Episode 26: Blade Runner 2049

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 Runner 2049 has a different sound and a different set of thematic ideas. But how does the music work, and what is all this interlinked stuff about, anyway? To help us answer those questions – and more – we’re once again joined by the brilliant synth expert Seja Vogel (whose fantastic podcast, where she interviews musicians, you should check out here: www.sejamusic.com).

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Episode notes:

5:01 – How the sequel came to be
8:06 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, and what could’ve been
12:43 – Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer
16:52 – The opening title card (the Memory theme)
19:25 – Or is it the Puzzle theme?
21:24 – The 2049 Melody (the Soul theme)
27:36 – Sapper Morton’s musical secret
35:08 – Voices in the furnace
38:30 – Sound design
40:48 – The rebel’s fan fair
45:44 – The return of the opening chords
49:18 – Synth talk with Seja
52:32 – Seja talks us through her reconstruction of 2049’s opening cue
1:03:11 – The final product
1:08:26 – Joi’s theme
1:12:56 – Wallace’s throat singing
1:25:05 – Flight to the LAPD
1:29:03 – Sea Wall
1:36:18 – Tears In (The) Rain
1:41:15 – The Mesa Melody
1:46:09 – The scoreless moments
1:49:10 – D for Diegetic
1:52:44 – Punching with Presley
1:55:48 – One For My Baby, and One For The Replicant
2:02:40 – Peter and the Wallace
2:11:13 – Final thoughts

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