Daniel Pemberton - music from The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Not a lot of people know that I was in U.N.C.L.E.

I had the badge and the membership card to prove it. I was a partner of Napoleon Solo and his Russian compadre Ilya Kuryakin; that I didn't feature in any of the TV episodes wasn't an oversight, as I was deeply undercover . . .

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ran from 1964 to 1968, at the height of the Cold War, and espionage and spy stories were especially popular. It's two stars - Robert Vaughn and David McCallum became household names.

The characters Solo and Kuryakin were ripe for a Hollywood remake, and thus, in 2015 a Guy Ritchie film of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. hit the screens, with a music score by Daniel Pemberton. The film had mixed reviews but Pemberton's score was praised. The LA Times said "it is composer Daniel Pemberton who in some ways seems to understand the idea of the movie even better than Ritchie, his score featuring breathy flutes, twangy guitar, spooky harpsichord and pounding drums and organ capturing the mixture of pastiche, homage and a twist of the new in a way the rest of the film rarely matches." A short video feature "behind the music" is linked to below.

The tracks that I've chosen from the soundtrack album show the character of the score, with Dave Heath's virtuoso flute playing to the fore (see the video from the recording session below). The use of a cimbalon is a nice touch, referencing the mood and the zither sound from the music of the classic spy film The Third Man . . .

Here are Out Of The Garage, His Name Is Napoleon Solo and Escape From East Berlin.

Cartridge: Yamaha MC-1x moving coil

Phono amp: Graham Slee Accession + Elevator EXP

Turntable: PTP Audio Solid12 + SME M2-12-r tonearm