Soundtrack Your Life Ryan Pak

Composer and pipa virtuoso, Ms. Min Xiao-Fen is our guest this week to talk about her recently released album Metta, which features the scores of 2 Chinese silent films, The Romance of the Fruits Peddler and Romance of the Western Chamber. These scores were commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute in 2023.
We also discuss:
Growing up in a musical familyGoing from a classical background to collaborating with jazz greats like John Zorn, Derek Bailey and Wadada Leo SmithCollaborating with Bjork on "I See Who You Are" from the album VoltaLearning to improvise and learning the Chinese connection to jazz
For More Information about Min Xiao-Fen:
Website: http://minbluepipa.com/news
IG: https://www.instagram.com/minxiaofen
FB: https://www.facebook.com/min.xiaofen/
An NPR interview with Ms. Min from 2021:
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1012832047/the-traditional-chinese-pipa-meets-guitar-in-min-xiao-fens-white-lotus
If you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!


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Writer, Stephen Lee Naish joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about 4 soundtracks from films that Dennis Hopper directed: Easy Rider, The Last Movie, Out of the Blue, and Colors. Stephen just recently released a book on Dennis Hopper and these soundtracks called Music and Sound in the films of Dennis Hopper, which can be found here:
https://www.routledge.com/Music-and-Sound-in-the-Films-of-Dennis-Hopper/Naish/p/book/9781032737690
We talk to Stephen about how Hopper was one of the first directors to use songtracks, aka using previously released music to soundtrack a film. While best known for the iconic soundtrack to Easy Rider, Hopper continued to use music in interesting ways in all of his films. Stephen created a Hopper soundtrack mixtape that you can access here:
https://www.dmovies.org/2024/02/26/the-dennis-hopper-songs-that-will-get-you-moving/
For More Information about Steph Lee Naish:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiffsandMeaning
If you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!


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It's that time of year again! Nicole and Ryan are here to break down the 2024 Oscars Best Original Song category. Did you know that "I'm Just Ken" was written by the same people who co-wrote another Oscar winning song? Will Diane Warren finally win after being nominated for the 16th time? Why is Ryan glad that Joseph Gordon-Levitt didn't get nominated? Find the answer to these questions and more as we break down the category and the songs that didn't make the cut from the shortlist.
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Emmy nominated composer, Robert Honstein is our guest this week to talk about the 2021 Peter Middleton and James Spinney directed documentary, The Real Charlie Chaplin. Honstein's Emmy nominated score for the documentary was just released in December of 2023. It is his first film score.
We discuss:
Honstein's classical composition background and how that contributed to him being brought onto the projectTrying to record for the soundtrack during the beginning of 2020Using his grandmother's slide guitar on the soundtrackThings he learned from film scoring that he has brought into his composition work
You can purchase the soundtrack for The Real Charlie Chaplin here:
https://roberthonstein.bandcamp.com/album/the-real-charlie-chaplin-original-motion-picture-soundtrack
It can be streamed on all major streaming services or via Robert's website:
https://www.roberthonstein.com/the-real-charlie-chaplin-soundtrack
For More Information about Robert Honstein:
Website: https://www.roberthonstein.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhonstein
IG: https://www.instagram.com/robertshonstein/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertshonstein
If you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!


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Perseverance Records founder, Robin Esterhammer, joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about his label's recent release, Forsaken Themes From Fantastic Films Vol. 2: Who Wants to Live Forever? The compilation features selections from Resident Evil (Mario Beltrami), Phantoms (David Williams), Dragon Soldiers (Edwin Wendler), as well as unused music from The Serpent and the Rainbow (Charles Bernstein), and a re-recorded selection of music from Michael Kamen's beloved Highlander score. Robin also talks about the origins of Perseverance Records, scores that he loved at an early age, Volume 3 of Forsaken Themes from Fantastic Films, and a huge project involving the late great James Horner.
Forsaken Themes from Fantastic Films Vol. 2: Who Wants to Live Forever can be purchased directly from Perseverance Records or streamed digitally.
Amazon Music
Spotify
For More Information about Perseverance Records:
Website: https://perseverancerecords.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerseveranceRecords/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/perseverancerec
If you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!


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Nicole and Ryan are back on February 5th with Season 5 of Soundtrack Your Life! Season 5 will be split in 2 halves, each half containing 10 episodes.
The first half will be released between February and June (2 episodes per month)
The second half will be released between August and December (2 episodes per month)
We have an exciting mix of new and returning guests, and we'll also continue our tradition of breaking down the Best Original Song category for the Oscars.
If you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get access to bonus episodes, surprise giveaways, and more!


This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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