Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

Over 100 episodes have passed since writer / director David Mackenzie first joined us on Soundtracking.On that occasion, we talked about his critically acclaimed thriller, Hell Or High Water, and much of his back catalogue.He returns to discuss Outlaw King, a passion project about Robert The Bruce which is available to watch now on Netflix.As well as a score by Tony Doogan (on which David is credited), Outlaw King features plenty of traditional Celtic and ecclesiastical music - which was sourced by music supervisor Jim Sutherland.You'll hear plenty of both throughout this episode.We should point out that if you don't know the story of Robert The Bruce, David goes into it at length during this conversation, which obviously provides much of the narrative content for his movie.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking comes off the back of a very special day Edith spent at Abbey Road Studios in London as the score for JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Gindelwald was being recorded. She was there as the guest of director David Yates and producer David Heyman, both of whom join us this week to discuss what she heard and saw - and how James Newton Howard's stunning compositions compliment the action on screen. It's their second appearance each, having been on by themselves before, so do check out both those episodes once you're done with this one.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking in association with the White Company marks the first appearance for a man Edith has long admired.Steve McQueen is a British writer, director and producer. who had critical big-screen success with Hunger and Shame before scooping an Academy Award for 12 Years A Slave. His latest project is the ensemble heist thriller Widows. Based on the 1983 ITV series of the same name, The plot follows a group of women who attempt a heist in order to pay back a crime boss after their ne'er-do-well husbands are killed on a botched job.It's scored by Hans Zimmer, and also features a sumptuous Nina Simone track and brand new material by Sade, which is always cause for celebration.We also discuss David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Glenn Gould and much more besides.

Our latest episode of Soundtracking in association with The White Company sees a return for a third time of two of our faves.Writer / director Ben Wheatley's made his debut on our very first show, while composer Clint Mansell walked us through his back catalogue in our 52nd outing - including his magnificent work on Ben's adaptation of the JG Ballard novel, High Rise.  Ben then returned to talk about the jazz-funk score for Free Fire, with Clint joining Duncan Jones in Los Angeles to discuss Duncan's future-noir thriller, Mute. That conversation was an awful lot of fun - and well worth checking out if you haven't already. Now, at last, we've managed to get Ben and Clint in the same room to tell all about their latest collaboration, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead. Very loosely based on the Shakespeare play, Coriolanus, it tells the story of Colin, who hires a lavish country manor for his extended family to celebrate New Year. But as we all know, family gatherings over the festive season rarely pass without one or two cataclysmic moments, and Colin's wee party is no exception ... 

It's another Soundtracking Live this week - this time recorded a month or so back at Festival No 6 in the weird and wonderful village of Portmerion, north Wales.Our guest that day was a novelist, playwright and occasional director of shorts, who well and truly thrust himself into the pop cultural consciousness with Trainspotting, and Danny Boyle's subsequent film adaptation of the same name.We are, of course, talking about Irvine Welsh.Irvine was on fine form - discussing everything from his unlikely love of musicals and rom coms to the directors and composers who've inspired him as both a writer and a great fan of cinema. It all seemed to go down well with a packed audience, which made a very long round-trip more than worthwhile.Expect music from from Oliver, Boogie Nights, Pulp Fiction and more ...

Our latest episode of Soundtracking sees a return for the supremely entertaining writer, director and producer Sacha Gervasi, who joined us a couple of months back to discuss his career to date. We held some of that interview back to coincide with the realease of his latest movie, My Dinner with Hervé. Starring Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan, My Dinner With Hervé recounts the later days of actor Hervé Villechaize, best known for his roles in smash TV show Fantasy Island and The Man With The Golden Gun, in which he played Nick Nack. As you'll hear, it's a deeply personal endeavour for Sacha, who, almost by chance, got to know Hervé well shortly before he commited suicide. Given My Dinner With Hervé was 25 years in the making, Sacha talks at length about his own relationship with Herve and why he felt he owed it to him to get project off the ground. We think it's a tale worth telling. So, before we get to the music, we're going to share this incredible backstory with you, interspersed with extracts from composer David Norland's score.

Since last joining us on Soundtracking, it’s fair to say Damien Chazelle has done alright for himself - becoming the youngest ever winner in the Best Director category at the Oscars for La La Land.His latest offering is First Man. Starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy, the narrative explores the years leading up to and including the 1969 Apollo 11 Mission to the moon, with the focus very much on the emotional challenges faced by Neil Armstrong and his family.It's another giant leap for Damien, who seems pathologically incapable of making a bad movie. We discussed Whiplash and La La Land at length during our first conversation, so the focus is very much on how he and composer Justin Hurwitz went about creating a soundscape to transcend earth and space for this project.

As if it weren't enough writing, producing, directing and starring in a movie, you'd surely have the right to feel pretty smug if said movie got rave reviews across the board too.Well, that's exactly what's happened with Bradley Cooper and A Star Is Born - though he was anything but smug when he joined Edith to discuss his achievements in our latest episode of Soundtracking. If anything, one gets the impression he's genuinely stunned and humbled by how well his work has been received.A remake of the 1937 film of the same name, it stars Bradly and Stefani Germanotta (better known as Lady Gaga), and follows a hard-drinking musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer.It marks the third remake of the 1937 original, which was adapted into a 1954 musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason and then remade as a 1976 rock musical with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.And, just as Lady G proves to quite the actor, so it turns out Bradley has a really rather unexpectedly brilliant singing voice …

We very much like welcoming musicians to Soundtracking, so we were incredibly excited to learn about a documentary on the life of superstar Sri Lankan / British rapper M.I.A. - not least because Edith has been a huge fan since her days at BBC Radio 1. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. was directed by her longtime friend Steve Loveridge, and follows 22 years in her life - including her rise to fame and her perspective on the controversies sparked over her music, public appearances and political activism. It has been incredibly well-received, and won a special jury award at this year's Sundance Film Festival.Obviously, you'll hear plenty of M.I.A.'s work throughout the conversation, and also find out about some her musical and cinematic influences.

The latest episode of Soundtracking finds us out and about once more, this time at the British Film Institute on London's South Bank.And it's a truly stellar cast.Director Lenny Abrahamson, composer Stephen Rennicks, editor Nathan Nugent and producer Gail Egan joined Edith in front of an audience to discuss the music of their latest film, The Little Stranger.Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Waters, the plot follows a doctor who visits an old house his mother used to work at, only to discover it may hold a dark secret.As you'll hear, there's a bit more talking and a bit less music than we usually serve up, but what the gang has to say makes for essential listening if you have even the the remotest interest in film-making.Now one of the reasons it was such a joy speaking to Lenny, Stephen, Nathan and Gail is that they brought along all sorts of exclusive clips to share with us, including alternative beginnings and rough cuts from The Little Stranger.Obviously you won't be able to see these clips, but we've included the audio anyway to give you a sense of how much thought the team puts into every single frame. The guys also set up each clip in detail to give you a sense of what's going on.Hopefully, your imagination will do the rest.