Like Crazy (Music from the Motion Picture)

iTunes Review

It’s refreshing when a movie soundtrack sounds like its sole purpose was to appropriately score the film’s scenes rather than shill a record label’s new batch of crossover hopefuls. Like Crazy is such a soundtrack, thanks in part to composer Dustin O’Halloran; his instrumental interludes and fully formed pieces make up six of the 14 tracks here. He sets the tone with the spare “Arrivals N2,” where piano lines intertwine under a moody cello. In the similarly minimal “We Float,” he seems to be playing the piano’s resonance first and foremost, letting lilting notes ring out and fade into one another. At almost five minutes and 22 seconds, his “Opus 37” leaves the listener hanging on every note as his playing slowly builds palpable tension. Other notable contributions include Paul Simon’s “Crazy Love, Vol. II” from 1986’s Graceland, which sounds delightfully dated next to M83’s gossamer instrumental track “I Guess I’m Floating” and the angularly arranged indie rock of “Surprise Hotel” by Fool’s Gold. Figurine fleshes out the mix with analog electro, with the quirky “Impossible.”