”Personally curated by Quentin Tarantino himself, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a love letter to the music of 1960s-era Hollywood. Featuring over 20 standout tracks from artists such as Paul Revere & The Raiders, Deep Purple and Neil Diamond, the album creates a true time capsule of a golden era of filmmaking."

Hot take: Quentin Tarantino (and to some degree, Scorsese) changed the way filmmakers use music in contemporary cinema. At a time when big studios were commissioning the most grandiose scores imaginable, or using soundtracks as a pissing contest to see who could get an original radio hit from a chart topping artist (a trend that’s starting to come back around), QT chose to open Pulp Fiction with a one-two punch of Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie,” stacking the rest of the film with classics from his record collection in lieu of any original score whatsoever (Jackie Brown achieved even greater results using this formula). In the same way that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is a love letter to the films and culture of the 1960s, the soundtrack is as era-appropriate as you’d expect, recontextualizing heavily-rinsed tunes like Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson,” Bob Seger’s “Ramblin Gamblin Man” and Deep Purple’s “Hush” peppered with more obscure fare from QT’s ephemeral archives. The songs are punctuated with vintage radio advertisements, so it’s like you’re cruising to 75 minutes of L.A. radio in 1969. Includes music by Vanilla Fudge, Dee Clark, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Box Tops, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and more. 33 tracks altogether, spread over four sides of clear orange vinyl housed in gatefold jacker with printed insert and Hollywood map poster, recommended.

• translucent orange colored vinyl
• 180g double vinyl pressing
• indie exclusive
• gatefold jacket
• includes printed insert, movie poster + Hollywood map poster
• limited edition
• music label: Columbia 2019

reviewed by sleve mcdichael 08/2019