Noah Baumbach names his 10 favourite records of all time
Noah Baumbach is among the major voices to have emerged from American independent cinema, known for his contributions to the mumblecore movement. Through films such as The Squid and the Whale and Marriage Story, Baumbach has become a highly acclaimed household name for fans worldwide.
Drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, Baumbach’s cinema is informed by a love for American comedies as well as French New Wave gems. In addition to the films of directors such as Woody Allen, Jean Renoir and Steven Spielberg, Baumbach’s vision of cinema has been heavily inspired by music.
In an interview, the director revealed that he conceptualises his characters’ tastes in music before setting out to write a screenplay. This helps him better understand who they are and the story in general. When asked about his favourite albums of all time, Baumbach started by talking about how important The Wizard of Oz was to his childhood.
He said: “I had the soundtrack on vinyl, which strangely didn’t have the actual characters from the movie on the cover. They must not have gotten the rights to the art; there was a generic Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion on the front. But the record was definitely from the movie, because it had interstitial dialogue between the songs. Having that record was like bringing the movie home with me.”
While talking about Blondie’s Parallel Lines, he gushed: “I love that album cover, and how they’re standing so confrontationally. Debbie Harry also has a scarf tied around her arm, which seemed really neat to me. I was in love with Debbie Harry, as much as you can be as a 10-year-old. When I found out she and Chris Stein were dating, I was both intrigued and sad, because it meant I’d never marry Debbie Harry.”
Check out the full list below.
Noah Baumbach’s 10 favourite records:
- The Wizard of Oz Soundtrack
- Parallel Lines – Blondie
- Slave to Love – Bryan Ferry
- Like a Prayer – Madonna
- On Fire – Galaxie 500
- The Grand Tour – George Jones
- Sail Away – Randy Newman
- Sound of Silver – LCD Soundsystem
- Yeezus – Kanye West
- The Cars – The Cars
This eclectic selection also contains Kanye’s acclaimed album Yeezus, which Baumbach experienced with Greta Gerwig during the promotional campaign of Frances Ha. According to the director, this was the Kanye album that instantly resonated with him.
Baumbach described: “I love how every song is like an apocalypse; it almost feels like it’s coming from behind you, and then it passes over you and keeps going. There’s so much momentum. The beginning of his songs often have this feeling that something major is going to happen, and then they live up to it.”
