Various Artists - 'Hallam Foe OST' (Domino) Released 13/08/07

The compilation album should be dying a death in the iPod era of dictating our own listening, but continuing strong sales of 'Now That's What I Call...' type albums show that there's still an appetite for being guided by other people's selections. Soundtrack albums in the wrong hands can become nothing more than a cash-in for the latest major studio release, but at their best can be a valid way of discovering new music. The Original Soundtrack of Hallam Foe, an independent Scottish film about a boy who comes to suspect the involvement of his stepmonther in his mother's death, is made up entirely of tracks from Domino Records' back catalogue, and the standard is accordingly as high as you'd expect.

The Caledonian theme is strong throughout the album, and appropriately begins with 'Blue Boy' by Orange Juice; a band who paved the way for Belle & Sebastian, The Pastels et al. U.N.P.O.L's 'Here On My Own' sounds like the Arcade Fire if they'd grown up in the Gorbals, before King Creosote provides the album's first of many diversions into folky introspection with 'The Something Else', sounding like a maudlin sea shanty. Folk-heavy the album may be, but Domino's eclecticism shines through. Junior Boys' 'Double Shadow' is danceable yet laid back electronica, like Hot Chip on downers, and there's even an excursion into dub from Future Pilot A.K.A. The only track written especially for the film is Franz Ferdinand's 'Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow'. It is an uncharacteristically restrained track, showing there's more to the band than brazen dancefloor stompers, the drum-free arrangement recalling Sondre Lerche.

The second half of the album settles more squarely into folk territory, with highlights including the delicate finger-picking of James Yorkston's 'Surf Song', and a typically slinky slab of electro-tinged acoustica from Juana Molina on 'Salvese Quien Punda'. Perhaps the album's best track is saved almost until last, with the beautiful 'I Hope That You Get What You Want' by Woodbine rounding the album off perfectly with its understated melancholy. As with any soundtrack, not every song can work when divorced from the context of the film. But the high hit-rate of Hallam Foe's OST is a testament to the quality control of Domino, and is a timely reminder that a soundtrack album can be far more than another merchandising tie-in on a par with the action figures and breakfast cereal.