ABKCO have just released their most wondrous Asteroid City Original Soundtrack on vinyl for the first time ever for Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 (November 24th, 2023).

The double album contains original music by frequent Wes Anderson collaborator Jarvis Cocker, the original score by celebrated composer Alexandre Desplat, and many 1950s vintage country & western and skiffle tunes from the 1950s.

Having only been released digitally this past June, this 2LP edition on orange translucent vinyl will be the first version of the soundtrack for the critically acclaimed film offered in any physical format.

Asteroid City takes place in a fictional American desert town circa 1955. The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.

Side A:
1. WXYZ-TV Channel 8 - Alexandre Desplat
2. Last Train to San Fernando - Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys
3. Island of Dreams - The Springfields
4. April in Portugal - Les Baxter
5. Ida Red - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
6. Canon and Gigue in D Major - Henk Bouman, Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel

The first side of this delicious double vinyl opens on the shimmering, at times, perky and playful at others WXYZ-TV Channel 8 (Alexandre Desplat) and then brings us the frenetic Last Train to San Fernando (Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys), the dutiful 60s hipsway of Island of Dreams (The Springfields), the refreshing April in Portugal (Les Baxter), and then both the fiddle-tastic Ida Red (Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys) and then we get the dancefloor swirl that drives Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue in D Major (Henk Bouman, Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel).

Side B:
1. Opening Ceremony with Awards Presentation (Keynote Speaker: General Grif Gibson) - Alexandre Desplat
2. (I Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle - Tex Ritter
3. Orange Blossom Special - Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys
4. High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) - Tex Ritter
5. Cowboy’s Lament - Burl Ives
6. Viewing of the Astronomical Ellipses (Opening Comments: Dr. Hickenlooper) - Alexandre Desplat

Flipping the viny over, the second side opens on the upbeat and infectious Opening Ceremony with Awards Presentation (Keynote Speaker: General Grif Gibson) by Alexandre Desplat, the fun holiday track (I Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle (Tex Ritter), the atmospheric, fiddle-charged, train-hued Orange Blossom Special (Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys), and then we get High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) (by Tex Ritter, and from arguably the finest Western ever made), the beautifully melodic Cowboy’s Lament (Burl Ives), the side rounding out on the veritably glistening Viewing of the Astronomical Ellipses (Opening Comments: Dr. Hickenlooper) by Alexandre Desplat.

Side C:
1. Rose Marie - Slim Whitman
2. Indian Love Call - Slim Whitman
3. Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford
4. The Cattle Call - Eddy Arnold with Hugo Winterhalter’s Chorus and Orchestra
5. Special Seminar at the Playwright’s Request (Saltzburg Keitel’s Classroom) - Alexandre Desplat
6. Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven) – Asteroid City Cast
7. Kaw-Liga - Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys

Removing the second vinyl, an orange masterpiece unto itself, up first is the most purest of voices on record, that of Slim Whitman with the beautiful Rose Marie and the reverbed classic Indian Love Call, and then we get given the working man’s mantra of Sixteen Tons (Tennessee Ernie Ford), the delightful yodeling tune The Cattle Call (Eddy Arnold with Hugo Winterhalter’s Chorus and Orchestra), the side ending on the twinkling Special Seminar at the Playwright’s Request (Saltzburg Keitel’s Classroom) (by Alexandre Desplat), the interesting yeh-ha that drives Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven) (by the Asteroid City Cast) and the thigh-slapping Kaw-Liga by Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys.

Side D:
1. Emergency Assembly - Alexandre Desplat
2. A Bewildering and Bedazzling Celestial Mystery - Alexandre Desplat
3. How High The Moon - Les Paul & Mary Ford
4. The Streets of Laredo - Bing Crosby
5. Freight Train - The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group featuring Nancy Whiskey
6. You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep - Jarvis Cocker

Turning the vinyl over, the fourth and final side opens on a pair from Desplat in the form of the tuba-led bounce of Emergency Assembly and the more stoic A Bewildering and Bedazzling Celestial Mystery, before we get the melodically layered How High The Moon, the aching yearn found within Bing Crosby’s The Streets of Laredo, the recording coming to a close on the adorable Skiffle of Freight Train (The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group featuring Nancy Whiskey), and the low slung, throaty track You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep by Jarvis Cocker.

Asteroid City debuted theatrically on June 16th, 2023 and was written and directed by Wes Anderson. It features an ensemble cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan and Jeff Goldblum.

Multiple Academy Award® and Grammy Award® winning Parisian composer Alexandre Desplat began his career scoring French films, switching over to English language films in the early 2000s. He has scored Wes Anderson’s five previous films, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogsand The French Dispatch. Desplat has since earned an impressive number of accolades; including two Oscars for Best Original Score (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Shape of Water) and two Grammys for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (The King’s Speech, The Grand Budapest Hotel). Desplat has racked up nine additional Oscar® nominations over the years, two of which are for Wes Anderson films.

Musician/broadcaster/poet Jarvis Cocker, who is best known as the frontperson in English rock band Pulp, provided two original songs for Asteroid City Original Soundtrack and briefly appears in the film performing a musical number. Both “You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep” and “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” were produced by ex-Pulp guitarist Richard Hawley.

This is not the first time Cocker’s likeness and music have been intertwined in an Anderson film; his musical contributions to The French Dispatch, in which he sang in the voice of fictitious ‘60s French pop singer Tip-Top, inspired an entire album of material in said character, entitled Chansons d’Ennui Tip-Top (ABKCO, 2021).

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