As Paul Thomas Anderson readies his latest film, The Master, due in theaters next month, his 1999 film, Magnolia, still remains to be one of our favorites and a masterpiece in our eyes. While Magnolia captured our attention and keeps us going back for more, his three hour odyssey of connectivity was moved and pushed forward by a brilliant soundtrack that featured music from Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, Supertramp, and others.
While Mann has a majority of the songs featured in the film and on the soundtrack, including a brilliant cover of Harry Nilsson's "One," it was Brion's score that helps takes the music of the picture to a whole new place. For fans of Mann, this was her first record, or partial record, in four years and Brion, known for his session work, spent most of the 90's cutting his teeth as a producer and composure and thanks to P.T. Anderson, he found his chops. In an interesting twist, Brion had worked with Mann prior as a touring member of her former band, 'Til Tuesday in the late 80's, which in many ways brings together the motif of the film - connectivity and how we as people connect with each other. Yet, while the songs of Magnolia are striking on their own, but when coupled with the story on screen, especially the famous scene that has everyone in the cast singing Mann's "Wise Up," and "Save You," which would gain her an Oscar® nomination, the music becomes a cast member itself.
