Soundtracking With Edith Bowman

We have a treat for you on our latest episode of Soundtracking, what with it being Christmas and all, with not one guest but three! First up is the delightful Bryce Dessner of The National, who has scored the Netflix film The Two Popes, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as the eponymous pontiffs, Benedict and Francis. As usual, you'll hear plenty of Bryce's music during the course of the conversation. Then there's something for all you Avengers fans with a very entertaining turn from Infinity War and Endgame writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Now, if we're honest, we don't talk about music at length - but they're such good fun we wanted to share the interview with you anyway.

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking is a writer/director we've long admired, from his Oscar nominated The Squid And The Whale to Frances Ha and Mistress America.  Now Noah Baumbach brings us Marriage Story, a hugely acclaimed tale of a couple (played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) going through a horrible divorce. Available to watch now on Netflix, Marriage Story is scored by none other than Randy Newman - and there's of course plenty of his music to enjoy in this episode.

We're very excited about our latest episode of Soundtracking, which sees Edith joined by a supremely gifted actor, Edward Norton. Well, we say actor, but he's a little bit more than that, having written, produced and directed his latest project, the neo-noir Motherless Brooklyn. Based on a novel by Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn tells the story of Lionel Essrog, a private investigator with Tourette's syndrome trying to solve the murder of his mentor. The film serves up a sonic feast - from our Daniel Pemberton's wonky jazz-infused score to an original song by Thom Yorke featuring Flea and a considerable contribution from virtuoso horn player, Wynton Marsalis. We should say it also contains spoilers - but for Chinatown rather than Edward's own film!

One of our favourite films of the year has undoubtedly been Joker. We've already spoken to composer Hildur Guðnadóttir about her score for the movie, and now it's an utter delight to welcome director Todd Phillips back to Soundtracking for a second sitting. There was much to discuss, from Hildur's stunning contributions to the influence of Charlie Chaplin and the thorny issue of why he used a Gary Glitter cue.  We also have tracks from Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante.

Our guest on this week's soundtracking is something of a protofeminist in Hollywood terms, in that he makes it his mission to put strong, charismatic women at the very centre of his narratives. Paul Feig made his name with Bridesmaids in 2011 - a much loved comedy starring Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne and Mellisa McCarthy that has more than stood the test of time. 8 years later he's back with another female-led offering, Last Christmas, which was written by (and features) Emma Thompson and sees Emilia Clarke take the lead. Scored by Paul's regular collaborator Theodore Shapiro, Last Christmas is held together musically by a string of George Michael classics, both of whose work you'll hear plenty of ...

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is something of a demigod when it comes to the realms of music and film. Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer, music video director and filmmaker who has snapped anyone who's anyone in the music industry, including Bob Dylan, Bjork, Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davies. Indeed, it was he who took those iconic pictures of Joy Division in the subway tunnel, beginning a relationship which ultimately led to him bringing us the Ian Curtis biopic, Control.  Anton has also had a long-standing relationship with U2 and Depeche Mode, and it is Depeche Mode's final concert of their Global Spirit tour that is the subject of his latest project - the documentary, Spirits In The Forest, which places a specific focus on six of the band's fans. Depeche Mode: SPIRITS in the Forest is in cinemas for one night only worldwide on 21 November. Find your closest screening at spiritsintheforest.com

It's a welcome return for David Michod to our latest episode of Soundtracking, in which the Australian director talks us through the music for his latest film, The King. The King is available on Netflix now, and is loosely based on on William Shakespeare's plays relating to Henry V.  In putting the movie together, David turned to a couple of friends of this show: co-writer and actor Joel Edgerton and composer Nicholas Britell. It's an intentionally otherworldly score, and, as ever, you'll hear plenty of it throughout the course of the conversation.

Our guest on this latest episode of Soundtracking is an actor who made his name portraying one of the most iconic frontmen ever to have graced a stage. Sam Riley's performance as Ian Curtis of Joy Division in Control was, quite simply, stunning - and perhaps informed by his own experiences of playing in his own band, 10,000 Things. As you'll discover, Sam is not only a great lover of music, but also absolutely cracking company. He can currently be seen appearing in Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil alongside Angelina Jolie.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is someone we've been wanting to get on the podcast for a very long time - as have many of you, judging by the feedback we receive on social media. Mica Levi, also known by her stage name Micachu, is a classically trained composer who came to the attention of the film world in 2014 with her debut score for Jonathan Glazer's Under The Skin.  Not only did Mica's work on her next film, Jackie, gain an Oscar nomination, but it also garnered vocal praise from none other than Ryuichi Sakamoto.  Now she's teamed up with Alejandro Landes for Monos, a deeply unsettling movie in which eight children with guns watch over a hostage and a cow on a faraway mountaintop.

It's another double-whammy on our latest episode of Soundtracking - this time in the shape of two composers of world-wide repute. Michael Giacchino cut his teeth on video games, before turning his attentions to film and television, with a host of award-winning scores for films such as The Incredibles, Up, Rogue One and Star Trek. David Arnold, meanwhile, is a much-loved British artist who's been making screen music for nigh-on three decades - with Zoolander, Tomorrow Never Dies and Sherlock among his many credits. Edith caught up with them ahead of a very special evening at London's Royal Albert Hall called Settling The Score, in which they played some of their greatest hits, for want of a better expression.  

It's a double-whammy on our latest episode of Soundtracking, as we bring you two extremely talented ladies charting very different courses in the world of cinema. First up is Hildur Gudnadottir. Well known to fans of this podcast - on which she has featured by proxy many, many times - Hildur has gained broader and much deserved recognition for her work on Joker - Todd Phillips's origin story about the eponymous super-villain that has proved hugely popular among movie fans and critics alike. If you haven't seen it yet, Joaquin Phoenix's performance is astonishing, as is Hildur's suitably disturbing score. Then we have Dolly Wells, a much-loved British comedy actor who has just made her directorial debut with Good Posture. She and I have more of a chat about her career in television and film than the usual focus on music, but she's an utter delight, so we really wanted to share it anyway.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is John Crowley, the Irish film and theatre director who previously brought us critical successes Intermission, Boy A and Brooklyn. His new offering is The Goldfinch. Based on Donna Tart's novel of the same name, the narrative centres on Theo, a young man who takes a painting from a museum after his mother dies in a terrorist attack. While the cinematography is provided by undisputed master of the art, Roger Deakins, John went for a relative novice in Trevor Gureckis for the score. As ever, you'll hear plenty of Trevor's work throughout the conversation.

Edith's guest on the latest episode of Soundtracking is a composer who has been pushing sonic boundaries for three decades. As well as releasing numerous albums and EPs under various monikers, Matthew Herbert has also scored a diverse range of films, including three for Chilean director Sebastian Lelio. The word is overused, but we reckon he's a true visionary. He now has television credits to his name too, with his latest project Temple currently available on Sky and Now TV.  As always, you'll hear plenty of Matthew's work throughout the conversation.

If you haven’t been addicted to Peaky Blinders since it first aired in 2013, then you need to get yourself off to the BBC iPlayer at once and start catching up. All episodes are currently available for varying degrees of time, and we highly recommend you get involved before it's too late. Directed by Anthony Byrne, the latest season sees Cillian Murphy return as Tommy Shelby, head of the eponymous gang vying for underworld supremacy in inter-war Birmingham.  And we're delighted to say that both Anthony and Cillian are with us on Soundtracking to discuss the show’s extraordinary music - which dares to put contemporary alternative artists against the period backdrop. As such, some of the lyrics are quite fruity!  We should mention Edith spoke to them not only before Season 5 screened, but before Anthony had even finished editing it. We should also mention we had a few problems with Edith's mic during the recording, which we’ve dealt with as best we can. Thankfully, though, the lads sound fine, which

There can be few cinematic genres that benefit more from the power of score than horror.  And it IT and IT: Chapter 2, writer / director Andy Muschietti and his composer Benjamin Wallfisch have nailed it.  Reflecting the shape-shifting abilities of Pennywise The Clown, Benjamin has produced a soundscape which Andy describes as 'bendy' - that switches in an instant from the safe and dreamy to something altogether more dark and twisted. As well as discussing the score at length, Andy also talks us through some of the needle drops he used, including tracks by The Cure and The Cult.

We have the miracle of social media to thank for our latest episode of Soundtracking, after Edith reached out to the one and only Alan Silvestri on Twitter. And, gentleman that he is, he very kindly invited her to meet up with him on a recent visit to London. Alan is responsible for some of Hollywood's most memorable scores and themes, from Back To The Future and Forrest Gump to Castaway and The Avengers. In recent times, his longstanding relationship with Robert Zemeckis is perhaps only matched by that of Steven Spielberg and John Williams. As if that weren't enough, he also wrote most of the music for the classic TV show, Chips ...

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are husband and wife duo Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson, who have joined forces on a number of levels to bring us A Million Little Pieces. An adaptation of James Frey's book of the same name, it's based on the author's experiences in rehab as he attempted to recover from alcohol and drug addiction. Despite the well-documented controversies surrounding the veracity of some of James's account, there's no denying it's power as a study of what it's like to hit rock bottom. Sam and Aaron wrote the script together, before Sam got behind the camera and Aaron in front of it to take the lead role. They also worked as producers on the film.  The score, meanwhile, is provided by Atticus Ross - a frequent collaborator with Trent Reznor.

Something of a first on our latest episode of Soundtracking, as we're not only joined by a world-class director, but also his world-class translator. To be fair, Pedro Almodovar's English is certainly better than Edith's Spanish, but we are eternally grateful to the lovely Maria for stepping in when he occasionally reverted to his mother tongue. Pedro's latest film is Pain And Glory - a semi-autobiographical tale in which he draws on his own experiences to explore the life of Salvador Mallo, a director in decline.  Pain And Glory reunites Pedro with a number of longtime collaborators, including leading man Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and composer Alberto Iglesias. As well as plenty of Alberto's music, we also feature cues by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone and Grace Jones.

What better way to start the fourth year of our film music podcast Soundtracking than with one of the undisputed kings of the art, Quentin Tarantino. His new movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is everything you'd hope for when it comes to the deployment of pop cues, and also features score by the likes of Bernard Herrmann and Maurice Jarre. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie among many others, Once Upon A Time is set in 1969 Los Angeles, where an ageing television actor and his stunt double navigate the changing Hollywood film industry. It blends fiction with real events - most notably the murder of Sharon Tate at the hands of the Manson family.

This week marked the third birthday of our film music podcast Soundtracking - which is a milestone we’re very proud to have reached.  That we’re still going is thanks in no small part to you, and of course the guests who take half an hour out of their busy schedules to talk to me about their passion for all things sonic. To mark the occasion, we’ve drawn together some of our favourite moments from the past year, which has featured many huge names from the world of cinema and television. Among the voices you’ll hear are Bradley Cooper, M.I.A., Peter Jackson, M Night Shyamalan, Thelma Schoonmaker, Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, Cliff Martinez, Keanu Reeves & Danny Boyle - with some fabulous cues to boot.