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Up in the Air: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	November 9, 2009 (2009-11-09)
Label	Warner Music
Producer	Rolfe Kent

Up in the Air: Music from the Motion Picture is the official soundtrack to the 2009 comedy drama Up in the Air. The album was released on November 9, 2009. The CD version consists of fourteen tracks, while a blue translucent vinyl version was released consisting of 12 tracks. The vinyl version does not contain the tracks "Bust a Move" or "Milwaukee: To the Wedding with a Plus 1". The score to Up in the Air was composed by Rolfe Kent, who recorded his score with a 55-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. Tony Blondal orchestrated.

Background

Jason Reitman, director of Up in the Air said in an interview that he views a film's soundtrack like a character in the film, saying "I start thinking about the music very early on. While I'm writing the script, I'm putting together a matching iTunes library. The result is a collection of songs that speaks to the nature of travel and warmth of human connection."

Both "Help Yourself" and "Up in the Air" were not eligible for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Portions of Smith's song existed as part of previous songs he wrote and Renick wrote the song before he met Reitman.

CD track listing

Amazon exclusive track listing

Vinyl track listing

Side A

1. "This Land Is Your Land", Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, 4:27
2. "Security Ballet", Rolfe Kent, 1:31
3. "Goin' Home", Dan Auerbach, 4:53
4. "Taken at All", Crosby, Stills & Nash, 2:58
5. "Angel in the Snow", Elliott Smith, 2:35
6. "Help Yourself", Sad Brad Smith, 3:23

Side B

1. "Genova", Charles Atlas, 7:37
2. "Lost in Detroit", Rolfe Kent, 1:36
3. "Thank You Lord", Roy Buchanan, 2:24
4. "Be Yourself", Graham Nash, 2:59
5. "The Snow Before Us", Charles Atlas, 3:12
6. "Up in the Air", Kevin Renick, 5:29

Musicians

Yukon Jake, a band from St. Louis, Missouri, where much of the filming of Up in the Air took place, was briefly featured in the film's wedding scene.

Reitman asked Chicago-based musician Sad Brad Smith to compose a song for the film after hearing him play in a Chicago coffee shop. Smith's song "Help Yourself" is featured during a pivotal wedding scene in the film.

Kevin Renick wrote the song "Up in the Air" two years prior to knowing that Reitman was working on a film adaptation to the book. He was recently laid off at the time, and is an unrecorded, unemployed St. Louis musician. When Renick researched the film he discovered that the theme of the film was much the same as the song he had written. "The song is about uncertainty, disconnection and loneliness, while alluding to career transition," Renick explained. "It's a melancholy song, and a narrative about finding out where your life's going to go." He handed a cassette to Reitman after the director did a Q&A at Webster University. Renick included a spoken-word introduction about the song on the cassette so that Reitman would know why he was giving the song to him. Reitman found a tape deck, listened, liked the song and placed the original introduction and song from the cassette midway through the credits. Reitman stated that the song has a do-it-yourself authenticity.

References

1. ^ "Up in the Air (Music from the Motion Picture)". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
2. Goldwasser, Dan (October 23, 2009). "Rolfe Kent scores Up in the Air". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
3. ^ Johnson, Kevin C. (October 30, 2009). ""Up in the Air" soundtrack to be released Dec. 1". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on November 3, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
4. Tapley, Kristopher (October 30, 2009). "'Help Yourself' from 'Up in the Air' becomes the latest music branch rule book casualty". In Contention. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
5. Fees, Alex (November 14, 2009). "'Up in the Air' debuts in University City". KSDK. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
6. Nolen, Casey (December 11, 2009). "Cover band Yukon Jake relishing big screen moment in "Up in the Air"". KSDK. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
7. Markovitz, Adam (October 27, 2009). "'Juno' director Jason Reitman's latest, 'Up in the Air': Hear his hand-picked soundtrack star here". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
8. Williams, Joe (November 13, 2009). "'Up in the Air' gives St. Louis musician a big break". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
9. Wichern, Amanda (December 4, 2009). ""Up in the Air": A dream came true for Kirkwood High grad Kevin Renick when his song was featured in new George Clooney movie". Webster-Kirkwood Times. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
10. Williams, Joe (September 16, 2009). "Toronto filmfest day 7: packing up". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
11. Pond, Steve (October 7, 2009). "'Up in the Air' Sounds Great, Too". The Wrap. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
12. Whitlock, Cordell; Bush, Mike (November 9, 2009). "St. Louisan pens title track for locally filmed "Up in the Air"". KSDK. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
13. Held, Kevin (December 11, 2009). "Kevin Renick delighted to hear his song in "Up in the Air" credits". KSDK. Retrieved December 12, 2009.

• Comedy-drama film soundtracks
• 2009 soundtrack albums
• Rhino Entertainment soundtracks