I was upset to learn recently that one of the best music programs on television has been canceled. No, it's not American Idol. (I'll spare you a recap of last night's horrid upset finale.) The show was called Life, and it was on NBC. If you've never heard of it or seen it, don't worry. Apparently, no one else has, either.

Life was a cop drama that delivered consistently surprising story lines with some fantastic characters each week. But what I loved most about the show, what made it so memorable for me, was the music. During every episode, I'd invariably find myself holding my iPhone up to the TV speakers, as it scanned the audio to tell me what song was playing.

 

A lot of TV programs these days feature better music than you'll hear on most radio stations. This is something Carrie Brownstein wrote about recently on the Monitor Mix blog. But I thought the music on Life was unusually good.

It turns out Tricia Halloran, a DJ at NPR station KCRW and A&R director with Hum Music, selected the songs featured on "Life." Though I knew and already had a number of the tracks she chose for the show, I felt schooled more often than not when watching.

There's a very cool site called Tune Find where you can locate complete listings of songs used on popular TV programs, including Life. You should take some time to scan the complete list of tracks from Life in particular. But here are some standouts:

Earlimart: "The World" from Mentor Tormentor

Jim Noir: "Don't You Worry" from Jim Noir

Psapp: "Fix It" from The Camel's Back

Wotlie: "Then You'll Know" from Everyonesdeejay

Jackie Greene: "I Don't Live in a Dream" from Giving Up the Ghost

Hayden: "More Than Alive" from In Field & Town

Got a favorite show you can count on for good music, or are there any specific songs you've found from a show? Let us know.