Here’s my personal all-time ultimate movie soundtrack, which runs the gamut from funk to bluegrass, by way of heavy rock and serene folk. With a few notable exceptions, almost every song on the list comes from a film I absolutely love – fellow critics be damned!

1. Duelling Banjos (“Deliverence”)
2. The Soggy Bottom Boys – I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (“O Brother, Where Art Thou”)
3. Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (“Trainspotting”)
4. Tomoyasu Hotei – Battle Without Honor Or Humanity (“Kill Bill, Vol. 1”)
5. Jamiroquai – Canned Heat (“Napoleon Dynamite”)
6. Geto Boys – Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta (“Office Space”)
7. Little Richard – Long Tall Sally (“Predator”)
8. Kenny Rogers – Just Dropped In (“The Big Lebowski”)
9. Guns N’ Roses – You Could Be Mine (“Terminator 2”)
10. Harry Belafonte – Banana Boat (Day-O) (“Beetlejuice”)
11. Seal – Kiss From A Rose (“Batman Forever”)
12. Harry Nilsson – Everybody’s Talkin (“Midnight Cowboy”)
13. Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson (“The Graduate”)
14. Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger (“Rocky III”)
15. Public Enemy – Fight The Power (“Do the Right Thing”)
16. Isaac Hayes – Theme From Shaft (“Shaft”)
17. Huey Lewis & The News – Hip To Be Square (“American Psycho”)
18. Echo And The Bunnymen – The Killing Moon (“Donnie Darko”)
19. Pixies – Where Is My Mind? (“Fight Club”)
20. The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup (“There’s Something about Mary”)
21. The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black (“Full Metal Jacket”)
22. Aimee Mann – Wise Up (“Magnolia”)

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Coupled with this, we’ve seen a rapid increase over the past five years or so in the number of ways to link, share and recommend new media. Without needing to buy a music magazine or TV guide, I’ve discovered far more excellent music, film and shows since I joined Facebook and Twitter than I ever did when I was reading hard press.

Now, thanks to a combination of individual recommendation, Last.fm and Spotify, I can connect instantly to music I like. Even better, I can be connected to music that I will probably like, purely based on my listening habits, or by giving me a selection of artists similar to one I specify.

This is brilliant. If things continue in this way, never again will I buy music that I haven’t already listened to, in full, more than once and at my leisure. Every CD and digital download I have bought in the past couple of years has been meticulously vetted, not vaguely recalled from a 2-minute sample fished out from betwixt ten-minute commercial segments and the latest Pussycat Girls ‘joint’.

About two months ago I was inspired by fellow music-lovers (notably Robyn, example here) and decided to start compiling playlists on Spotify. The intention was to have music I already know and love, and mix it in with stuff that I’d learned about in the preceding weeks and months. I didn’t want to restrict it to any one genre, nor did I want to alienate people by ignoring others. Hopefully I’d be finding new music for myself while spreading awareness of lesser-known, yet awesome, acts.

I’m aiming to post these playlists on Mondays, once a fortnight. The most recent one can be found by following the link below, and I’ll be posting backdated links to the previous ones. I hope you find at least something new that you enjoy, and if you think they’re worth sharing, please do so!

Spotify playlist for w/c 14/09/2009