Iconic music moments in movies, covered by the MUBI Podcast • Journal • A Magazine • , Life in canada

Marrying sound and vision in perfect harmony, the best needle-drops in cinema succeed in blurring two mediums into one; at their most savvy, filmmakers deploying pre-existing music instead of a musical score can create moments that endure in the popular consciousness long after the credits roll.

The eleventh season of MUBI’s award-winning MUBI Podcast is dedicated to exploring this intersection. Titled Needle on the Record – Side 2, the latest set of episodes—again hosted by Rico Gagliano—revisits the theme of one of its most-streamed seasons for a fresh exploration of the power of music in film. This time around, Gagliano is focusing on the enduring impact of UK music from the ’80s and ’90s, from the bhangra fusion tracks in Gurinda Chada’s Bend It Like Beckham to the ska and punk soundtrack of Shane Meadows’ This Is England.

The podcast host brings along for the ride special guests like actor Jack O’Connell, whose breakout turn in This Is England launched his career; Andrew Haigh, writer-director of All of Us Strangers, unpacking the film’s soundtrack of emotionally resonant UK ’80s pop; and Simon Law, of British collective Soul II Soul, reflecting on “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me),” the ’89 club track he co-wrote that fueled the opening scene of Hype Williams’ iconic Belly, in addition to a star roster of music supervisors and hit-making musicians.

In celebration of the MUBI Podcast’s new season, now streaming wherever you listen to your podcasts, Gagliano shares with Journal his appreciations of some of the standout films discussed in its episodes.