Film and TV

Coco Composers Infuse Score With Flavors of Mexican Music (Variety)
Pixar filmmakers are routinely meticulous in seeking out musical scores. Ten of the studio’s 18 films have been Oscar-nominated for song, score or both, and three have won the gold. But it seems safe to say that no Pixar film to date has gone to the lengths that Coco has to ensure musical authenticity for its story.

Stranger Things Music Supervisor Nora Felder on the Show’s Soundtrack (Billboard)
Felder is the force behind Stranger’s totally ’80s soundtrack, helping to add an authentic musical feel to accent the trials and tribulations of the paranormal world of the series, which recently returned for its second season and features cuts ranging from Corey Hart’s pop classic “Sunglasses at Night” to the Devo hit “Whip It.

69 F*cking Fantastic Songs From Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It (Pop Sugar)
In She’s Gotta Have It, the new Netflix series inspired by Spike Lee’s 1986 film of the same name, the music featured throughout the show is equally as complex, unpredictable, and consequential as the show’s main characters.

Cillian Murphy on Peaky Blinders’ soundtrack: ‘You just know if a song’s Peaky or not’ (NME)
Star Cillian Murphy and composer Antony Genn (formerly of Pulp) stop by BBC 6Music to discuss outlaws and pure “peakiness”.

How MTV’s Catfish Gets Its Music (Forbes)
Danny Ross chats to Sam Carlin — music supervisor for the hit MTV series, Catfish: The TV Show, which recently wrapped up its sixth season. He shared some of the industry’s secrets and revealed how to successfully score a moving half-hour of content.

Kaleo’s ‘Way Down We Go’ Returns to THR’s Top TV Songs Chart Thanks to Riverdale (Billboard)
Kaleo’s “Way Down We Go” returns to No. 1 on the THR’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind and Shazam, for October, thanks to its appearance in the second season premiere of The CW’s Riverdale on Oct. 25.

Doctor Who theme’s co-creator honoured with posthumous PhD (Guardian)
The under-appreciated electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme is to be honoured posthumously with a doctorate from her hometown university as the programme gears up for the debut of its first female lead.

Oscars: Can Chris Cornell Make A Posthumous Impact On Best Song Race? (Deadline)
Posthumous Oscars are rare, but Chris Cornell, who died in May at age 52, stands a chance of winning one, or at least being nominated, for his moving theme song from The Promise.

How Whitney Houston Shaped The Biggest Movie Soundtrack Of All Time (Buzzfeed)
Houston’s behind-the-scenes role in creating the best-selling soundtrack of The Bodyguard, which turns 25 this year, is a reminder that she was much more than just “The Voice.”

Composer Tamar-kali’s Alchemy Of Dirt And Music For Mudbound (Billboard)
For the film’s composer, Tamar-kali, her feature score debut’s most influential character was the omnipresent mud. The score “comes from an emotional place, a scenic place,” Tamar-kali says.

Composer Roundtable: The Need for Diversity and the Agony of Waiting for Inspiration to Strike (Hollywood Reporter)
Six top musical talents open up about the horror of the temp track, the best way to talk to a director and the power of a well-executed film score.

Greta Gerwig Wrote Charming Letters to ‘Mr. Timberlake’ and ‘Mr. Dave Matthews’ to License Their Music in Lady Bird (Vulture)
In order to make sure her film was as accurate as possible, Gerwig wanted to license just the right music, and so, as she revealed on Late Night With Seth Meyers, she wrote letters to the artists in question.

10 Classical Compositions that Anime Loves (Crunchyroll)
For anime soundtracks, Western classical music can be a useful tool. One fewer cue to compose, for starters, and you don’t have to navigate the same rights issues that crop up when licensing contemporary music. Let’s take a look at some pieces that show up often in anime.

Screen Music Awards for the composers behind The Get Down, Jasper Jones (IF)
Held last night in Melbourne, the Screen Music Awards were staged jointly by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, honouring the work of Aussie screen composers in 12 categories.

Sync Story: Hauschka’s Gunpowder placement (Music Week)
Kit Harrington stole the headlines as his latest period drama, Gunpowder, brought Robert Catesby’s 1605 bid to blow up the House Of Lords to BBC One last month. But as viewers would surely testify, the music was instrumental, too.

Go Behind The Scenes of Marcelo Zarvos’ Score for Julia Roberts’ New Film Wonder (Billboard)
The film’s lilting score by Marcelo Zarvos (Fences, Brooklyn’s Finest) underscores the magic and childhood wonder in Pullman’s life. As he explains in this behind-the-scenes feature, director Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) was a fan of Zarvos, even though he didn’t know it.

Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full Winners List (Hollywood Reporter)
During the ceremony, prolific songwriter Diane Warren was presented with the HMMA Outstanding Career Achievement Award. A full list of winners follows.

The Stories Behind 5 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Songs and the Songs the Cast Auditioned With (Vulture)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fans, rejoice: There may be some fun, cringe-y karaoke in your future. “I am working so hard to make karaoke tracks happen,” the show’s star and co-creator Rachel Bloom announced at Vulture Festival L.A. on Sunday. To tide you over, the cast of the CW show discussed the songs they auditioned with, the songs they’ve aired, condom props, and spaghetti penises.

Gaming

What it was like composing the Nazi-killing music for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Alt Press)
AP spoke with The New Colossus‘ composers, Martin Stig Andersen (LIMBO, INSIDE) and Mick Gordon (Wolfenstein: The New Order, DOOM), about the video game scoring process and what went into creating the soundtrack to Captain William Joseph Blazkowicz’s newest Nazi-killing journey.

Catch up with Diggin’ in the Carts as it returns (Red Bull)
With Diggin’ In The Carts back for its second season, we catch up with host Nick Dwyer to discuss the evolution of video game music.

Video game music fest being held in the UK in January (Destructoid)
The “All Your Bass” event, which will be held in January 2018, will consist of a series of performances and Q&A events featuring industry composers such as Masaya Matsuura, responsible for the kick-ass beats of Parappa the Rapper and Vib-Ribbon, and Rob Hubbard, who made his name with some brilliant and memorable Commodore 64 tunes.

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