Here Are 3 of Director Sofia Coppola’s Favorite Albums, and We Can’t Help but Agree With Her Choices - VICE
Sofia Coppola has long been considered a visionary director for her attention to detail and eye for sumptuous scenes. With Francis Ford Coppola as a father, there’s really no alternative. But Sofia Coppola cultivated her own image with acclaimed films like Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation, and The Virgin Suicides. So it’s no surprise that her taste in music reflects her creative vision. In a 2004 Entertainment Weekly feature, Coppola listed 12 of her favorite albums, and these three stand out.
Fans often consider My Bloody Valentine a staple of shoegaze and new wave, with their 1991 album Loveless a prime example. And for good reason. Its innovative sound came from vocalist Kevin Shields essentially inventing a new approach to guitar. Through glide guitar techniques, digital samples, and unique tuning, the sound on Loveless was something totally new.
As for Sofia Coppola, she hadn’t yet made Marie Antoinette, with its anachronistic new wave soundtrack, at the time of the EW article. But it’s clear that Coppola was always interested in the genre. “Great, romantic, melancholic, and dreamy,” she said of Loveless. “One of my favorite albums.”
Fans highly regard Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album as one of the best live albums ever made. Whether that would be the case if it wasn’t recorded just a few months before Kurt Cobain’s death is anyone’s guess. But despite this album’s tragic connotation, released just a few months after Cobain’s death, Nirvana’s turn on MTV Unplugged ended up widely beloved.
Sofia Coppola wholeheartedly agreed. “This album is sacred,” she said in 2004. There’s no doubt that a lot of Nirvana fans would agree with that as well. Many retrospectives exist about that performance, recorded in late 1993. From the funereal set design to Cobain’s emotionally raw vocals, the album holds great significance for fans. Coppola added, “And there’s something personal about it.”
Roxy Music’s final album, Avalon, released in 1982. The group’s later work pioneered a branch of British new wave that blended with pop production and jazz to create what became known as sophisti-pop. A unique entry in the new wave catalog, but one that Avalon essentially put into practice.
“Always good, romantic, and a classic,” said Sofia Coppola. The director seemed drawn to albums with a romantic feel, and considering the atmosphere of her films at the time, that makes sense. For Avalon, she even added some song recommendations. “This has ‘More Than This’ on it and ‘To Turn You On’ … for when you’re hanging out and feeling suave and sophisticated.”
