Podcasts by Art of the Score

Episode 35: Studio Fanfares Part 2 from 2021-10-03T09:58:59

It’s Episode 35, and the long-awaited part two to our investigation of a fascinating and often-overlooked area of film music history – studio fanfares. In this episode we travel from the 1980s to t...

Episode 34: Studio Fanfares Part 1 from 2021-07-25T05:14:01

You’re sitting in a darkened movie theatre, and the latest, highly anticipated blockbuster is about to play. The ads are over, the trailers are all done, and the lights dim. What’s this? Why, it’s ...

Episode 33: Arrival from 2020-12-23T05:52:23

It’s finally time for Episode 33, and Art of the Score’s analysis of one of the landmark composers of the last decade: Jóhann Jóhannsson. We sit down with special guest, synth (and tape loop) exper...

Episode 32: The Mummy from 2020-08-31T01:38:51

It’s Episode 32, and we come back to you from the city of the lockdown with the crown jewel of 1990s action adventure: Jerry Goldsmith’s wonderful score for The Mummy. Goldsmith has for some time b...

Episode 31: How To Train Your Dragon from 2020-04-21T09:01:59

It’s Episode 31, and we’re swooping into the new year with one of the most widely loved family films – as well as the film score buff’s film score – in How To Train Your Dragon. John Powell’s sound...

Episode 30: The Little Mermaid from 2019-12-24T02:39:02

It’s Episode 30, and we at Art of the Score are finally tackling two genres we’ve so far overlooked – animation and the musical, combined in the form of the great Disney revival musical, The Little...

Episode 29: The Film Music of Nick Cave&Warren Ellis from 2019-11-26T13:01:25

Episode 29 marks Art of the Score’s first ever live episode, recorded in August at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Exploring the film music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (The Proposition...

Episode 28: The Empire Strikes Back - Part 2 from 2019-08-31T08:56:43

In Episode 28, we conclude our time with The Empire Strikes Back, and our exploration of perhaps the best Star Wars film and score ever made. In this episode, we make our way through some remaining...

Episode 27: The Empire Strikes Back - Part 1 from 2019-05-24T23:10:43

Episode 26: Blade Runner 2049 from 2019-04-04T02:33:46

In Episode 26, we return to the world of Blade Runner for the 1982 film’s long-belated sequel. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, and with a soundtrack by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer, Blade Runne...

Episode 25: Blade Runner from 2019-02-25T12:32:02

In Episode 25, we’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. A guest synth expert to tell us all about the great Yamaha CS-80’s attack and delay, and the shoulders of its Orion filter envelopes. We’ve wa...

Episode 24: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Part 2 from 2018-12-03T05:21:16

In Episode 24 we end our journey through Harry’s third year at Hogwarts with a deep listen to the unparalleled variety in John Williams’ score for Prisoner of Azkaban. We breakdown bebop, compare I...

Episode 23: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Part 1 from 2018-11-19T18:41:48

In Episode 23 we return to the wizarding world with the first of a two part listen to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Far from resting on prior achievements, the final John Williams Potte...

Episode 22: Conan the Barbarian from 2018-11-06T08:11:16

In Episode 22 we travel to the distant Hyborian era with Basil Poledouris’ muscular score for 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. As the gold standard for high fantasy prior to Howard Shore’s Lord of the R...

Episode 21: Journey from 2018-10-05T07:23:02

In Episode 21 we finally make good on our long-held promise to explore the world of videogame music, with Austin Wintory’s beautiful score for thatgamecompany’s Journey. Crucial to the experience o...

Episode 20: James Bond - Part 3 from 2018-08-28T07:48:32

In Episode 20 we conclude our three-part retrospective of the music of Bond, James Bond. Having already covered the pioneering Bond sound of John Barry and the funk of the Moore era, in our final e...

Episode 19: James Bond - Part 2 from 2018-07-22T05:03:11

In Episode 19 we continue our ambitious attempt to analyse every James Bond score ever. Having covered the Connery classics in Episode 18, we’re now onto the 1970s, 1980s, and even the early 1990s,...

Episode 18: James Bond - Part 1 from 2018-07-02T04:03:27

In Episode 18 we begin one of our most ambitious musical projects yet – the music of the James Bond franchise. Over the next three episodes, we’ll be looking at the sounds of Bond, James Bond, acro...

Episode 17: Gladiator from 2018-06-04T13:03:02

In the year 2000, the sword-and-sandal epic was revived, with Russell Crowe trebucheted to international stardom as the star of Ridley Scott’s hugely successful film, Gladiator. But fame was also f...

Episode 16: The Force Awakens - Part 2 from 2018-05-11T07:01:09

In Episode 16, we finish our look at Williams’ seventh entry into the Star Wars universe by looking at what’s returned and what hasn’t. We take apart the reoccurring Star Wars themes and how they’r...

Episode 15: The Force Awakens - Part 1 from 2018-04-03T04:34:10

In Episode 15, we return to the galaxy far, far away and take a look at how the musical landscape of Star Wars changed between the almost 40 years between A New Hope and The Force Awakens. In the f...

Episode 14: Stranger Things from 2018-01-11T04:27:27

After a short break, Art of the Score enters the new year with a trip to the Upside Down to take a close listen to Stranger Things. With the help of synth expert, musician, and podcaster Seja Vogel...

Episode 13: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from 2017-11-13T13:32:46

From Hedwig’s theme to Quidditch matches, the musical world of Hogwarts may be one of the most iconic musical contributions to the film world this millennia. John Williams worked orchestral magic a...

Episode 12: Back To The Future from 2017-10-18T12:25:27

After a short hiatus, we’re Back – from the future – with a good look at Alan Silvestri’s score to the Robert Zemeckis time-travel classic. Back to the Future is, at its core, about a small group o...

Episode 11: There Will Be Blood from 2017-08-03T01:36:18

There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson’s relentlessly dark exploration of Daniel Plainview, an American oil baron, now comfortably sits among the greatest films of the century so far. Yet Jonny ...

Episode 10: Batman from 2017-07-23T06:23:40

Today, Batman is undergoing yet another renaissance – fresh off the Dark Knight trilogy, he’s heading up a whole new Justice League. But in 1989, Batman was only starting to become the Dark Knight ...

Episode 9: Star Wars - Part 3 from 2017-07-04T02:21:05

In our third and final Star Wars episode, we take a look at some of the lesser known cues that round out this incredible score. We discuss the giant bantha in the room: the musical influences that ...

Episode 8: Star Wars - Part 2 from 2017-06-09T05:32:48

In our second Star Wars episode, marking the fortieth anniversary of the film, we complete our exploration of the themes for this landmark film and score from 1977. We take on the franchise’s most ...

Episode 7: Star Wars - Part 1 from 2017-05-24T22:46:35

Forty years ago today, in 1977, the film universe was turned upside down by a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars may have changed the film industry forever, but John Williams’ score might just be as i...

Episode 6: Dances With Wolves from 2017-05-03T08:22:32

In 1990, Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves set the film world alight, and won seven Academy Awards in the process. But what about the score? In this episode, we take a look at the music of John Ba...

Episode 5: Star Trek (TV) from 2017-04-15T06:18:30

Star Trek is one of the most enduring television series of all time, with more than 700 episodes over 30 seasons. Even disregarding the films, it’s also seen some great composers: Alexander Courage...

Episode 4: Vertigo from 2017-03-28T01:49:23

For our fourth episode, we’re moving to a different great director-composer collaboration from a different era. It’s Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann with perhaps their greatest work: 1958’s V...

Episode 3: Jurassic Park from 2017-02-27T12:16:38

For our third episode, we look at another great Williams-Spielberg collaboration with the 1993 score to Jurassic Park. This landmark film redefined special effects and Hollywood itself, but what di...

Episode 2: Raiders of the Lost Ark - Part 2 from 2017-02-17T05:11:21

In the second episode of Art of the Score, we’re going even deeper into John Williams’ 1981 score for Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the previous episode, we looked at the main themes for the score – ...

Episode 1: Raiders of the Lost Ark - Part 1 from 2017-02-16T01:16

In Art of the Score, we dissect the greats of film music from top to bottom. For our first two episodes, we’re starting with John Williams’ 1981 score for Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of the most i...