Peeling back layers of the 'Glass Onion' score; The Smile at the Tiny Desk

Plus, a timeline of events in the Tory Lanez assault case [View this email online]( [NPR Music]( Jan. 7, 2023 by [Marissa Lorusso]( This week, we’re sharing a conversation with Nathan Johnson, who composed the score for Glass Onion. Plus, watch a Tiny Desk featuring members of Radiohead. [Janelle Monáe stars as Andi in the film 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery']( John Wilson/Netflix Over the holidays, my family and I did something that many, many other people did: We watched Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. After a one-week limited theatrical release in November, the movie was released on Netflix on Dec. 23 — and since then it’s become the 10th [most-watched film]( in the streaming service’s history. Our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour discussed the movie in a [spoiler-free episode]( when it first premiered in theaters; but, if you’ve already seen it (or don’t mind having the plot’s various twists and turns revealed), they also recorded a second episode talking about the details of [the film’s many mysteries](. My colleague Robin Hilton, who is NPR Music’s resident film music aficionado, recently watched the movie, too — and was impressed with its score, composed by Nathan Johnson (the cousin of Rian Johnson, who directed the movie). “I was fascinated by a couple of things with the Glass Onion score,” he told me. “First, while it sounds very traditional, it’s actually trend-breaking. A lot of scores in recent years have moved more toward unusual sound design (check out Cristobal Tapia De Veer’s Smile score) and away from conventional orchestras. Johnson, whose early work on Brick and Looper was much more experimental, chose to go in the opposite direction and discovered a vast playground of sound in a 70-piece orchestra.” The score also manages to capture the “complicated and often conflicting range of the film’s moods,” Robin says: “It’s funny and sad, intense and mysterious, but also whimsical and mischievous. Nathan Johnson does a remarkable dance to thread all these needles.” So this week, [Robin called up Johnson]( for an All Songs Considered conversation about his journey as a composer and how he managed to capture Glass Onion’s emotional scope in his score. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- More to read, watch and hear - James Reese Europe was a fearless pioneer in African-American history: a bandleader, composer and organizer who laid the groundwork for jazz in the early 20th century. His music and story were the inspiration for [Jason Moran's new album]( From the Dancehall to the Battlefield, which pays tribute to Europe. - This week, the [NPR Classical playlist]( honors a few of the classical musicians who died in 2022, including the indefatigable New York Philharmonic clarinetist Stanley Drucker, composer Ingram Marshall, pianist Radu Lupu and soprano Maria Ewing. Our friends at Jazz Night in America also [paid tribute]( to some of the artists, musicians, producers and personalities who the jazz community lost in 2022. - In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Lionel Mapleson, then the librarian at New York's Metropolitan Opera, made some of the first live music recordings. Mapleson recorded hundreds of cylinders, and until last fall, the New York Public Library had 126 of them — all the known cylinders except for the 16 in possession of the Mapleson family. Now, [those final 16 are joining the New York Public Library collection]( and are set to be digitized. - Last month, the singer and rapper Tory Lanez was [found guilty of assaulting]( the rapper Megan Thee Stallion in a highly publicized trial. The Canadian artist is facing up to 22 years in prison for the charges, which stemmed from a dispute that took place in July of 2020. My colleagues Sidney Madden, Gabby Bulgarelli and Sam Leeds reported from the trial, which included [emotional testimony from Megan Thee Stallion]( and NPR reporter Giulia Heyward [charted the key events]( that led up to the conviction. Tiny Desk [The Smile's Tiny Desk concert]( NPR “My [musical highlight for 2022]( — that’s how Bob Boilen describes the first Tiny Desk concert we published in the new year, and now the rest of us have a high bar for the rest of 2023 to try to surpass. The Smile, which includes Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, performed songs from its sonically adventurous album A Light for Attracting Attention. Also this week: We shared a performance from [Jake Blount]( a proponent of traditional music who brought a talented band, his astonishing imagination and a selection of what he calls "Black folk music from the future" to the Tiny Desk. One More Thing Serving [house music history]( with Honey Dijon --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on [Spotify]( and [Apple Music]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [nprmusic@npr.org](mailto:nprmusic@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! 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