The Gambler (soundtrack)

The Gambler (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name, a remake of the eponymous 1974 film. The album consisted of fifteen songs which are used in the film's narrative. It is mostly consisted of pop, rock and electronic dance music from contemporary bands such as M83, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Easy Star All-Stars and artists including Dinah Washington, Alan Price, Billy Bragg amongst others. The soundtrack was released on December 16, 2014 by Republic Records.

Background
As music had been an important role in Jim's life as a novelist, Rupert Wyatt curated a soundtrack consisted of source music to reflect Jim's attitude about genius, and the sound like how he imagined inside of Jim's head and what it might sound like. He referenced the opening lecture an example, where "Jim sets out his whole agenda and his whole philosophy on life, which is that you’re either a genius or you’re nothing" and the way the soundtrack has been chosen in the sequence, was considered as a great opportunity to "pick the greatest musical artists of our times and previous decades". He called the soundtrack as an ecletic mix of music, with each in turn are "true individual, timeless songs".

Reception
IndieWire listed it in their "Top 15 Soundtracks of 2014" and further describing it as "Scorsese-esque" which "laced with fatalistic cool and dark irony". Stephanie Merry from The Washington Post, despite reviewing the film negatively, praised its soundtrack having "full of gems". Stephen Benedict Dyson of The Conversation complimented the music as "ethereal".