Gustavo Santaolalla - Babel Original Soundtrack

As its title suggests, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's film revolves around the transcultural difficulties of human communication. But the linguistic dysfunction that drives the film's characters towards causal connection and inevitable tragedy has paradoxically inspired just the opposite on this adventurous musical mélange of a soundtrack. The meditative, often hypnotic fretboard inventions of Iñárritu's previous soundtrack collaborator, Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla (a 2005 Oscar winner for Brokeback Mountain), serve as the restless soul of interlocking plots in the film, the final chapter of a fatalistic trilogy that also includes the Santaolalla-scored Amores Perros and 21 Grams.

But on this expanded, double-disc collection, the South American composer's culture-bending film cues (including mastery of indigenous Arab stringed instruments and incorporating field recordings of Moroccan tribal music) also serve as artistic axes, reflective anchor points for a pop collection that's as ambitious and far-ranging as the film itself. While the "music from and inspired by" tag often indicates cynical record company marketing schemes, here it's an invitation to transcultural musical adventure that links Santaolalla's North African musical conjuring with the contemporary styles of Japan (the atmospherics of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Susumu Yolota, Shinichi Osawa's sly Earth, Wind & Fire/Fatboy Slim mashup, the teen pop of Takashi Fujii's "Oh My Juliet") and Tijuana (a generous sampling of effusive Norteño that includes Los Incomparables, Daniel Luna, and Agua Caliente). –Jerry McCulley

CD 01:

1. Tazarine - Gustavo Santaolalla
2. Tu Me Acostumbraste - Chavela Vargas
3. September / The Joker - (ATFC”s Aces High/Shinichi Osawa remix)
4. Deportation/Iguazu - Gustavo Santaolalla
5. World Citizen- I Won’t Be Disappointed - David Sylvian/Ryuichi Sakamoto
6. Cumbia Sobre El Rio - Blanquito Man/Control Machete
7. Hiding It - Gustavo Santaolalla
8. Masterpiece - Rip Slyme
9. Desert Bus Ride - Gustavo Santaolalla
10. Bibo No Aozora / Endless Flight / Babel - Ryuichi Sakamoto/Jaques Morelenbaum/Everton Nelson/Gust…
11. Tribal - Gustavo Santaolalla
12. Para Ques Regreses - El Chapo
13. Babel - Nortec Collective
14. Amelia Desert Morning - Gustavo Santaolalla
15. Jugo A La Vida - Las Tucanes De Tijuana
16. Breathing Soul - Gustavo Santaolalla
17. Blinding Sun, The - Gustavo Santaolalla

CD 02:

1. Only Love Can Conquer Hate - Ryuichi Sakamoto
2. El Panchangon - Los Incomparables
3. Two Worlds, One Heart - Gustavo Santaolalla
4. Phone Call, The - Gustavo Santaolalla
5. Gekkoh - Susumu Yokota
6. Catch, The - Gustavo Santaolalla
7. Mujer Hermosa - Los Incomparables
8. Into The WIld - Gustavo Santaolalla
9. Look Inside - Gustavo Santaolalla
10. Master, The - Gustavo Santaolalla
11. Oh My Juliet! - Takashi Fujii
12. Prayer - Gustavo Santaolalla
13. El Besito Cachichurris - Daniel Luna
14. Walking In Tokyo - Gustavo Santaolalla
15. Visitors, The - Hamza El Din
16. Morning Pray - Gustavo Santaolalla
17. Mi Adoracion - Agua Caliente
18. Skin Of The Earth, The - Gustavo Santaolalla
19. Bibo No Aozora/04 - Ryuichi Sakamoto/Jaques Morelenbaum