Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

John Ridley describes Idris Elba as a Renaissance man; were he not so humble, he might just as easily apply the expression to himself. An Oscar-winning screenwriter for the magnificent 12 Years A Slave, he's also a dab hand at directing, producing, novel-writing and (believe it or not) stand-up comedy. He's ferociously thoughtful, considered and intelligent too, so our latest offering is as much about sociology and politics as sound. John's latest project is Guerrilla, made by the ever-reliable Showtime and available in full via Sky Atlantic. Staring Idris, Frieda Pinto and Babou Ceesay, it focusses on the little-known story of the British Black Panther movement in 1970s London. In addition to some rare contemporary grooves from that, you'll hear extracts from Hanz Zimmer's score for 12 Years A Slave, Waddy Watchel's bespoke arrangements for the Jimi Hendrix biopic All Is By My Side, and a spot of Carter Burwell's work on 3 Kings (which John scripted). But in putting this episode together, we owe a special debt of gratitude to his music supervisor on Guerrilla, Sarah Bridge. Not only did Sarah provide us with hard-to-find source tracks by Britain's first ever all-black rock group Noir, she also delivered examples from Max Richter's score - including Love Song, the piece that plays under Edith's introduction.Perhaps most excitingly, though, she's given us an exclusive recording of Femi Kuti's track Look Around, which he actually performed live for a club scene that features in the narrative ...

It's back to where it all began, with Edith's second crack at British director, Ben Wheatley. This time round they're focusing on Ben's new film Free Fire, a super-stylish action comedy which he co-wrote with his wife and longtime creative partner, Amy Jump.Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Free Fire is scored by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, who took sonic inspiration from David Shire's exceptional work on The Taking Of Pelham 123. You'll hear plenty from both musical suites, as well as tracks by Lalo Schifrin, The Nerves, Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Denver.As before, Ben is tremendous value, as we very much hope you'll agree.

Good grief, does this fine gentleman have a few stories to tell. Whether discussing Tony Hancock with David Bowie or royally pissing off Harvey Weinstein, British producer Stephen Woolley has been there, done that, and bought the (band) T-shirt.Stephen is perhaps best known for his work with Neil Jordan on films such as Interview With The Vampire, The Company Of Wolves, Michael Collins and the Oscar-winning Crying Game. He also directed the Brian Jones biopic Stoned and executive-produced Backbeat - which focused on fifth Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe.If you need any further evidence of his credentials for Soundtracking, he's variously secured the services of David Bowie, Jerry Dammers, Dusty Springfield, Boy George and the Pet Shop Boys for movies he's produced. You'll hear songs from all of these artists woven into the conversation - as well as extracts from Carl Davis' theme for Scandal, Anne Dudley's work on The Crying Game and Rachel Portman's score for Stephen's latest film, Their Finest.But our story begins in punk London - the city where Stephen's love of music and film germinated ...

Like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Danny Boyle, Edgar Wright is one of those filmmakers who's become synonymous with an expert use of music in his work. As well as having collaborated with composers such as Nigel Godrich, Steven Price and David Arnold, he's also deployed source cues to maximum effect in every single one of his projects - from offbeat comedy classic Spaced to the ridiculously entertaining Cornetto Trilogy.It's thus an absolute delight to welcome him to Soundtracking - a weekly podcast in which directors, writers, actors and musicians discuss the sounds of the screen.Edgar's new film Baby Driver recently premiered at South By Southwest in Texas to great acclaim, but we'll invite him back to talk more about that in June when it gets a general release. Suffice to say, the soundtrack features in excess of 35 songs ...In the meantime, we're going to reflect upon a CV that includes Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, World's End and Scott Pilgrim - not to mention Spaced - the wonderfully postmodern TV show with which he made his name ...

When Jon Favreau joined Edith to discuss his remake of The Jungle Book, he revealed that the aspect of the film he was most preoccupied with was the music. Our latest guest Bill Condon says much the same thing about his retelling of a more recent Disney classic, Beauty And The Beast.In Bill's case, it was a potential deal-breaker: he only agreed to direct the project on the condition that the man who composed the original score came on board. That man is Alan Menken, whose Oscar-winning themes for the 1991 animation reverberate loud and clear throughout this live action reboot.We also discuss his work with pre-eminent composer, Carter Burwell, who has collaborated with Bill on several occasions

The mighty Kong has traveled a long way since we first saw him batting away aeroplanes atop the Empire State Building to the melodramatic strains of the great Max Steiner.CGI now rules when it comes to Monster Movies, just as Marcel Delgado's model of the giant ape did the New York skyline back in 1933. But some things in cinema never change - including the way music is used to set an identifiable tone for narrative. In the case of Kong: Skull Island, young American director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has sought to introduce the familiar sonic stylings of the Vietnam War to the traditional thrills and spills of the matinee creature feature - with most entertaining results. During the course of his conversation with Edith you'll hear plenty of musical nods to Apocalypse Now and Good Morning Vietnam - and also discover which Rolling Stones track provided the inspiration for Henry Jackman's score.They also reflect upon Jordan's previous film, The Kings Of Summer, with extracts from composer Ryan Miller's wonderful experimental soundscape underlaying the discussion.But the show begins on Skull Island, where Samuel L Jackson and his men go about their business to the pounding beats of Creedence Clearwater Revival, David Bowie and Black Sabbath ...

If one could embody charm, it might very well take the form of James Mangold - an open, warm and intelligent man who also happens to have a proven track record in delivering quite tremendous movies.His latest offering is Logan - a dark, violent and spandex-free addition to the X-Men franchise, which sees Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in the throes of existential crises. Critics love it - in part due to the director's offbeat take on a sometimes formulaic genre. And as we'll discover, offbeat is a word which applies equally to Marco Beltrami's score ...While James doesn't entirely accept the claim himself, his films have been described as eclectic. He's certainly tackled a rich variety of subject matter - from Cop Land to Girl Interrupted and the Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line - with scores and soundtracks to boot. Enjoy!

Another week, another Academy Award winner - this time in the shape of Tennessee director Gore Verbinski. Gore secured the Oscar for Rango – a firm family favourite in Edith's house - and has also notched up a string of box office smashes, from Mouse Hunt and The Mexican to The Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy. As you’d expect from someone ranked as the 10th highest grossing director in the world, he’s also collaborated with some mighty fine composers.On which note, Gore is not the first of our guests to have developed a productive relationship with Hans Zimmer. As well as scoring several of his movies, Hans also offers regular advice on who to hire when he’s not available. Indeed, this applies to Gore’s latest film - the psychological horror A Cure For Wellness.Based on his own nighhtmares, it stars Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs and Mia Goth and tells the story of a young American executive who is sent to a mysterious rehabilitation center in the Swiss Alps. As is typical of the genre, music and sound design play a key role in building tension – with the cornerstone of Ben Wallfisch’s excellent score a creepy lullaby that’s reprised in various forms throughout the film …

As Ron Howard observed in one of our previous episodes, Ang Lee is a filmmaker with a quite extraordinary range. He followed the majestic Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with comic book joyride Hulk - before bringing us Brokeback Mountain, Lust Caution and The Life Of Pi.Such a diverse array of subject matter has very different musical requirements, with Tan Dun, Mychael Danna, Danny Elfman and Alexandre Desplat among the composers he’s worked with.And these collaborations are exactly what we’re here to discuss on Soundtracking – a weekly podcast about screen music with Edith.Ang’s latest movie is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Starring young British actor Joe Alwynn in the title role, it tells the story of a soldier returning from Iraq who’s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. From the point of view of score, the narrative posed a new set of challenges for the Taiwanese director - given that much of the action unfolds in a sports stadium …

Over the years, there's been many a filmmaker in possession of a sensational record collection. We've spoken to a few on this show - from Andrea Arnold and Richard Linklater to Nicolas Winding Refn and Danny Boyle. But just because you have impeccable taste, doesn't mean you can successfully translate it to the screen. Thankfully, writer / director Mike Mills knows how to enhance a story with sound - as evidenced by his latest movie, 20th Century Women. Set in 1979, it tells the story of a mother who enlists her bohemian friends to help raise her son, and is part-based on his own childhood. Music is central to both the development of narrative and character - with the artists featured all close to Mike's heart. Each selection is inspired by personal experience, from offerings by Siouxsie And The Banshees through The Buzzcocks to Black Flag. Indeed, when it comes to Talking Heads, he even bought the T-Shirt (well, his sister did anyway) ... There are SO many great tunes in here, you'd be a fool to miss it.