The Get Down soundtrack album review: more modern shape-throwing than a throwback to the era

The Get Down is Baz Luhrmann's new Netflix series about the birth of hip-hop amidst the rough and tumble of New York in the 1970s. You'd imagine the soundtrack for a series like that would draw from the riches of the era, but Luhrmann and creative foil Nas have taken a much different tack with new music from the show's cast and such names as Christina Aguilera, Janelle Monae, Michael Kiwanuka, Leon Bridges, Miguel and others.

While there are a handful of throwback flavours such as Lyn Collins' emphatic Think and Donna Summer's Bad Girls, it's tracks like the infectious Hum Along and Dance from Monae, the disco shape-throwing Telepathy from Aguilera with Nile Rodgers and Cadillac from Miguel which set the tone, making for a mixed and sometimes confusing bag.

Those seeking the sounds of the era in question should check the recent Boombox compilation.

[ twitter.com/thegetdown ]