music cocktail.

--Jerry McCulley

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