Episode 95: Moonlight

Nicholas Britell – Little’s Theme, Chiron’s Theme, Black’s Theme

SongExploder95-Moonlight-Portrait

The film Moonlight tells the story of its main character, Chiron, in three chapters: when Chiron is a young boy, nicknamed Little, when he’s a teenager, and when he’s an adult, nicknamed Black. For each chapter of the film, composer Nicholas Britell created a theme, and in this episode, Nicholas takes those themes apart. The score for Moonlight was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and the film itself won the Golden Globe for Best Drama.

This episode is part of a series I’m doing in conjunction with New York Magazine’s site Vulture, looking at awards-worthy film music from this season. For more, visit vulture.com/awards.

You can buy the soundtrack to Moonlight on iTunes, or on vinyl.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

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Episode 94: Solange

“Cranes in the Sky”


Solange Knowles released her first album in 2002, at the age of 16. Her third album, A Seat at the Table, came out in September 2016, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. It’s gotten widespread critical acclaim, including being named best album of the year by Pitchfork and by Vibe. In this episode, Solange takes apart the song “Cranes in the Sky.”

Buy “Cranes in the Sky” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Alice Coltrane – Transcendence
Taz Arnold

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Episode 93: Metallica

“Moth Into Flame”

songexploder-metallica

Metallica formed in 1981. They were teenagers. Since then, they’ve gone on to become one of the most successful bands of all time, selling over 110 million records worldwide. In November 2016, they released their tenth album, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct. In this episode, the song “Moth into Flame” gets taken apart by singer and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich.

Buy “Moth Into Flame” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Metallica – Disposable Heroes (1986)
Mastodon – The Motherload

In studio with Hrishikesh for a future episode of @songexploder down here in LA!

A post shared by Metallica (@metallica) on

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