It was ten years ago that the world fell in love with Turbo Kid, and part of what made that a small-scale, cult classic an underground worldwide phenomenon is the incredible musical accompaniment. Exceptional powerhouse of synthesizer magic, Le Matos brings a very cinematic approach to their compositions. You can say that for a lot of musicians, but this time it’s completely justified and especially because they have a background cinematography. So when they work on something, there’s a narrative through line where shooting styles can inform the soundscape, and vice versa. We’ve been a fan of the Montréal-based outfit for almost that long, thanks in large part to their…
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Interview…Wow Jones and JimiJame$ on Propulsive Sounds, Gut-Feelings, and Musical Confidence
On today’s show, we got the thrilling opportunity to chat with two powerhouse musicians/composers and creators. These superstars have unparalleled talent and vision, and have made waves in the music industry. From crafting unforgettable scores to shaping the direction of major tours and projects, they continue to elevate the music scene in exciting ways. With multiple highly anticipated projects and a growing reputation for breaking new ground, Wow Jones and JimiJame$ are poised to take the world by storm. This highly creative team were handpicked by Tyler Perry to work on this groundbreaking Netflix series after impressing him with their work on Duplicity. The duo created a unique, modern-day soap…
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Music Review…Scott Pilgrim Truly ‘Takes Off’ Thanks to Anamanaguchi and Joseph Trapanese
The animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off gets us back into the wonderful, wild and insanely colorful world of Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s original graphic novels. Our first entry point to this universe was Edgar Wright‘s 2010 film which lovingly adapted those works. It was awesome – filled to the brim with Wright’s style and charm, yet the great live-action film retained the 2D atmosphere of the books. Now fast-forward more than a decade later and Netflix dropped this incredibly reverent and all encompassing eight-part animated series. It cherry picks the best from O’Malley’s ideas and Wright’s film (including the voice cast who return and reprise their roles) to expand/explore the…
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Interview…Kay Hanley and Tom Polce on Bringing Melodic Magnificence to ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’
Hey there, score fans. If you’re like me, the first property you think of when someone says “musical” is probably not Star Trek. Well, you’re not wrong, but thanks to the efforts from the dynamic duo of Kay Hanley and Tom Polce that’s gonna change. These two seasoned musicians have outdone themselves with the sing-song soundtrack that, as far as those characters who boldly go, really changes everything. Episode 9 in season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made waves in TV as the first full musical episode in franchise history. Cleverly named “Subspace Rhapsody,” the story puts the crew of the USS Enterprise and others in this universe…
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Interview…Composer Gareth Coker on Worldbuilding, Melody Writing and Quiet Moments in ‘Ark’ on Paramount+
The last time we spoke to composer Gareth Coker, we had a lot of fun learning about his early days in music, and the exceptional work he did for the pair of Ori games from Moon Studios. This time, nearly four years to the day, we had him on the podcast to talk all about Ark: The Animated Series on Paramount+. An adaptation of the wildly popular game (and its expansions), ARK has to be played, watched and lived to be fully experienced. Suffice to say, this show takes liberties with its condensed story, yet in so doing retains core elements and gives the devoted gamers lots of what they’ve…
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Music Review…’Severance’ Soundtrack Is Chock-Full of Lumon Goodies
If you’re a fan of soundtracks and film scores, the team at Mondo has you covered. They take great pride in crafting physical media, they produce vinyl with audiophiles in mind, and they also care about the packaging. Like a lot! In fact, their slipcases have just as much detail as their amazing posters. Yet the cool thing about their albums is that the team gets to do way more than silk screen their work on foil variants. Albums give these artists/creatives a smaller yet more complex canvas than a poster and the team tries their darnedest to use every square inch (inside and out) to tell their story. The…
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Interview…Paul Haslinger on Electronic Soundscapes, Subtext, and Scoring Processes
If you were around in the ’80s, few things defined “cool” like music did. And, film fan or not, the top of that list is most likely going to be Tangerine Dream: the German electronic music outfit who dominated airwaves and theaters with their cutting edge electric sound. One key member of that ensemble pushing the electronic side of the band was young Paul Haslinger who joined up with them after their big hits like Sorcerer and Risky Business. Bringing a younger video game sensibility, he helped change the course of their sound for the better and contributed plenty including scores to Near Dark, Miracle Mile and Three O’Clock High.…
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Interview…Joseph Trapanese on Chamber Music, Cellos, and Choir in ‘Spiderhead’
One of the busiest film musicians out there has to be Joseph Trapanese. Let’s call him “Joe.” Joe is a composer. These days, Joe is happy. In fact, he’s very, very happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s one of the most sought-after magic makers and has a brilliant track record working on huge films with megastar directors. In Netflix’s Spiderhead, Joe reunites with director Joseph Kosinski (with whom he previously worked on TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, and Only The Brave). Aside from working closely with his good friend Joe K – we’ll call him “other Joe” – Mr. Trapanese had the unique opportunity to get away from the music that…
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Music Review…Mondo Brings ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ to the Real World
Many years ago, while pondering his place in the world, a man once asked a very timeless question: “Why, oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?” Yes, the character of Cypher (played by the incomparable Joe Pantoliano) is very much like all of us. Life threw him a choice, and after choosing a path he’s not sure it’s the right one. Buyer’s remorse if ever there was a cinematic equivalent. And I’m sure we all feel that when a film just doesn’t move the mercury for us. Similarly, we probably wish we could take steps to remake our choice. Last year, we got to plug back into The Matrix…
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For Your Consideration…’Cowboy Bebop’ Soundtrack: Perfect Selections
In our most recent review, we had a blast talking about Cowboy Bebop…even though we weren’t very fond of the live-action update. But there is one thing we can never get enough of: the music. You can hear Rob, Pete and I bounce back and forth between both versions of the show here, but one final note about the series (if we didn’t already talk about it enough in that episode) is that the free-flowing, toe-tapping, otherworldly sound Yoko Kanno & Seatbelts brought to this universe is just brilliant. Each note, riff and all-out jam session amplifies the anime’s narrative beats helping to make the series so endearing and enjoyable.…
