Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

We can barely believe we're uttering these these words, but welcome to the 200th episode of Soundtracking. 200! That's a lot of great guests, stories, creative insights and - perhaps most importantly - music from the world of film and television. And we're delighted to be celebrating our birthday with a brilliant female composer, given that it's still an industry dominated by men.  Pinar Toprak is a Turkish American musician, best known for her work on smash video game Fortnite and Captain Marvel. She joined me from her home in the US to discuss all manner of things, from the CD that inspired her to pursue a career in film scoring to the industrious way in which she landed the Captain Marvel gig.

We have another Soundtracking Live for you this week, recording at the Glasgow Film Festival back in February before lockdown came into effect.  Edith's guests were Simon Bird and Stuart Murdoch, discussing their collaboration on Simon's gorgeous directorial debut The Days Of The Bagnold Summer, for which Belle & Sebastian provided the music. Starring Monica Dolan and Earl Cave (son of Nick), Days of The Bagnold Summer is based on a graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, and tells the story of a single mother and her 15 year-old son as they navigate the stresses and strains of a school summer holiday in each other's company. It's a beautiful piece of work, and you can watch it now on home entertainment formats. As we'll hear, Belle & Sebastian furnished Simon with loads and loads of music, some of which had lyrics, some of which did not - instead serving as more traditional instrumental score. You can listen to the album in full via Matador records.

We've a real Hollywood heavyweight for you on our latest lockdown episode of Soundtracking in the shape of Judd Apatow. Judd is a director, writer and producer who's had a hand in some of the funniest films of the last 20 years, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Bridesmaids and Anchorman. His TV credits include Freaks And Geeks, Crashing and Girls, which is some list. Judd's latest project is The King Of Staten Island. It's a semi-biographical take on the life of Pete Davidson, who lost his firefighter father to 9/11. Pete takes the lead role a young man who must get his life together after his mum starts dating a new guy, who is also a firefighter like his deceased dad.  And the great news is, you can watch it NOW on home entertainment formats.

We have a real treat for music aficionados this week, as Edith is joined by Andrew Slater and Jakob Dylan to discuss their brilliant documentary, Echo In The Canyon. The film celebrates the popular music that came out of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-60s as The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas and the Papas cemented the California Sound. Andrew and Jakob explore the interplay between these artists in a string of informal interviews with many of the key players, and discover how interconnected the creative process became during this now legendary period. Jakob also covered a number of classics from the era with contemporary artists - including Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Beck and Josh Homme.

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.