Mr. Corman: Season 1 by Nathan Johnson

Now we’re near the end of Act I, and our story is taking a major turn. ”Mr. Corman,” the Apple TV+ series, is an amazing piece of television. The single-season show (it’s been confirmed that it is not coming back for another season) was created, produced, directed, written, and starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a host of unexpected guests.

It is most certainly not for everyone — in fact, it may be just for me and no-one else. At the end of the roughly five hours of watching, I felt elated. The arc of the season into the finale was oddly compelling despite it feeling sluggish at times. But it’s stuck with me, it was so worth it, and I enjoy how the Soundtrack evokes key beats of the season for me.

Music features prominently throughout the season. Good songs you’ll recognize play throughout, but the original music, written by longtime Gordon-Levitt collaborator Nathan Johnson (cousin of director Rian Johnson), found on the Soundtrack is fantastic. Over the course of its ten episodes, what starts out normal takes many many unexpected audio (and visual) twists and turns: a musical number (shown above, featuring Debra Winger, who plays Gordon-Levitt’s character Mr. Corman’s mother); retired, grammy-nominated rapper Logic showing up for his on-screen debut as a social media influencer, along with a new song he came out of retirement to write just for the Soundtrack; and Juno Temple (Ted Lasso’s Keeley Jones) appearing as the main character’s ex-girlfriend, joining Gordon-Levitt as co-lead-singer. Everything combined to create the analog-but-digital musical conscious of Mr. Corman.

My love of the show is definitely coloring my opinion of the music. Mr. Corman’s struggles throughout the season are punctuated by myriad digital artifacts that evoke the computer-generated side of Sufjan Stevens or Son Lux. The Soundtrack floats through many musical genres due to the story of the show. And Mr. Corman makes literal music in each episode, a coping mechanism for being an anxiety-ridden 5th grade teacher.

Watch it, and stick with it. And listen. Perhaps like me you’ll find harmony in the world that Gordon-Levitt and his Composer Johnson have created. I hope that you do.

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23. Home Video by Lucy Dacus
24. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico by Various Artists
25. Siamese Dream by Fruit Bats
26. NINE by Sault
27. Observatory by Aeon Station
28. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania by Damien Jurado
29. A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications

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