The idea of popular musicians being used to score films is by no means a new one — indeed, some of the top composers at present, such as Danny Elfman and Clint Mansell, got their start in bands (Oingo Boingo and Pop Will Eat Itself, respectively). But we seem to have reached an interesting tipping point in the last few years, with a whole spate of bands and musicians, particularly from the electronic music and hip hop worlds, penning full scores for high-profile movies.
We’ve already heard Daft Punk‘s score for “Tron: Legacy” and Trent Reznor‘s work on “The Social Network” as two of the musical highlights of last year, and there’s imminent scores from Basement Jaxx and The Chemical Brothers on, respectively, “Attack the Block” and “Hanna,” which are picking up a ton of advance buzz. Now, one more musician is joining the fray — British hip-hop musician Mike Skinner, better known as The Streets.
Skinner’s just released what’s promised to be his last album under The Streets moniker, “Computers and Blues,” but he’s wasting no time in moving on — he revealed plans to make his own film back in January, and now The Daily Telegraph reveals that Skinner has been asked to create new music for the currently-filming big-screen version of cult British TV comedy “The Inbetweeners.” The show, which airs on E4 in the UK, and BBC America in the States, is from “Flight of the Conchords” writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, and follows the adventures of a quartet of awkward suburban teenagers as they try, mostly unsuccessfully, to get laid and get drunk, becoming something of a runaway success in the past couple of years.
The film, which sees the series’ cast joined by a host of new faces, including Lydia Rose Bewley, Laura Haddock, Tamla Kari and Jessica Knappett, of the fast-rising comedy group Lady Garden, and, in the true tradition of British-sitcoms-turned-movies, sees the characters transposed abroad, as they go on holiday to Malia in Greece.
The series has been fairly consistent so far, and with the whole creative team on board, including director Ben Palmer, there’s no reason that it won’t deliver for fans of the show. While there’s no word if Skinner’s involvement will be under his own name, or that of The Streets (we imagine the former is more likely), he’s certainly a perfect fit for the project — witness his track “Fit But You Know It” below. Shooting’s wrapping up at the moment, and it’s set to hit UK cinemas on August 19th; there’s no word on if and when it’ll see the light of the day in the US.
