CineSounds: Snatch

Mirwais - Disco Science



CineSounds is a feature where I talk about how music and sound are used in movies I've recently seen. And since I watched Snatch yesterday and it has a great soundtrack that I'm pretty familiar with, I figured it would be a fine movie to start off with.

Snatch is a very fast paced movie and the creators definitely made sure the music kept up. There's lots of trip hoppy electronic stuff like Massive Attack and Klint along with some super groovy funk and reggae like The Specials and Bobby Byrd. Everything is used to keep pace with the movie. And while I'm not a big fan of some of the musical genres used in Snatch, I can still appreciate the effectiveness of the songs used in conjunction with certain scenes.

"Disco Science" by Mirwais, for example. That song plays when both Tyrone and the bunny are being chased by Brick Top's henchmen and the dogs, respectively. First of all, that scene is intense enough on it's own. But when that catchy/annoying siren chorus is going with that relentless beat, it transforms the scene into something much more urgent. Not to mention whenever I hear that song (which only happens when I listen to the soundtrack, but play along with me for a minute), it automatically brings to mind Tyrone and the wild rabbit. When a song can immediately remind you of a specific scene in a movie, you know it's done it's job.

Something I missed every other time I saw Snatch in the past was the use of Madonna's "Lucky Star." What I didn't know was that it's first appearance is in the flash back scene where we see how Bullet Tooth Tony got his name. It's playing in the background, very unassuming, while he's getting shot up (6 times) and continues to stand ground and then kill his Asian adversary. But later on in the movie, when Tony is driving the car with the guy's head stuck in the window, "Lucky Star" comes on the radio and Tony says "Oh, I love this track." Knowing his back story just takes the awesomeness to a new level.

But by far the best song used in Snatch has to be the one being played during the final fight scene, where everything gets revealed. It's an amazing song. A catchy as hell, neverending riff with matching drums, sweet organs, looped vocal snippets, and an epic chorus. Who the fuck knew Oasis could write such a song? I was flabbergasted when I saw that it was written by "the next Beatles" and that it had such a ridiculous name ("Fuckin' In The Bushes"). I don't know about you but I stopped paying attention to Oasis after (What's The Story) Morning Glory? came out, so this song was way off my radar.

I give the Snatch soundtrack guys a big round of applause for not being afraid to use a song by a well known, and well worn, band like Oasis to put the finishing touches on an already kick ass movie.