Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

Back in 2016, Jon Favreau was kind enough to be the very first person we recorded for our film music podcast, Soundtracking. 151 episodes later, and Jon returns to discuss his flabbergasting remake of Disney's much-loved Oscar-winning musical, The Lion King - a mind-boggling photorealistic animation starring Donald Glover (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Glover) , Seth Rogen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Rogen) , Chiwetel Ejiofor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiwetel_Ejiofor) , Billy Eichner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Eichner) , and Beyoncé (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%C3%A9_Knowles-Carter) .  As with the 1994 version, this new film is scored by our old friend Hans Zimmer, with Elton John returning to rework his compositions from the original alongside South African composer, producer and singer Lebo M. Pharrell Williams also produced five of the tracks.

Edith's latest guest on Soundtracking is one seriously multi-talented lady. Emma Forrest is a journalist, novelist and screenwriter - who has now added directing to her CV with her drama, Untogether.  Starring Lola and Jemima Kirke, Jamie Dornan, Billy Crystal and Emma's former husband Ben Mendelsohn, Untogether tells the story of two sisters in the throes of relationships that are challenging for very different reasons. Music plays a key part in setting the tone, with one specific track by Primal Scream inspiring the whole film.  The film is scored by Robin Foster. And it's with Robin's track Hercules Climbs The White Mountain that we begin, since this was the piece he played to Emma that provided the basis for the entire soundscape of the movie ...

Edith had such fun recording our latest episode of Soundtracking - given that it's with two of the most friendly, eloquent and enthusiastic gentlemen in the business (not to mention talented). Writer Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle have teamed up for the romantic comedy, Yesterday. Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran and Kate McKinnon, Yesterday tells the story of struggling musician who, after an accident, finds himself the only person who remembers The Beatles. Naturally, he seizes this opportunity and becomes famous taking credit for writing and performing their songs. Despite the offbeat premise, it really does work, and also gives us the perfect excuse to play loads of the Fab Four's music.

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking is the extremely talented and likeable director Yann Demange. Having made his name with TV shows such as Dead Set and Top Boy, Yann moved into cinema with '71, a critically acclaimed drama about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. '71 is scored by David Holmes, who was also instrumental in helping Yann pick the music for his second feature, White Boy Rick. Based on an incredible true story, White Boy Rick stars Richie Merritt as Richard Wershe Jr. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wershe_Jr.) , who became the youngest FBI informant ever at the age of 14 in the 1980s.  The film is scored by wonderful Max Richter - who you'll be able to hear on this podcast soon - and also features a banging set of tunes from the 70s and 80s.

We couldn't be more excited about our latest episode of Soundtracking, recorded with the one and only Cliff Martinez at his beautiful home & studio in Topanga Canyon, California. Cliff's name has come up on countless occasions since we started this podcast - not least in the company of Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn, Todd Phillips and Drew Pearce, all of whom have employed the expert services of the former Red Hot Chilli Pepper to score their movies. We'll hear plenty more about all of these fine gentleman - and get the inside line on Cliff's work on films such as Sex, Lies and Videotape, Drive, Only God Forgives, War Dogs and Hotel Artemis.