I’ve written before about how much I love the “alternative history” concept, which is brilliantly executed on the Amazon original TV series The Man In The High Castle. When I heard there was going to be a soundtrack album for the show that would be created around the theme of “Resistance Radio,” I was very intrigued!
The soundtrack features new recordings of songs from the era the show takes place in, and was co-produced by Brian Burton, AKA Danger Mouse, AKA one half of Broken Bells. Artists lending their vocals to the classic songs include Beck, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, The Shins, Norah Jones and Karen O.
I love the idea of this soundtrack, and I think it’s great that it was mastered down to vinyl before being re-mastered back to digital and CD. That being said, I feel like there’s a missed opportunity here. I wish they would have extended the alternative history concept even further by creating new music in the style of the era rather than re-recording the original songs.
But I’m nitpicking, here.
Hear about the creation of this unusual soundtrack on the latest episode of the always-excellent All Songs Considered podcast from NPR. Host Bob Boilen interviews Brian Burton about the fascinating and fast paced process they used to create these songs.
Resistance Radio: The Man In The High Castle Album comes out April 4.
