Various Artists Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Includes 5 untitled hidden tracks following "Super 16." KILL BILL was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Film/TV/Visual Media. Quentin Tarantino has always armed himself with an arsenal of eclectic songs for his pop-culture-filled films, and the soundtrack to KILL BILL VOL. 1 is no exception. To kick off the first part of his ultra-violent kung fu revenge extravaganza, Tarantino offers up Nancy Sinatra's brooding "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)." The tone swiftly changes to upbeat rockabilly with the Charlie Feathers ditty "That Certain Female," and the stylistic shifts keeping coming with Luis Bacalov's spry spaghetti Western tune "The Grand Duel - (Parte Prima)" and Bernard Hermann's creepy "Twisted Nerve." Hip-hop innovator/martial arts fan the RZA contributes two songs (one intriguingly paired with a Charles Bernstein number), Santa Esmeralda stretches out "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" into a 10-minute salsa-flavored epic, Meiko Kaji breezes through "The Flower of Carnage," and Neu! appears in an ominous excerpt. Like Uma Thurman as KILL BILL's lead character, any soundtrack that features this bizarre blend of artists--along with Zamfir, Master of the Pan-flute--commands respect and demands that the audience take note of the killer cuts.

• Genre: Soundtracks & Film Scores
• Format: Vinyl