Various – Until The End Of The World (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The first cd album I purchased with my own money, and a fascinating view of what was going to happen in music during the 90's. Which is funny: the Wim Wenders movie didn't guess the future that much (minireview: go for the miniseries +5hour version, which is the best way to watch this fantastic alegoric cyberpunk tale), but its music contained everything that was going to sound that decade. The array of artists is impressive, the production of all tracks is crisp and very near to psychedelic trip hop (the Fred/Patti Smith spoken word duo being the most surprising example), and well, there is one of the better Daniel Lanois ballads, Talking Heads' swan song (whose echoes and nearly-breakbeat percussions make it the most futuristic of their career), a perfect Julee Cruise rendition, a fascinating Neneh Cherry dub of the song of her I love most... let me take some air.

Also a CAN single which is the best thing they made in a very very long time and a perfect trip-hop song on its own, one of the better REM ballads with B52's Kate Pierson, a fantastic unknown song by Depeche Mode, and I could really mention them all. The minimalistic ethnic Graeme Revell snippets fit perfectly with the cold, echoed and melancholic mood of the rest of the songs, mood which is only partially left behind when the title song from U2 kicks in. It's a pity that the soundtrack leaves many songs from the movie which are also vital to the sad atmosphere but, as it is now, it's an impressive collection of songs that blend, surprisingly, alternative, electronic, indie and mainstream.