David Mamet

Critics are calling Slingshot, an intoxicatingly adult pop album that explores the intricate arc of love from desire to longing to despair. Rolling Stone calls Pidgeon one of those rare singers who conveys emotion purely… while the Chicago Tribune says Rebecca Pidgeon plays guitar and sings with appealing authority on her new album Slingshot, a stunning gathering of tunes. Other song standouts include the yearning Sweet Hand of Mercy, the electric, driving Disintegration Man, the jazzy, noir-ish A Lonely Place, and the plaintive Baby Please Come Home. Throughout, Pidgeon displays a newfound confidence in her songwriting and her warm, nuanced vocals.

From the upbeat, jazzy sounds of The Devil Wears Prada to the jungle-adventure send-up of Tropic Thunder and the sentiment of last year’s hit Marley & Me, composer THEODORE SHAPIRO has consistently delivered memorable music for some of the funniest movies of the past five years. His careful touch has made him a sought-after collaborator for some of Hollywood’s leading comedy directors: David Frankel (Prada, Marley), Stiller (Tropic Thunder), John Hamburg (I Love You, Man, Along Came Polly), Mike Judge (Idiocracy) and, most recently, Harold Ramis (Year One). Shapiro, 37, is a rarity in modern film music: a classically trained composer (bachelor’s degree from Brown, master’s from Juilliard) who, despite commissions for classical works (including a well-received piano concerto in 1999), decided he’d rather be working in film.