Soundtracking With Edith Bowman

Our guest on this latest lockdown episode of Soundtracking is a director, writer, producer and actor, who has worked on a wide range of projects including Late Night, Mr Robot and Girls, and won a Golden Globe for the TV series, Transparent. Nisha Ganatra's latest film is The High Note, which is out on home entertainment formats now. Starring Diana Ross' daughter, Tracee Ellis Ross, Dakota Johnson, Kelvin Harrison Jr and Ice Cube, it tells the story of a PA to a famous singer who wants to become a producer.  As well as a load of classic needle drops, The High Note features plenty of original tunes too, mostly sung by Tracee. We also hear score from the films of Jane Campion, Hildur Guðnadóttir and Ang Lee.

The term cult following is bandied about a lot, but when it comes Stranger Things, it's certainly one that applies. Fans simply love the Netflix show - what with its blend of mystery, horror, science fiction, supernatural weirdness and childhood innocence, not to mention lashings of 80s nostalgia. So it was a real joy to speak to series composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, who've channelled the old-skool electronic spirit of their band  S U R V I V E into three seasons-worth of score - all released through Lakeshore and Invada records.

Our latest guest on Lockdown Soundtracking is the wonderful Nitin Sawhney. It's hard to know where to begin when it comes to summarising his career, so diverse has it been. Suffice to say, he's made considerable contributions to just about every single creative art-form, from film, TV and video game scores to theatre, poetry and dance. As well as his own illustrious history as a recording artist, he's also collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music business, including Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Anoushka Shankar, A.R. Rahman and many, many more. So perhaps the best place to start is with his latest single from the album Immigrants, due out in September. 

It's a very special episode for score lovers this week, as Edith is joined by Geoff Barrow and Redg Weeks from Invada Records. With its impeccable roster of composers, Invada's back catalogue has featured more times on our podcast than we can count. Among the artists they've worked with who we've spoken to - Cliff Martinez, Mica Levi, Blanck Mass, Warren Ellis and, of course, Clint Mansell. They've also been incredibly supportive of what we do, so it really was a treat chatting with them both remotely. In addition to his celebrated band work, Geoff collaborates with another former guest on this show, Ben Salisbury, on film and TV scores. And he's teamed up with Ben and Bristol outfit The Insects for his most recent project, Alex Garland's mind-bending tech-noir series, Devs. As always, there's plenty of music to enjoy.

Our guest on this latest lockdown episode of Soundtracking requires very little introduction. We all know what a talented chap Ricky Gervais is - whether writing, acting or directing.  And he's put all of these skills to good use for After Life, now in its second season on Netflix. For those of you who don't know, After Life tells the story of Tony, whose world is turned upside down after his wife dies from breast cancer, and features a brilliant ensemble cast including Ashley Jensen, Penelope Wilton, Jo Hartley and Joe Wilkinson. The music is pitch-perfect and wide-ranging too, from the needle-drops to Andy Burrows' score. Expect music from Hammock, Lionel Richie, The Carpenters, David Bowie and Bill Withers!

As quarantine continues, it's a welcome return to Soundtracking for Lenny, who joined us back in episode 107 from the BFI to discuss The Little Stranger. Lenny's most recent project is Hulu's adaptation of Sally Rooney's fantastic novel, Normal People, which will be available in full via the BBC iPlayer from April 27th.  Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, it's a beautifully pitched coming-of-age tale that tells the story of Marianne and Connell as they navigate a relationship during their school and university years. As well as featuring loads of cracking needle-drops, Normal People is scored by Lenny's longtime collaborator, Stephen Rennicks. 

We have two guests for you on this latest episode of Soundtracking in the shape of director Nick Rowland and musician Benjamin Power - aka Blanck Mass. The pair have collaborated on Nick's debut feature, Calm With Horses, a visceral crime drama set in the wild west of Ireland starring Cosmo Jarvis and Barry Keoghan. It is a remarkably accomplished piece of film making, which also marks Ben's first extended foray into the world of scoring. As an album, it very much stands up in its own right too.

Our guest on the latest lockdown Soundtracking is a hugely gifted writer, actor, activist and rapper - and, it turns out, properly top bloke too. Riz Ahmed cut his teeth on independent films such Shifty and Four Lions, but has also had major parts in blockbusters like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  He joined Edith to discuss a whole range of subjects - not least a new short he's made with Aneil Karia called The Long Goodbye. It's available on Youtube, and is well worth 12 minutes of your time. Indeed, we suggest you watch it before listening, as we'll be discussing it in detail shortly.

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking was due to be joining Edith for a live show at the Bridport Film Festival in a couple of weeks time - but you know what sadly put an end to that. Not to be defeated, we're delighted to say that composer Isobel Waller-Bridge joined us from her home via the miracles of technology to discuss many of the brilliant projects she's been involved with.  As well as providing the score for Autumn De Wilde's Emma, Isobel has also done fabulous work on Vita and Virginia, Black Mirror, Vanity Fair and Fleabag, which saw her collaborate with sister Phoebe.

Our guest on the latest episode of Soundtracking has probably been mentioned almost as many times on this podcast as John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Warren Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer who is a member of Dirty Three, Grinderman and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and has also written several film scores with Nick in addition to his own projects. Warren was kind enough to join Edith while in isolation at his Paris studio to talk about his career and, well, this strange and worrying crisis humanity finds itself in right now. It was a joy to speak to him - we really hope you have as much fun listening to it as we did making it.

Our guest on the latest episode of Soundtracking is an Australian composer who has worked for a wide-range of critically acclaimed directors, including Sir Ridley Scott. Jed Kurzel's latest project is True History Of The Kelly Gang, which sees him continue his long-standing partnership with brother Justin - a previous interviewee on this show. The pair worked together on Snowtown, Macbeth and Assassin's Creed, while Jed also provided the score for Jennifer Kent's The Babadook, John Maclean's Slow West and, of course, Sir Ridley's Alien Covenant

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is the wonderful Philippa Lowthorpe, a director with an award-winning track record in film and television, with credits including Call The Midwife, Swallows & Amazons, The Crown and Three Girls. Her latest film is Misbehaviour. Featuring a fantastic cast, the narrative follows events surrounding the 1970 Miss World Contest, which not only saw the first black competitor crowned but also the stage flour-bombed by women's liberation activists during the event. Suffice to say, host Bob Hope was not amused, and we highly recommend you google the footage if you haven't seen it already.  The score, meanwhile, was provided by former guest on this show, Dickon Hinchliffe.

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking is an actor, writer and producer perhaps most famous for bringing us the sensational comedy drama, Catastrophe, which she created with co-star Rob Delaney. Now Sharon Horgan takes a lead role in Military Wives. Based on the well-documented true story, Military Wives tells the story of a group of women who form a choir while their husbands are away in Afghanistan. Directed by Peter Cattaneo of Full Monty fame, the film obviously features plenty of singing, with the tune selection having a pleasingly 80s twist. There's also an original number by Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams and a cracking score by our good pal Lorne Balfe - who was kind enough to send us a couple of his unreleased cues for you to enjoy. Cheers Lorne!

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is returning for a second visit to discuss a film that had an instant and lasting impact on us, and has set critics purring - with one boldly describing it as 'the perfect movie'. Dark Waters sees the delightful Todd Haynes direct Mark Rufallo as real-life lawyer Robert Billot, taking on American chemical giant DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs in West Virginia. Though Todd draws inspiration from classic conspiracy thrillers such as All The Presidents Men, he is ultimately more interested in his characters - the victims - and how their lives are quietly devastated by cynical forces way beyond their control. As well as featuring plenty of country music as source, Dark Waters is beautifully scored by Marcelo Zarvos

It has been a very good twelve months or so for our latest guest on Soundtracking - producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff. In addition to her work the well-received Uncut Gems and The Souvenir, Emma has also had mainstream success with Joker and The Irishman, which saw her continue a longstanding partnership with Martin Scorsese. It's been a fruitful relationship, including their genuine labour of love, Silence.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a supremely versatile actor and musician, who has released several albums and taken numerous critically acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Johnny Flynn can currently be seen in Autumn De Wilde's adaptation of Emma, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Nighy and Josh O'Connor. Like Johnny, Autumn has strong connections to the music industry, having worked with the likes of Elliot Smith and Death Cab For Cutie in her guise as photographer and video director.  The pair bonded over a love of folk, which is one of the reasons she asked him to write a song for the film.

We're bringing you another Soundtracking Live this week, recorded at London's BFI shortly before Christmas with the one and only Tim Burton.  We had an absolutely cracking night in front of a full house, chatting about his longtime partnership with Danny Elfman and playing clips from Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorands, Batman Returns, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and The Nightmare Before Christmas. As such, you'll need to use your imagination a wee bit in this episode - but the scenes we went for are so memorable and iconic, it shouldn't prove too problematic.  Besides, they are of course all beautifully scored - so if nothing else you can enjoy Danny's work.

Edith's guest on this week's Soundtracking is a writer, actor and director behind a trio of films we hugely admire. Marielle Heller first came to our attention with her razopr-sharp comedy-drama, Diary Of A Teenage Girl. She followed that up with Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which won a slew of awards and saw Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant nominated for Oscars. Now Marielle brings us A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, a drama inspired by Fred Rogers, a beloved American children's entertainer, musician & puppeteer - played in the film by Tom Hanks. Fred is most famous for the show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - so it seemed only fitting, given that we're a film music podcast, that we began with Mr Hanks's version of Mr Rogers' theme ...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking could not be more suited to a podcast about film music, what with him being so knowledgable and passionate about both artistic forms. Kevin Smith burst onto the indie scene with his 1994 lo-fi slacker classic Clerks, which he shot for around $28,000 only to see it receive widespread critical acclaim and gross $3 million. It also introduced the world to Jay and Silent Bob, who have featured in many of his subsequent movies - getting their latest outing in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot. It's riotous good fun, whether you're familiar with their history or not. A prolific podcaster himself, Kevin is bloody cracking company, with stories to tell about the music in pretty much all of his work, including a corker about Fleetwood Mac.  One of our faves, ever!

It's been a very good week for Soundtracking, with our little film music podcast nominated for two gongs at the UK's premier audio industry awards, the ARIAs. And who better to celebrate with than one of the biggest names in the music business, Bruce Springsteen. Bruce joined Edith following the premier of Western Stars, the film he co-directed with his long-time collaborator, Thom Zimny, who also took to the stage.  Western Stars is a cinematic interpretation of his album of the same name, and features live performances in his barn, interviews, home video footage and Bruce's meditations.