Now that and all of its choice cuts are back, let’s toast the shows that have perfected the art of the needle drop In case you’re not one of the who have already tuned in to ’s third season, the show— ’s fave and second-fave series of and , respectively—is indeed back. Which means that so is its uncanny knack for affecting needle drops, which stretch out a bit genre-wise this time around, with a and some by the likes of Giuseppe Verdi getting space on the shelf alongside yet another (but no less stellar) Van Morrison live cut. But where does land alongside the TV-soundtrack greats (your , your your , and—to skip across the pond for a moment—your )? Read on for our ranking of the 21 best TV soundtracks to date.
2 / 23 21. 21. “Train Song,” Vashti Bunyan (season 1 intro) If Jeff Tweedy records a cover just for your show (in this case, cult-’70s singer-songwriter Bill Fay’s gentle “Be Not So Fearful”), you’re doing—to quote a recently-ended series the —pretty, pretty, good.
Like the very funny spy dramedy itself, ’s soundtrack is eclectic and tough to pin down but always enthralling, with choice cuts as random as “Cool Rick” (Michael Chernus) fave “Root Down” by Beastie Boys, “If I Needed You” by Townes Van Zandt (a country classic that may as well be the anthem of our main character, sad-boy spy John [Michael Dorman]), and ace globetrotting instrumentals (Amedeo Tommasi, “Noi Giovani”). Our hero’s deadpan original songs (he�.
