The Royal Tenenbaums (Collector's Edition)

1	111 Archer Avenue / Mark Mothersbaugh 0:38
2	These Days / Nico 3:32
3	String Wuartet in F Major (Second Movement) / Ysaye Quartet 1:49
4	Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard / Paul Simon 2:43
5	Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Minor / The Mutato Muzika Orchestra 7:18
6	Wigwam / Bob Dylan 3:08
7	Look at That Old Grizzly Bear / Mark Mothersbaugh 0:23
8	Look at Me / John Lennon 2:51
9	Lullabye / Emitt Rhodes 1:07
10	Mothersbaugh's Canon / Mark Mothersbaugh 4:32
11	Police & Thieves / The Clash 6:00
12	Scrapping and Yelling / Mark Mothersbaugh 1:41
13	Judy Is a Punk / The Ramones 1:31
14	Pagoda's Theme / Mark Mothersbaugh 0:21
15	Needle in the Hay / Elliott Smith 4:18
16	Fly / Nick Drake 2:58
17	I Always Wanted to Be a Tenenbaum / Mark Mothersbaugh 0:48
18	Christmas Time Is Here / Vince Guaraldi Trio 2:44
19	Stephanie Says / The Velvet Underground 2:50
20	Rachel Evans Tenebaum / Mark Mothersbaugh 1:17
21	Sparkplug Minuet / Mark Mothersbaugh 3:20
22	The Fairest of the Seasons / Nico 4:08
23	Hey Jude / The Mutato Muzika Orchestra 5:27

Barnes & Noble

Following the successful soundtracks to Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums finds filmmaker Wes Anderson teaming up with Devo mastermind Mark Mothersbaugh to create a mesh of original instrumentals and painstakingly selected pop music. The result is an evocative mix tape of the kind record snobs and lovers craft for one another. Here, Mothersbaugh and Anderson choose bittersweet themes befitting this film centered on the unexpected reunion of a family of dysfunctional child prodigies and equally eccentric parents. Bookended by a pair of cuts by Teutonic chanteuse Nico (Jackson Browne's poignant "These Days" and the "Fairest of the Seasons"), this collection features some of rock's most melancholic performers. Elliot Smith (a fragile "Needle in the Hay"), Nick Drake (the delicate "Fly"), and the Velvet Underground (the gorgeous "Stephanie Says") rub shoulders with the über-punk of the Ramones ("Judy Is a Punk") and a classic Clash cover (Junior Murvin's "Police & Thieves"). Mothersbaugh's original compositions find him leading an ensemble containing brass, strings, celesta, and harpsichord, enabling him to move between sprightly Baroque and reggae guitar in "Lindbergh Place Hotel Suite" and a quick dash of Indian raga in "Pagoda's Theme." Topped off by Vince Guaraldi's stirring "Christmas Time Is Here" (better known from A Charlie Brown Christmas), The Royal Tenenbaums is a rich and kingly assortment of music. Dave Gil de Rubio

All Music Guide

Where the soundtrack to Rushmore captured that film's mix of brash and bittersweet through British Invasion obscurities and Mark Mothersbaugh's playfully poignant score, the music for The Royal Tenenbaums -- Wes Anderson's tale of a prodigal patriarch and the brood of child geniuses he left behind -- evokes the film's shabbily genteel New York through vintage folk-pop, classic punk, and a Mothersbaugh score that gives the delicacy of his earlier scores a newfound maturity. Two of the most affecting songs from Nico's Chelsea Girl, "These Days" and "The Fairest of the Seasons," bookend the soundtrack as beautifully concise meditations on, respectively, regret ("Please don't confront me with my failures/I had not forgotten them") and hope ("Do I stay or do I go?/And maybe try another time?"). In between, the music ranges from Elliott Smith's quietly devastating "Needle in the Hay" to the manic energy of the Ramones' "Judy is a Punk" and the Clash's "Police and Thieves" to the hazy glow of Bob Dylan's "Wigwam," each track adding to the album's strangely timeless but emotionally direct atmosphere. Mothersbaugh's score and the compiled music complement each other perfectly, with the velvety, Baroque feel of Nick Drake's "Fly" and the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says" mirrored in "Mothersbaugh's Canon" and the Vince Guaraldi Trio's sparkly "Christmas Time Is Here" echoed by "I Always Wanted to Be a Tenenbaum" and "Sparkplug Minuet." Ravel's "String Quartet in F Major (Second Movement)" and Mothersbaugh's "111 Arthur Avenue" and "Lindbergh Palace Hotel Suite" complete this elegant yet slightly skewed soundtrack. Nearly as clever and nuanced as the film itself, The Royal Tenenbaums is also a moving, well-rounded album in its own right. Heather Phares