The Film Scorer

Film Score Recap: July Through September 2023

2023 is nearly over, and to lead into the new year, The Film Scorer keeps you up to date on recent releases (perfect to chat about with your family over the holidays) by covering some of the best and most notable film scores released from July through September of this year, featuring scores like Oppenheimer by Ludwig Göransson, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Bottoms by Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX, and many more!

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• • Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One - Lorne Balfe
  • The Starling Girl - Lord Huron
  • Creation of the Gods I - Feng Shen Trilogy - Gordy Haab
  • Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransso
  • The Boy and the Heron – Joe Hisaishi
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
  • Haunted Mansion - Kris Bowers
  • The Last Voyage of the Demeter - Bear McCreary
  • A Haunting in Venice - Hildur Guðnadóttir
  • Blue Beetle - Bobby Krlic
  • Landscape with Invisible Hand - Michael Abel
  • They Cloned Tyrone - Pierre Charles and Desmond Murray
  • The Creator - Hans Zimmer
  • Barbie - Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
  • Bottoms - Leo Birenberg and Charli XCX
  • The Monkey King - Toby Chu
  • Lamya's Poem - Christopher Willis
  • Cassandro - Marcelo Zarvos
  • She Came to Me - Bryce Dessner
  • PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie - Pinar Toprak

Michael Abels Talks Jordan Peele, The Burial

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Michael Abels (Get Out, Nope) joins the show to round out 2023! Not surprisingly, Michael and I spend a fair amount of time talking about his work with Jordan Peele on the films Get Out, Us, and Nope, including a broad look at their working relationship and how it fulfilled Michael's long-time dream of working in film. But Michael also scored a couple films this year, which we then dig into, including The Burial and Landscape with Invisible Hand. Primarily, we talk about his work on The Burial, in which Jamie Foxx gives an electric performance. As such, Michael digs into the score, including discussing how the palette is aimed at universality, giving space to Foxx and the film's licensed music, and adapting the Bach piece "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" into his score. Even though our chat is just under 25 minutes, we manage to squeeze a lot into it!

The Burial is currently streaming on Amazon Prime while Landscape with Invisible Hand is available on MGM+. Meanwhile, Michael's score for both, as well as much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. In addition, you can find out more about Michael on his website.

Have a great rest of the year, and I'll talk to you all in 2024...

Jerskin Fendrix Talks Poor Things

As 2023 starts to close, and the awards season begins to heat up, I'm joined by the composer for what's being widely hailed as one of the best film scores of the year: Jerskin Fendrix. Jerskin's latest score is for the film Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. But not only is Poor Things Jerskin's latest score, it's also his first. And it just landed him a Golden Globe nomination. Unsurprisingly, then, we spend most of our conversation talking about Jerskin's score. While this is a shorter interview, so we didn't have as much time to meander into tangents, we still found time to go on them, including comparing how personal and autobiographical solo music and scoring can be, looking for "honesty" in music, and more.

Poor Things is currently playing in limited release, moving to a full theatrical release on December 22, 2023, while Jerskin's score, and much of his debut solo album, is available on all major platforms.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

Experimental composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Candyman) joins The Film Scorer podcast in the midst of the year-end blitz. Rob's latest score is for the vérité-style documentary Grasshopper Republic. As such, we spend much of the conversation talking about, and around, Rob's score, which is certainly among the most overlooked of the year. Along the way we talk about Rob's general style and approach, tackle the big questions around how to roll back the commodification of music, and more.

Grasshopper Republic is currently playing in certain festivals while Rob's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms through Invada. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Rob on his website.

Laura Karpman Scores The Marvels, American Fiction

I'm getting closer and closer to having conducted one hundred composer interviews, and yet I don't think I've ever covered a Marvel score in one (let alone any superhero score). With Laura Karpman (Ms. Marvel, What If...?) joining the show, that all changes. Laura is fresh off of scoring the latest MCU film, The Marvels, starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah Parris (Captain Rambeau), in an interplanetary adventure. As such, we spend most of the conversation digging into her score, and particularly the great lengths to which she was able to experiment with sound. Along the way we talk about composer unionization, her other new score, for the upcoming film American Fiction (which score has been nominated for an Oscar), and more!

The Marvels is currently playing in theaters while Laura's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. American Fiction is set to release on December 15, and Laura's score is scheduled to release the same day. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Laura on her website.

Note that there is a brief spoiler for The Marvels in the interview. Once you hear a chime, skip ahead 15 seconds to avoid it.

Yair Elazar Glotman

I've been familiar with Yair Elazar Glotman ever since I heard his score for Last and First Men, which he co-composed with the great Jóhann Jóhannsson. As such, it's great to finally have him on the show! Yair and I primarily talk about his score for the new Netflix crime thriller Reptile, for which Yair has composed a fairly dense, abstract, and textural score. The score - and the film overall - has homages to older noir films, helping solidify this film as a sort of neo-noir, but it's also aware of itself and these influences, giving them nods while also attempting something new and distinct. Along the way, we hit a number of other points, like Yair's constant quest for inspiration and knowledge (whether it be studying different playing or recording techniques, new composers, or esoteric music concepts), how scores and solo albums influence one another, and more.

Reptile is currently available on Netflix while Yair's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Yair on his website.

Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) Talks The Persian Version, Vampire Weekend

In this somewhat Halloween-flavored episode, Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) (ex-Vampire Weekend, The OA) joins the show! Taking a little detour from his solo and collab music, and writing and producing for other artists like Haim, Charli XCX, and Frank, Ocean, Rostam and I primarily talk about his new score for the film The Persian Version. Rostam's score is quite subtle and restrained, marrying ancient Iranian music with Western classical music, as well as some pop and more mainstream musical influences from the last several decades. His score is capped by a cover of Cyndi Lauper's classic "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", featuring some very cool Iranian musical twists. As always, Rostam and I travel along various tangents, including his interest in film music from a young age, his first post-college music gig (with composer Craig Wedren (Yellowjackets, School of Rock)) and how this experience influenced his work on Vampire Weekend, and his Iranian cultural identity.

The Persian Version is available digitally while Rostam's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Rostam on his website.

Christopher Willis Talks Lamya’s Poem, Black Mirror

To keep the newly-launched season 4 momentum rolling, I'm joined by composer Christopher Willis! Chris is actually responsible for some of my favorite scores in recent years, like The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield, as well as the excellent series Veep (among other things). However, I managed to keep the fan side of me at bay until the very end of our chat. Instead, we chat about his most recent works: the score for the animated film Lamya's Poem, featuring an incredibly lovely, lush main theme (one of my favorites of the year so far), and Demon 79, the last episode in the latest season of Black Mirror, which sees Chris embracing horror.

Along the way, of course, we dig into a number of other topics as well. These include what it's like for Chris and his wife Elyse to work together creating music, the use of AI in music (and particularly film and tv music), and more!

Lamya's Poem is available to rent or buy digitally while Demon 79 is available to watch on Netflix. Chris's scores for both, as well as many of his other works, are available to listen on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Chris on his website.

Charlie Clouser Talks Saw X

Season 4 is here! Charlie Clouser (the Saw series, Nine Inch Nails) joins the show to kick-off the latest season. Charlie and I talk about not just his score for the latest Saw film - Saw X - but his work throughout the series, including the famous and essential "Hello Zepp" themes found in each film. Near the end, Charlie indulges me on my personal curiosity regarding the surprising number of 90s and early 2000s industrial musicians that have found their way into the film and scoring worlds, expanding it to cover the desire for filmmakers to bring in musicians on the fringes of music. During this, he hypes up a number of great composers and scores, something I absolutely love to see!

Charlie's score for Saw X surprised me given the amount of melody, seemingly broader palette, and sheer variety throughout. It isn't necessarily surprising, given his fixation on finding the perfect array of sounds to bring onto each project - hand-picking them from his seemingly-bottomless well of sounds collected over the last 40 years. But there's also an extreme level of technical precision on these scores, with endless tempo changes so that the film and its characters seem to be constantly moving to the rhythm of his score.

Saw X is currently in theaters, while Charlie's score, as well as many of his other scores, is available digitally on all major platforms.

Season Four Trailer - The Film Scorer Podcast

Season four of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 1st, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday after that (more or less). Given the breadth of guests in season three, including Daniel Pemberton, Tim Hecker, and recent Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann, you never who will show up this time around - all I can say is I already have some great guests lined up!

So subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, follow The Film Scorer on Instagram and Twitter, and keep those ears open!