Battle of the soundtracks

Garden State Soundtrack 9 out of 10 Various artists Epic records

Two conclusions can be made after listening to the Garden State Soundtrack and the Wicker Park Soundtrack back-to-back.

One, electronica is the new face of early- to mid-20s angst.

Two, if your girlfriend all of a sudden disappears for no reason, listening to emo and/or indie music will create a good ambience for your experience.

The Garden State Soundtrack is one of the most complete soundtracks I have ever heard.

Often times, soundtracks don't have the song that you really want, or they have strange score pieces that everyone always ends up skipping.

Garden State has every notable song from the movie, and has them ordered so that they flow well and don't require any skipping.

If you've seen "Garden State," the appreciation you will have for the songs becomes much more complete.

Every single song, with the exception of the very last one, is totally listenable.

The soundtrack hails such talents as Coldplay, The Shins, Zero 7, Remy Zero, Nick Drake, Thievery Corporation, Simon and Garfunkel, Iron and Wine and the 100-percent irresistible Frou Frou.

The styles of music range from electronica to indie rock to oldie love songs.

Much like the movie "Reality Bites," "Garden State" is a movie rooted in its music, as a way to define a specific set of experiences. It shows the angst people in their early 20s are feeling right now, and gives them great tunes to help them deal with it.

It makes the music easy to relate to, and therefore, easy to listen to. I have become a Garden State Soundtrack junkie, and I fear anyone else who gets their hands on it will, too.

Wicker Park Soundtrack 7 out of 10 Various artists Lakeshore Records

As for the Wicker Park Soundtrack, the music is not really interconnected with the story in the movie.

It merely acts as a set piece to help the story flow forward. The music, therefore, exists separately from the movie, which is why it's important to note that bad movies can create good soundtracks. Case in point.

This album has great artists on it: Stereophonics, Death Cab for Cutie, Broken Social Scene, Mazzy Star, the Shins, Mates of State, +/-, Mum (Sigur Ros' spin-off band) and The Postal Service all make an appearance on the album.

The bonus is that the Shins and the Postal Service both have new songs featured.

All of the songs on the album are dark and emotional.

It is a bit of a downer, but worth the time and money invested.

Make sure to give a good listen to "Lover's Spit" by Broken Social Scene, "When I Goosestep" by the Shins and "We Have a Map of the Piano" by Mum.

Interestingly, there are a few cover songs, two of which are the weakest songs on the album. Mates of State covers Nico's classic "These Days" and Johnette Napolitano and Danny Lohner cover Coldplay's "The Scientist."

There should be a "no more than one cover per album" rule. Both covers are awkward and unsatisfying.

Just listen to the originals, especially Nico.

These two soundtracks are great for different reasons.

The Garden State Soundtrack is great because it brings the memories of the movie to your headphones.

The Wicker Park Soundtrack is great because each individual song (with a few exceptions) is great in its own right, so you can forget all about the movie.