Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

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.