The '80s beat

Greg Mottola is using a "classic alternative" soundtrack for his forthcoming Adventureland, and Yo La Tengo are providing the score. I've always felt Yo La Tengo would be a great subject for one of the rock documentaries that seem to be popping up everywhere these days, but their quiet professionalism and apparent lack of interest in doing anything other than exactly what they want to may make their appeal too limited. (NY Times)

The movie’s pensive tone is maintained in its score, which was written by another group whose origins date to the ’80s: the indie favorites Yo La Tengo. Since 2001 this Hoboken trio has branched out to write music for six films, a sampling of which was released last year on a CD called “They Shoot, We Score.” The group’s members admired “The Daytrippers” and already knew Mr. Mottola, who is a fan of the band, and found that their notion of how music is best used in films meshed with his.

“I’m down on songs that literally describe the action on the screen, because that’s unimaginative,” said Ira Kaplan, who founded Yo La Tengo with his wife, Georgia Hubley. As a result, he said, in “Adventureland” “sometimes the music is ahead of the movie by a beat, or behind by a beat.”

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Tom Courtenay