Welcome to our customary February “Romantic Movie” showdown in honour of Valentine’s Day.

*CONTENT WARNING* This year we are looking at two films that look at BDSM relationships. Please note that this makes the episode somewhat more ‘adult’ than usual. We focus primarily on the music and the underlying relationships, but please avoid this episode if discussion of sex, sexuality and bondage is uncomfortable for you (or unsuitable for the environment in which you listen to podcasts).

Rounds for this month

1 – Opening Music

2 – Characters and Fetishes

3 – Sexual Fantasy

4 – Relationship Breakdown

5 – Legacy

Also a disclaimer that whilst we are professional film composers and knowledgeable on that side of things, we openly acknowledge that neither of us are experts regarding BDSM. If you find that we have been disrespectful or inaccurate in any of our discussion, it is not intentional and please let us know through the channels below so that we can discuss how we can make right.

To do this, or find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

We hope you’ve enjoyed another Soundtrack Showdown episode. If so, the absolute best things you can do for us are to share us with your friends and family, and/or leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay safe out there everybody.

It’s Ella’s favourite time of year again, Halloween!

And this year we’re celebrating by going way back into the vaults to two of the earliest soundtracks in cinema history. We consider the work of the “father of film music” Max Steiner in his seminal 1933 score to King Kong. And what could stand against that? Only the equally iconic Franz Waxman and his score for 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein.

Rounds for this month

1 – Monster Intro

2 – Romance and Flirting

3 – Rampage and Carnage

4 – Finale and *spoiler*

5 – Legacy

Stay safe everyone.

An easy way to share us with your friends is to share the advertising posts of your favourite episodes from:

https://www.facebook.com/tristellarmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/tristellarmusic/

And of course, it’s even better if you leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts. We’re now available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Overcast, Anchor, and virtually anywhere podcasts are available.

This month we focus on the Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist – Guillermo Del Toro.

We’re talking about the music for two of his most respected “adult fairytale” films, 

• Pan’s Labyrinth - score by the Spanish composer Javier Navarrete; and 
• The Shape of Water - score by the French composer Alexandre Desplat.

Rounds for this month

1 – Main Theme and Main Character [13:12]

2 – The Supernatural [31:50]

3 – Suspense [45:34]

4 – Death And Resurrection [1:04:36]

5 – Legacy [1:18:48]

Stay safe everyone.

An easy way to share us with your friends is to share the advertising posts of your favourite episodes from:

https://www.facebook.com/tristellarmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/tristellarmusic/

And of course, it’s even better if you leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts. We’re now available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Overcast, Anchor, and virtually anywhere podcasts are available.

We kick off season 3 with a battle of the ages, Marvel vs DC

Representing DC, we have Hans Zimmer’s score for Zac Snyder’s 2013 Superman reboot – Man Of Steel

And for Marvel we have Marco Beltrami’s score for Logan from 2017, the farewell to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, directed by James Mangold.

Rounds for this month

1 – Main Character Theme

2 – Villain Theme

3 – Action

4 – Emotion and Breakthrough

5 – Legacy

Stay safe everyone.

An easy way to share us with your friends is to share the advertising posts of your favourite episodes from:

https://www.facebook.com/tristellarmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/tristellarmusic/

And of course, it’s even better if you leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts. We’re now available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Overcast, Anchor, and virtually anywhere podcasts are available.

Social isolation special.

We absolutely didn’t intend this. But, as Covid-19 reaches pandemic proportions and social distancing measures are put in place around the world, we find ourselves analysing two films that consider the consequences of social isolation.

Rounds for this month

1 – The city

2 – Relationship with women

3 – Guns and violence

4 – Transition

5 – Legacy

We hope that this episode brings you some joy and distraction from the current state of the world. But remember, if you’re having trouble coping in any way, please reach out to friends, family and helplines in your local country. There is no shame or weakness in getting assistance.

And, a huge thank you to the front line staff in this crisis including medical staff, emergency personnel and anyone on those crucial helplines.

Stay safe everyone.

We hope you’re enjoying these Soundtrack Showdown episodes as much as we enjoy making them.

An easy way to share us with your friends is to share the advertising posts of your favourite episodes from:

https://www.facebook.com/tristellarmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/tristellarmusic/

And of course, it’s even better if you leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts. We’re now available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Overcast, Anchor, and virtually anywhere podcasts are available.

This month we compare the work of a master and their apprentice.

Elmer Bernstein wrote some of the one of the most iconic and enduring scores in the history of cinema. However, he also has a legacy as one of the great teachers of Hollywood. Rising star, Bear McCreary owes a particular gratitude, having been mentored and essentially introduced to the industry by Bernstein.

We compare McCreary’s most recent big score - Godzilla: King of the Monsters, with one of Bernstein’s absolute best – The Great Escape.

Rounds for this month

1 – Main Theme

2 – Suspense

3 – Action

4 – Sadness and Loss

5 – Legacy

Bonus: Bear McCreary’s Blog “My decade with Elmer Bernstein” 

We hope you’re enjoying these Soundtrack Showdown episodes as much as we enjoy making them.

An easy way to share us with your friends is to share the advertising posts of your favourite episodes from:

https://www.facebook.com/tristellarmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/tristellarmusic/

And of course, it’s even better if you leave us a lovely review wherever you get your podcasts. We’re now available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Overcast, Anchor, and virtually anywhere podcasts are available.

This month Ella and Tristan embrace the negative and talk about six soundtrack trends that really grind our gears.

1: Poor music placement/editing

2: Inconsistent Sound

3: Weak Hero Themes

4: Percussion tracks (and ostinatos)

5: The decline of Danny Elfman

6: Overuse of unusal instruments or non-instruments

Warning: Some minor spoilers for the 2017 movie “It”.

To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

And please, if you like what we’re doing and would like to help, the best thing you can do share our podcast with your family and friends and leave us a review wherever you listen.

  This month we compare two social-message horror films. The Stepford Wives – Composer Michael Small, and Get Out – Composer Michael Abels 

Rounds for this month

1 – Opening Theme

2 – Something’s wrong

3 – Reveal

4 – Suspense

5 – Legacy

If you missed our September Episode (aka S02E05, or Episode 17) that’s because it was a Twitch stream. You can see the episode on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/GJAK5XFCZG0. You can also follow our Twitch Channel at https://www.twitch.tv/soundtrackshowdown

To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

And please, share our podcast with your friends and leave us a review wherever you listen. It really helps us reach out to a bigger audience.

This month we go Look at mega-fantasy film franchises from 2001. We analyse Howard Shore’s score for the Fellowship of the Ring and John Williams’ for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Rounds for this month

1 – Prologue

2 – The Ordinary World/Innocence

3 – Action

4 – Evil

5 – Legacy

Special Treats

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films – book by Doug Adams, a great read if you are into the films and the music. The most comprehensive study on any film score that I have read - his blog is http://www.musicoflotr.com/

Tristan’s old, very nerdy blog post on fun facts about the Lord of the Rings soundtracks, going into far greater detail than we ever could here - http://tristankane.com/2016/05/7-super-nerdy-music-stats-about-the-lord-of-the-rings/

Keep an eye out on our Twitch Channel - https://www.twitch.tv/soundtrackshowdown for next months highly combative (or is that Kombative) episode.

To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

 This month we go back to the world of superheroes as we compare two African-American-centric Marvel movies. We analyse Mark Isham’s score for Blade (1998) and Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar-winning score for Black Panther (2018) plus the commercial music that was used in both films.

Rounds for this month

1 – Heroes

2 – Villains

3 – Action

4 – Pop Songs

5 - Action

To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

Welcome to Season 2 of Soundtrack Showdown Kicking off our second year we compare two animated classics. Alan Silvestri’s score for FernGully (1982) and David Newman’s score for Anastasia (1997)

Ella and Tristan compare the music of Final Fantasy VII and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. And yes, we talk about One-Winged Angel!

It’s a very special episode as we review two scores for the SAME FILM. Ridley Scott’s 1985 film Legend was released with two different scores. A Jerry Goldsmith orchestral score in Europe, and a Tangerine Dream electronic score in North America (and Russia, go figure)

In our first annual romantic special this month we compare Clint Mansell’s score for The Fountain (2006) and Anne Dudley’s score for Tristan + Isolde (2006)

We discuss our favourite soundtracks. The music that moves us, inspires us and has shaped our development as composers. Soundtracks discussed – Braveheart (1995) Edward Scissorhands (1990) Shadows of the Colossus (2005) Interview with the Vampire (1994) Finding Nemo (2003) 3X3 Eyes (1991) A Page of Madness (1927) – Soundtrack 2004  Link to the Spotify Playlist featuring these (and more!) - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uVGSMzGHMlSR8SD576Jxq To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com This month you can vote for what you’d like us to compare in our Christmas Special. Elf (2003), Die Hard (1988), Gremlins (1984) or Home Alone (1990)

It’s our first annual Halloween Special! This month we compare Jerry Goldsmith’s classic score for The Omen (1976) and a more modern example, The VVitch (2015) score by Mark Korven. Along the way we share some of our (perhaps contentious) views on the horror genre generally.  Rounds for this month 1 – Opening music 2 – Missing Children 3 - Matricide 4 – Horror Scenes 5 - Legacy and Impact Added bonus – the Apprehension Engine by Mark Korven http://www.markkorven.com/Apprehension_Engine.html   Video at - https://youtu.be/1lTYPvArbGo To find out more, or leave us a message you can reach us at @tristellarmusic on your favourite social media (twitter, facebook and insta) or via our website - www.tristellarmusic.com

This month we do two firsts, our first foreign language film (not counting Mad Max) and far more importantly our first movies scored by female composers - Micah Levi’s score for the disturbing Under the Skin and Emilie Simone’s for the adorable La Marche de l’Empereur (which was released with some changes for the English-speaking world as The March of the Penguins)

In the most explosive Soundtrack Showdown so far, we talk about the representation of women in film music, the politics of the Mexican-US border, and the meaning of the word 'doof'.

Episode 2 of Soundtrack Showdown. We look at two movies about Batman vs his arch-nemesis the Joker. Danny Elfman’s score for Batman (1989) and Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s score for The Dark Knight (2008). In a spirit of light-hearted (but often quite heated) competition we break the scores down over five rounds, in which we discuss how well the music works in key areas, then declare an overall winner. This week, our rounds are – 1 – Batman Themes 2 – Joker Themes 3 – Style 4 – Action Music 5 – Legacy and Impact

In episode 1 of Soundtrack Showdown, we look at two classic horror film scores, Bernard Herrmann’s score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and John Williams’ score for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975). In a spirit of light-hearted but sometimes heated competition, we break the scores down over five rounds, discuss and analyse how well the music works in key areas, and then declare the overall winner. This week, our rounds are: 1 – Monster Motifs 2 – Main Themes 3 – Techniques and Production 4 – Suspense Music 5 – Legacy and Impact Who will win?