Django Unchained OST

Given that David Bowie’s “Cat People” and a slew of Ennio Morricone compositions featured on the OST of Quentin Tarantino’s last film, Inglourious Basterds, have been on repeat around here since 2009, anticipation has been running high for the Django Unchained OST — long before we caught wind of the likes of Rick Ross, John Legend, Frank Ocean, and Jim Croce being included.

In addition to those marquee acts, the soundtrack boasts a return of Morricone’s work (a particularly apropos pick considering the Spaghetti Western genre this film most prominently draws on) and one very unexpected surprise: a track credited to James Brown and late, great rapper Tupac Shakur.

While the retail version of the Django Unchained OST comes just short of 2 dozen cuts, a handful of tracks are, in fact, sound clips from the film, keeping a narrative feel to the set almost akin to the use of skits on hip-hop records.

The result is more than a mere playlist Tarantino and friends have compiled to compliment the film; it’s an almost cinematic approach to the soundtrack genre that is sequenced to split up vocal tunes with instrumentals, soundbytes with thematic pieces, and so on.

Undoubtedly one of our favorite soundtracks of 2012, consider picking up a copy and scan the tracklist for a standout heard in the theater below:

Django Unchained OST

01) James Russo | “Winged”
02) Luis Bacalov | “Django” (Theme)
03) Ennio Morricone | “The Braying Mule”
04) Christoph Waltz | “In That Case, Django, After You…”
05) Luis Bacalov, Edda Dell’orso | “Lo Chiamavano King (His Name Is King)”
06) Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton | “Freedom”
07) “Five-Thousand-Dollar Nigga’s And Gummy Mouth Bitches”
08) Luis Bacalov | “La Corsa” (2nd Version)
09) Don Straud | “Sneaky Schultz and the Demise of Sharp”
10) Jim Croce | “I Got a Name”
11) Riz Ortolani | “I Giorni Dell’ira”
12) Rick Ross | “100 Black Coffins”
13) Jerry Goldsmith with Pat Metheny | “Nicaragua”
14) Samuel L. Jackson | “Hildi’s Hot Box”
15) Ennio Morricone | “Sister Sara’s Theme”
16) Morricone/Elisa Toffoli | “Ancora Qui”
17) James Brown & Tupac Shakur | “Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable)”
18) John Legend | “Who Did That To You?”
19) Brother Edge | “Too Old to Die Young”
20) Samuel L. Jackson | “Stephen The Poker Player”
21) Ennio Morricone | “Un Monumento”
22) Samuel L. Jackson | “Six Shots Two Guns”
23) Annibale E i Cantori Moderni | “Trinity (Titoli)”