In the spotlight

What’s a bust for some is a boon for others. The music industry might be fragmenting to bits, but other media are picking up the pieces. Movies, television and YouTube are increasingly proving to be the way to find out about a great song or artist. Witness the ascension of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” -- an underground sleeper one minute, the next a Grammy-nominated hit, thanks to exposure in the trailer for “Pineapple Express” and more recently, the critically adored “Slumdog Millionaire.”

For the final record rack of 2008, we take a look at some of the latter half of the year’s most prominent soundtracks and scores.

David Byrne

“Big Love: Hymnal”

Todo Mundo

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With “Big Love: Hymnal,” David Byrne pens a batch of clean but knowing paeans to the polygamist lifestyle featured on the HBO show starting its third season in January.

Many of Byrne’s short but articulated songs grapple with the mysterious, confounding nature of faith and the suspicion that underlies the Henrickson household at the center of the series.

“Great Desolations” is a sliver of unease with suspended reefs of guitar and xylophone that folds into the tight-lipped Christian cha cha of “A House on Sand.” Salvation Army marching band instrumentation (baritone horn, fluegelhorn) lines a handful of tracks with solemn or joyful reserve.

Nothing on the album applies to the outer edges of religious experience, no loss of faith or nirvana or shivering redemption.

Instead, Byrne concerns himself with austere, private expressions of pride or wonder, feelings a religious person frequently might have -- but not share.

James Newton Howard

“Defiance”

Sony Classics

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James Newton Howard already has had a hand in one of the most acclaimed scores of the year, providing the softer moments of “The Dark Knight,” a collaboration with Hans Zimmer. On “Defiance,” the score for director Ed Zwick’s World War II drama, Howard has another star artistic partner: acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell, who contributed to the Oscar-winning score for “The Red Violin.”

What the two create here is a quiet, often minimalist piece. It flirts with classical stylings -- the violin is a standard yet admirable accompaniment for almost any film dealing with the Holocaust -- but Howard’s score drifts into more atmospheric terrain. The best tracks are a showcase for Bell’s unassuming but respectful performance. See “Exodus,” in which Bell’s elegance is surrounded by only the barest of notes.

There are few recurring themes, but there are rhythmic bursts that give way to a romantic swing in “Police Station,” and some mournfully lovely counter melodies in “Tuvia Kisses Lilka.” There’s also a fair amount of ambience, most notably in “Make Them Count.” It’s brief but striking, with a stalking bass drum erupting into an anxious violin frenzy. Perhaps Howard’s experiences on “The Dark Knight” stuck with him.

Various Artists

“Rachel Getting Married”

Lakeshore Records

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Director Jonathan Demme populates the background of many scenes in “Rachel Getting Married” with musicians rehearsing for the film’s emotional climax, in which a troubled woman (Anne Hathaway) confronts a long-held trauma.

The same sense of loose improvisation that Demme creates on-screen pervades the soundtrack, a collection that includes dreamy pop, Brazilian dance and mini, jazz-leaning orchestrations yet still sounds like a unified whole. The standout cut here is “Up to Our Nex” from singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock. It’s a buoyant little ditty -- a tale of stubborn absolution with a minor horn section and just a dash of spacey electric guitar notes.

But the acoustic compositions from New York-based Palestinian composer Zafer Tawil are more than set dressing. His three pieces capture a chamber orchestra caught in improvisation, their seemingly random plucked strings and violin notes slowly building into sparse, moody melodies.

“Slumdog Millionaire” soundtrack

Various Artists

N.E.E.T./Interscope

* * * 1/2

The love that game show hero Jamal nurses for fellow orphan Latika is at the center of Danny Boyle’s fairy tale set in Mumbai, but the soundtrack for “Slumdog Millionaire” is smitten with a different woman: M.I.A., the daughter of a Tamil Tiger insurgent and the London-raised poster child for East meets West club cool.

Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman wrote most of the soundtrack, but this first release on M.I.A.’s Interscope label N.E.E.T. coalesces around her sensibilities.

On “Ringa Ringa,” featuring playback singer Alka Yagnik and Indian actress-singer Ila Arun, Rahman updates a classic Bollywood song. “O . . . Saya,” the collaboration between M.I.A. and Rahman, opens the film with subcontinental tension cut with fantasy. “Mausam & Escape” pins classic guitar and sitar against racing tablas and synths.

For many ears, M.I.A.’s single is the choice cut. “Paper Planes,” and especially the bombastic DFA remix that exchanges the gunshot-cash register motif for a funk bass line and choppy disco synths, are indeed standouts.

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todd.martens@latimes.com

margaret.wappler@ latimes.com