It's hard to believe it's been nearly two decades since Quentin Tarantino's classic Pulp Fiction took the film world by storm, encouraging a million copycats and inspiring every shaggy dude that ever worked at a Blockbuster Video to try his hand at filmmaking. One somewhat unexpected aspect of that film's runaway success was the reminder of QT's impeccable taste in music – with the soundtrack going on to create a sensation in and of itself. Music and composition have been central to every Tarantino film, and his latest work – the Oscar-feted Western slavery tale Django Unchained – is no exception.
As always, Tarantino has lifted some choice cuts from his no doubt mind-boggling collection to work with here. Kicking off with a remastered version of the sweeping title theme (written by Italian legend Luis Bacalov for the original Django film in 1966), the soundtrack moves through an enigmatic Ennio Morricone selection (The Braying Mule – lifted from the 1970 Clint Eastwood western Two Mules For Sister Sara – Morricone also contributes several originals) and maintains a sense of identity throughout by using pertinent cuts of dialogue from the film itself. Tarantino has gone one step further in the quest for authenticity here, eschewing digital mastering techniques and using recordings of his personal vinyl as audio. You can actually hear the needle being dropped on the record, as well as the cracks and pops synonymous with that format. It's a nice touch, as is the fact that this is the first time QT has commissioned original songs for one of his films. They all come up trumps – particularly Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton's aching Freedom and John Legend's soulful Who Did That To You?
