Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a composer who provided the music for one of the water-cooler TV series of 2021. We are, in case you're wondering, talking about The Serpent, for which Dominik Scherrer has delivered a properly brilliant soundscape. Based true events, The Serpent tells the story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who murdered young tourists in Thailand between 1975 and 2000. As well as Dominik's score, the show also features loads and loads of needle-drops from the era, so you might get to hear a little bit of Serge Gainsbourg if you're lucky ...

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking is a documentary maker returning to the podcast for a third time. Nick Broomfield is always splendid company, and joins us once more to discuss his new film, Last Man Standing - a companion piece to Tupac & Biggie, which he made back in 2002 about the murders of the eponymous rappers. Here, he delves deeper into the role Death Row Records impresario Suge Knight played in their deaths - and speaks to more of the characters who were central to this extraordinary narrative. Last Man Standing is scored by Nick's regular collaborator, Nick Laird-Clowes, who was kind enough to furnish us with a few cues.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is not only someone Edith's known for a very long time, but also someone who's been a great supporter of this podcast since day one. Tom Hiddleston is currently tearing up the screen as Loki on Disney +. It's a brilliant vehicle for one of Marvel's most enduring characters and a welcome return after - ahem, spoiler alert - what happened in Avengers: Infinity War. As well as discussing Natalie Holt's sonically adventurous score for the series, we also dive deep into Tom's passion for music and soundtracks, and discover the song he sang at his drama school audition. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are actor, writer and director Harry Macqueen and musician Keaton Henson, who makes his first foray into film scoring for Harry's deeply moving road movie, Supernova. Starring Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, Supernova tells the story of a gay couple who travel to the Lake District - after Stanley's character Tusker has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Given he's a film score newbie, Keaton has done a magnificent job with the music. And there are plenty of classy needle-drops too, including tracks by Dalton, Bowie and Waits. Enjoy!

It's becoming a bit of a thing, here on Soundtracking, having two guests for the price of one. But Edith is really pleased to welcome John Krasinski and Marco Beltrami to the podcast, given that A Quiet Place Part II was the first film she went to see in the cinema after the most recent lockdown. Written and directed by John, and scored by Marco, the film tells the story of a family forced to navigate a world inhabited by blind aliens with heightened hearing. Best not make much noise, it's safe to say!

Edith spoke to our latest guest on Soundtracking in the midst of our very first lockdown - not only when we were considerably more uncertain about things than we are today, but also before we knew what an extraordinary impact his film was going to have on lovers of cinema.  Since chatting to Florian Zeller, his directorial debut The Father has had all manner of critical acclaim and recognition, including the award for best adapted screenplay (from Florian's own play) and best actor for Anthony Hopkins at this year's Oscars.  Now we're not going to lie, there's not a huge amount of music in The Father, so we don't talk about it at great length, instead focussing on the very skillful way he tells a very challenging story. And we're also going to suggest that if you haven't seen it yet, DON'T LISTEN, because it really is one of those films best watched with as little foreknowledge as possible, and he gives a fair few trade secrets away. 

It's another double header for you on this week's Soundtracking, with a director and one of his leading ladies joining me to discuss their spin on one of Disney's most iconic villains.Craig Gillespie and Emma Stone have, quite simply, created a fabulous Cruella De Vil. Effectively a prequel to the original animated classic, Cruella also stars Emma Thompson and Mark Strong among many other fine actors, and tells the story of Estella Miller, a fashion designer making her way in 1970s punk London who eventually becomes the titular baddie.As well as featuring over 50 songs, the film is scored by our dear friend Nicholas Britell, who complimented the deluge of needle drops with what he told us was his first rock-driven score.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is a composer returning for a second visit, having scored pretty much every blockbuster to hit our screens in recent weeks.The work of Tom Holkenborg - or Junkie XL, if you prefer - can currently be heard in the epic Snyder Cut of Justice League, Godzilla vs Kong, and the riotous Netflix Zombie heist flick Army Of The Dead, which hadn't been released at time of recording.He was on BRILLIANT form - so we hope you enjoy the chat and, of course, his music as much as we do.

Our latest guest on Soundtracking is one our our faves - a supremely talented composer and all-round top fella, returning to the podcast for a third time. As ever, Nicholas Britell's services are in high demand - and he's been keeping pretty busy during the pandemic and beyond Not only has he scored Barry Jenkins's new Amazon Prime series, The Underground Railroad, but he's also penned the music for Cruella and the forthcoming season 3 of Succession among other things.As always, you'll hear plenty of Nicholas's music sprinkled throughout, illustrating the discussion.

Our latest guests on Soundtracking are writer / director Julie Taymor and her partner both romantically and creatively, the composer Elliot Goldenthal. Julia and Elliot joined Edith to discuss The Glorias, a remarkable film about the life of journalist and political activist, Gloria Steinem, with different actors playing her in the various phases of her life. It's a device that allows Julie all manner of scope for narrative fun and games, and elicits fine performances from leading ladies Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.They also reflect upon Elliot's Oscar-winning score for Frida, which Julie directed.