Last week, while reluctantly digesting a steady stream of Academy Awards buildup all over the media, I reconsidered both the appreciation and role of musical works in the context of the Oscars. For something that is so commonly understated, the film soundtrack is an everlasting emblem of interdisciplinary arts. I contend that image and sound in film do not work on separate parallel tracks, say as in a professional editing software timeline like Final Cut Pro, but are better represented as a gestaltist media art form (something more akin to Twitter's social video platform Vine).

As David Lynch has said, "Films are 50 percent visual and 50 percent sound." _1. It is the power and play between visual and sonic elements that can really propel in film into legendary heights, as this year's list for Best Original Score nominations displayed a keen sense for musical scores that drove the narrative as much as the cinematographic work. The contenders included Dario Marianelli, Alexandre Desplat, John Williams, Thomas Newman, and the chosen winner Mychael Danna for his soundtrack in Ang Lee's Life of Pi. I suggest you check out these composers' recent works to gain some insight on the current state of movie soundtracks.

On a slightly-related note, I was inspired to pick this week's ASSR Album Of The Week based upon its ability to create a visual atmosphere from its sounds. The latest album from English teendreams Veronica Falls results in an experience similar to sitting through a Hollywood drama. The rhythms are peppy and upbeat on the earlier songs like Broken Toy and Waiting for Something to Happen, suitably acting as 'character introductions' in the make-believe narrative force of the album.

The plot thickens during during the reflective tones of Everybody's Changing, featuring the lyrics You moved to another town/ But you wont look back/ No, we wont look back in somber repetition as the band leads up towards the album's conclusion of mutual defeat and bitter understanding in Last Conversation.

This album slowly settles half-way through into a bleak and monochromatic slumber, but the listener is carefully guided through the experience. This album does not deliver a Hollywood-ending, but instead relies upon its creation of imagery through lyrics and trusting relationship with its audience that aims to charm throughout the course of the presentation rather than end with a feel-good, blasé fortune cookie ending which actually distances the listeners from the music. Give this album a deep listen and let the band lead you sonically through their localized American Beauty story of misaligned friendships, ephemeral youth, and love forever lost.

Turn on and tune in now: ASSR Album Of The Week on Spotify

1. The Monster Meets ... Filmmaker David Lynch, HTBG, 1998.