The third installment of the Hunger Games franchise reaches theaters this week and with it comes another soundtrack filled with hip artists who will earn whole new audiences simply because one of their songs appears on the album.
Previously, relatively unknown bands like The Weeknd, Mikky Ekko, The Civil Wars and The Secret Sisters have benefited by being featured in the music accompanying the dystopian films, and that trend continues with the release of music from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
This time around, power synth pop group CHVRCHES—who turned in one of last year’s best albums—get a turn at mass exposure with their song “Dead Air” and melancholy songstress Lorde returns for her second Hunger Games offering with the Kanye West remix of her song “Flicker.”
Or course, bands benefiting from soundtrack appearances is nothing new, serving to launch or re-introduce careers as well as—in the case of Kenny Loggins—keep them going. Sometimes, soundtracks have proved so prolific that they have been honored with awards for their completeness and quality of original work, as it was with O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
This Friday Mixtape takes a look at some of those Hunger Games songs as well as notable soundtrack appearances from the past including Suicidal Tendencies from the cult classic Repo Man, Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise” from Less than Zero as well as 1990’s introduction to Pearl Jam via the movie Singles.
