Nick Thorburn Releases Soundtrack to Podcast 'Serial'

BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 17, 2014

Weekly podcast/radio program This American Life recently launched a spinoff called Serial, in which host Sarah Koenig tells a single non-fiction story over the course of an entire season. So what does this have to do with music? Well, the soundtrack was created by Nick Thorburn of the Unicorns and Islands.

The podcast is four episodes into its run, and Thorburn has now shared his soundtrack in full. The album is available on Bandcamp and can be streamed below. It's been released under Thorburn's proper name, rather than his Nick Diamonds stage name.

Music from SERIAL contains 15 tracks, but these are all instrumental and very short. Only one of the tracks squeaks over the two-minute mark, while many of them are a minute long or less. These range from jaunty, rock-inspired pieces to quiet, more atmospheric snippets. Although there are no vocals, it's still possible to detect Thorburn's distinctive style.

For those who would like to hear the music in context, the Serial podcast is free on iTunes. The first season examines a Baltimore killing from 1999, in which a teenager was given a life sentence for murder despite questionable evidence.

Music from SERIAL:

1. Bad Dream (the theme)
2. Digital Dementia
3. In A Well
4. Still Dreaming (the theme) II
5. No One Dies I
6. No One Dies II
7. No One Dies III
8. Adnan
9. Murderland I
10.Unsolved Mystery
11.Murderland II
12. Where Is Asia I
13. Where Is Asia II
14. Where Is Asia III
15. Stopped Dreaming (the theme) III

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