Soundtracks — All Formats  

A wonderful soundtrack from Booker T & The MGs – a record that's probably much better remembered than the film for which it was written! The tunes show a whole new depth for the group – a style that still has some of the charm of their previous hits, but which also takes off in whole new directions too. Some tunes are pretty darn catchy, and others have a nicely bubbling sound – almost jazzy in parts, with a great scene-setting feel for the movie. Booker actually sings on 2 tracks – "Johnny I Love You" and "Blues In The Gutter" – and Judy Clay sings on "Children Don't Get Weary". Other than that, though, the whole thing's instrumental – with titles that include the megahit "Time Is Tight", plus "Cleveland Now", "Down At Ralph's Joint", and "Tank's Lament".

One of the wildest, most stylistically panoramic and awe-inspiring Bollywood collections we've ever heard – seriously, leave all expectations you might have about about Indian film music compilations at the door – this Finders Keepers set culled from decades of Bombay horror soundtracks is a major eye-opener! Bollywood Bloodbath features work by some of the best and most creative composers and performers from the Bollywood landscape – RD Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri and others – and the range of years in which the material was pulled allows for a heck of a lot of styles to come in and out of play. What's great about it is that there's really nothing in the way of cliched horror movie music going on here – it's seedy, brilliantly fused mix of timeless Indian music, psychedelia, funk, disco, feverish percussion, sometimes beautiful and sometimes eerie female vocals and more. There's an oddly foreboding vibe and wigged out screams and more to clue you in once in a while that we're in the horror genre, but not in any kind of predictable way. Incredible! Finders Keepers has raised the bar once again! 22 tracks in all: "Sannata Theme" by Rajesh Roshan, "Sansani Khez Koi Baat", by Hemant Bhosle, "Meri Jaaan" by Bappi Lahiri, "Theme Music From Anita" by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, "Main Theme From Andhera/Darwaza" by Sapan Jagmohan, "Disco Title Music From Dahshat" by Bappi Lahiri, "Bindya Tarse Kajra Barse" by RD Burman and more.

One of the wildest, most stylistically panoramic and awe-inspiring Bollywood collections we've ever heard – seriously, leave all expectations you might have about about Indian film music compilations at the door – this Finders Keepers set culled from decades of Bombay horror soundtracks is a major eye-opener! Bollywood Bloodbath features work by some of the best and most creative composers and performers from the Bollywood landscape – RD Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri and others – and the range of years in which the material was pulled allows for a heck of a lot of styles to come in and out of play. What's great about it is that there's really nothing in the way of cliched horror movie music going on here – it's seedy, brilliantly fused mix of timeless Indian music, psychedelia, funk, disco, feverish percussion, sometimes beautiful and sometimes eerie female vocals and more. There's an oddly foreboding vibe and wigged out screams and more to clue you in once in a while that we're in the horror genre, but not in any kind of predictable way. Incredible! Finders Keepers has raised the bar once again! 22 tracks in all: "Sannata Theme" by Rajesh Roshan, "Sansani Khez Koi Baat", by Hemant Bhosle, "Meri Jaaan" by Bappi Lahiri, "Theme Music From Anita" by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, "Main Theme From Andhera/Darwaza" by Sapan Jagmohan, "Disco Title Music From Dahshat" by Bappi Lahiri, "Bindya Tarse Kajra Barse" by RD Burman and more.

A weird later Ennio Morricone soundtrack – and one with some surprising use of electronics and keyboards too! The maestro has used electric instrumentation on other scores, but this one has a pretty different feel – a handful of tracks that have more of a future-sounding quality, fitting for the movie's sci-fi story – mixed with a few others that are more atmospheric, and with more familiar Morricone elements at play. Overall, the whole thing's pretty great – and the sound is really more early 70s than you'd guess from the date of the movie – no clunky 80s keyboards, and still more 70s analogue elements that have a nice degree of warmth, even when they're trying to sound a bit cold. Titles include "Estasi Stellare", "Un Uomo Nello Spazio", "Robodog", "Incontri A Sei", "Informale Primo", "Infanzia Evoluzione E Ritorno", and "Trasmissione Difettosa Rotazione E Rivoluzione".

Elmer Bernstein serves up some of his most famous soundtrack themes – but in a style that's even more jazz-based than the original! The group here is a large one, filled with great west coast players – and Bernstein's tunes sparkle even more in this rich setting than they did in their initial use on film – partly because the presentation allows some musicians the chance to really open up and solo! The lineup features Bud Shank and Bob Cooper on saxes, Pete Candoli and Don Fagerquist on trumpets, Milt Bernhart and Dick Nash on trombones, Bob Bain on guitar, Russ Freeman on piano, Shelly Manne on drums, and Francisco Aquabella on percussion – and titles include "Rat Race", "Three Time Blueser", "Hop Skip But Jump", "Jubilation", "Man With The Golden Arm", "Saints & Sinners", and "Sweet Smell Of Success".

Fred Bongusto comes up with a plenty playful score for this goofy 80s film – the story of civilization, but from the perspective of a loser! The music moves between serious scoring and more whimsical numbers – the latter of which feature more of the 80s elements, especially keyboards, that you might expect from the date – especially on the clubby-grooving main theme. Other instrumentation is a mix of electric and acoustic – sometimes the former aping the latter – and this deluxe reissue features 28 tracks that include "Super Torneo", "Tema D'Amore Excalibur", "Fantozzo Antico", "Regata Super", "Super Maratona", "Super Shimmy", and "Super Jazz Club".

A wicked double-header – a pair of rare French vampire soundtracks, packaged together in a single CD! First up is Fascination – a totally cool score from Philippe D'Aram – one that's heavy on electronics, amidst the usual horror movie moods – which gives the music a cold, stark feel that's really amazing – incredibly spooky at points, and nice and spacey at others! D'Aram doesn't just use the usual familiar moog and Rhodes elements – and instead seems to be working with early sample-type textures – using blocks of sound in these slow-building ways that are almost an electronic equivalent of a Phantom Of The Opera-type organ – especially at points when dark voices filter in to the mix, alongside acoustic elements on tuned instruments. Titles include "La Louve", "Apparation Du Chateau", "Bizarre Cult 2", "L'Amour Des Deux Filles", "Death Brigitte", and "La Valse Grincante". Next up is Requiem Pour Un Vampire – a Pierre Raph soundtrack for a really moody film – and one that's scored with music that's surprisingly sensitive at times too! There's a mix of dark and sweet here that really creates a great sort of tension – a mix between light acoustic instrumentation and some heavier sounds in the background – and really offbeat styles of tuning, and of putting the sounds together for the record! The music often features little snippets of sound effects – which pop out in a nice sense of surprise – reflecting the interplay of drama and sensuality in the film's images – and as the set moves on, the arrangements get fuller, and darker too. Titles include "Dominique's Organ", "Jade Vampyre", "Crimson Gates", "Steps To Eternal Youth", "Jade Lake", "Crimson Pond", and "Sad Clowns In The Cornfield".

Two great soundtracks by Georges Delerue – both penned for Jean-Paul Belmondo films of the mid 60s! Les Tribulations D'Un Chinois En Chine has a really great style that mixes fake "Chinese" themes with more playful orchestrations – all in a mood that really fits that lightly comedic action of the movie, and which has an extremely evocative feel, even away from the screen! Strings are often arranged in playful ways, and mixed with odd woodwinds – not really authentically Chinese, but that's the appeal! L'Homme De Rio has a stronger Brazilian feel, as you might expect – one that's got bits of batucada, elements of bossa orchestrations, and some of the bolder, more dramatic moments we've come to expect from Delerue! The whole package is great, with lots of images from the films, and notes in both English and French – and a total of 24 tracks that include "Bowling Bresilien", "Batucada/Rapt Au Trocadero", "A La Poursuite De Catalan", "Quelle Adventure", "Mister Goh", "Hong Kong", "Poursuite En Ballon", "Suzy Et Cornelius", and "Choinoiseries" – plus 2 bonus tracks, "Alexandrine Pour Alexandra" and "Amazone".

Music for the last feature film of Jacques Tati – the mad mad Trafic, matched here by a wonderful soundtrack by Charles Dumont! After the dark modernism of Playtime, Tati let loose a bit more for Trafic – and the score matches the film's sometimes silly approach with some very groovy numbers that are a lot more mod than you'd expect. Guitars, organ, drums, and fuzzy bass ring out on the best numbers – a mix of funk and groovy numbers that almost feel like they were pulled out of one of the wilder Italian soundtracks of the same era. Titles include "Trafic", "Maria", "La Route", "La Course D'Autos", and "Marche De La Rai". Great to have on CD – and we'd like to have the movie out soon too!

A great little score from that time when Italian westerns were able to mix in equal parts humor and action – served up here in a buddy film that's got a bit of a Butch & Sundance vibe! The music is maybe more 60s playful than you'd expect – still often sweeping in a western style, but often underscored with comedic elements that correspond to some of the more offbeat action on the screen. Even the tenser moments have a sort of comedy quality – and feel more like heist-style numbers than the usual western styles – but that could also be due to the groovier modes normally used by Gianni Ferrio. This expanded edition features a heck of a lot of tracks – way more than any previous version – including vocal numbers by Lilian Terry and by the team of John Ireson and Wayne Parham. Titles include "Falling In Love With A Pretty Girl", "Young Man Go West", "Two Not So Peaceful Brothers", "Monty & Ted", "Let's Keep Our Fingers Crossed", and "Working Hard".

A wonderful bit of cinematic jazz from the 50s – played by the Chico Hamilton group as part of the soundtrack! The combo was a key part of the LA scene at the time, but are oddly featured as a regular club act in the movie's New York setting – but we'll gladly forgive that geographic error, given that the music on the set is so great. The quality's a bit like some of the Hamilton Quintet work on World Pacific – but there's a slightly freer, more urgent feel here too – work that's sometimes somewhat driving, and beautifully blended from the guitar of John Pisano, clarinet of Paul Horn, cello of Fred Katz, piano of Carson Smith, and drums from Chico. Side one features a lot of short incidental cuts – like "Susan", "Cheek To Chico", "Jam", and "Night Beat" – and side 2 is an extended "Concerto Of Jazz Themes From The Soundtrack Of Sweet Smell Of Success".

A jazz soundtrack double-header – one that features both the small combo and larger band version of the soundtrack to The Sweet Smell Of Success! The first half of the CD features the Chico Hamilton Quintet's album of music – a wonderful bit of cinematic jazz from the 50s. The combo was a key part of the LA scene at the time, but are oddly featured as a regular club act in the movie's New York setting – but we'll gladly forgive that geographic error, given that the music on the set is so great. The quality's a bit like some of the Hamilton Quintet work on World Pacific – but there's a slightly freer, more urgent feel here too – work that's sometimes somewhat driving, and beautifully blended from the guitar of John Pisano, clarinet of Paul Horn, cello of Fred Katz, piano of Carson Smith, and drums from Chico. Side one features a lot of short incidental cuts – like "Susan", "Cheek To Chico", "Jam", and "Night Beat" – and side 2 is an extended "Concerto Of Jazz Themes From The Soundtrack Of Sweet Smell Of Success". The second half of the CD features the full orchestral version of the Sweet Smell Of Success soundtrack – but done in a style that's almost as jazzy and swinging as the small combo one! Elmer Bernstein's at the helm here – and the music's a wonderful pastiche of modes that's right up there with his sublime score for The Man With The Golden Arm – done in a similar blend of driving jazz, somber moments, and some slightly more raucous touches! As with that album, the players are all great – and soloists on the album include Pete Candoli, Ted Nash, and Shelly Manne – west coast players despite the New York setting of the film, and playing here with a fair bit of grit in their groove. Titles include "The Street", "Hot Dogs & Juice", "Toots Shor's Blues", "Nite Spot Rock", "Love Scene", and "Out Of Darkness".

An amazing collection of music – and essential to any collection of blacksploitation soul and funk, even if you own the original Shaft album on Stax! Disc 1 features the original film score for the Shaft movie, not the record issued by Stax – so although Isaac Hayes handled the music, it's different from what you might have on record – and features a great array of vocal tracks and shorter funky sound cues – all with rhythm by The Bar-Kays and The Movement! Titles on disc 1 include "Bumpy's Theme", "I Can't Get Over Losin You", "Reel 4 Part 6", "Source No 1 6M1C", "Source No 2 7M1A", "Shaft Strikes Again/Return Of Shaft", "Shaft's Pain", "Rescue/Roll Up", "Love Scene Ellie", "Harlem Montage", "Shaft's First Fight", and "Title Shaft". Disc 2 features the killer soundtrack to Shaft's Big Score – written by Gordon Parks, and played with full funky style by Dick Hazard, who's getting a bit of help from the mighty Tom McIntosh. The tracks seem to include everything issued on the original LP, plus a bit more – with titles that include "Symphony For Shafted Souls", "9M3", "Funeral Home", "Don't Misunderstand", "Fight Scene", "Ike's Place", "First Meeting", "Smart Money", and "Blowin Your Mind". That disc and all of disc 3 features music from the Shaft TV series – some really under-exposed music that's totally great too, but almost with more of a crime/cop sort of style – although also with some cool moody moments too. Some of this music was done by Johnny Pate, and titles include work from the episodes The Executioners, The Killing, Hit Run, The Cop Killers, and The Kidnapping. 3CD set also features 2 bonus tracks from a single – "The Men" and "Type Thang".

Incredibly captivating work from the legendary Alexader Jodorowsky – a soundtrack that's beyond compare, penned for a movie to match – and issued famously as one of the key releases on Apple Records! Given the lack of distribution for the film, the record's become one of the few lasting relics of the bizarre El Topo project – filled with tunes penned by Jodorowsky that are as offbeat as the images on the screen! The movie's kind of a surreal western, with lots of trippy touches – and the soundtrack runs from straight numbers that echo an Italian spaghetti era, to others that have a playful almost circus-esque aspect, to others that come across with a weird mix of organic instrumentation and psychedelic inspiration. Titles aren't listed individually, which is great – because the whole thing works together as some brilliant sound collage – better absorbed as a whole, and with plenty of space for contemplation!

Amazing sounds from Polish composer Andrzej Korzynski – penned for a legendary horror film from the early 80s! The movie goes way beyond typical grit and gore – with a surreal bent that's made it the stuff of much discussion over the years – and Korzynski's music definitely lives up to the spirit of the images on the screen – mixing 80s electronics with offbeat strings, odd percussion, and other compelling bits – often used in very short songs that shift often throughout the course of the album – easily making the record one of the most playful we've ever heard from Finders Keepers – yet also one of the darkest too! A few sweet keyboard melodies offset some of the spookiness in a nice way – and titles include "Helen Has Green Eyes", "Opetanie 1", "The Night The Screaming Stops", "Blue Ford B AZ6", "Heinrick's Demise", "Mark Looks In The Fridge", "What Is It", and "Closely Observed Anna".

"It's not a sequel – there's never been anything like it." Finally, an awesome reissue of the classically groovy camp soundtrack to "king of the nudies" Russ Meyer's crazy non-sequel to Valley Of The Dolls – one of the greatest exploitation movies of all time! The music is almost unbelievably great for what was essentially supposed to be an X-rated cheapie (little did 20th Century Fox know) – with a wonderfully huge & string heavy score by composer Stu Phillips, insanely groovy, stomping mod rock from the Sandpipers, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the film's busty real-life Playboy Bunny heroines the Carrie Nations/Kelly Affair! "This is MY happening, and IT FREAKS ME OUT!" Titles include the Carrie Nations tunes "Find It" and "Come With The Gentle People", the Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense & Peppermints" and "I'm Coming Home", the Sandpipers groovy "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls Theme", and tons more.

A great Italian comedy score from the early 60s – put together in key transitional modes by composer Carlo Rustichelli! The music is a great mix of those older, more sentimental Italian styles with some of the cleaner, leaner, playful sounds that were beginning to emerge in the 60s – served up in a host of short tracks with a great deal of variety – some in a swinging jazz mode, a few in a twist party style, and others that are more serious. This CD version of the score is greatly expanded from any previous one – 44 tracks in all, with great remastering – and a huge amount of previously unreleased songs! Titles include "Ratto Twist", "Corrida Rumba", "Vampata D'Amuri", "Morte Di Ascalone", and "Dicerie".

Great 60s grooves from Carlo Savina – two playful comedic scores from the 60s, both filled with whimsical instrumental touches! Veneri Al Sole is excellent right from the start – with a Piero Piccioni-like blend of jazz, Latin rhythms, and some mod 60s instrumentation – especially on organ, electric harpsichord, and vibes, which both ring out on some of the album's best tracks – in ways that have sonic properties that go way beyond their familiar use! The record's a great example of the way that 60s Italian composers were really changing things around – and that spirit follows strongly on Veneri In Collegio – a set of tracks that's almost more vivid overall – especially in the way it uses wider woodwind passages to flesh out the sound. CD features 26 tracks in all – with great remastering!

The MJQ always manage to sound especially great when working on music for film – and this album's a great illustration of that fact! The work here is written by John Lewis, for a movie that never lasted the test of time as much as the record – and it's some of John's most evocative writing of the time – almost imagistic enough without the film! Selections are played by the core quartet of Milt Jackson on vibes, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums – and titles include "The Golden Striker", "One Never Knows", "The Rose Truc", "Venice", "Cortege", and "Three Windows".

Elmer Bernstein serves up some of his most famous soundtrack themes – but in a style that's even more jazz-based than the original! The group here is a large one, filled with great west coast players – and Bernstein's tunes sparkle even more in this rich setting than they did in their initial use on film – partly because the presentation allows some musicians the chance to really open up and solo! The lineup features Bud Shank and Bob Cooper on saxes, Pete Candoli and Don Fagerquist on trumpets, Milt Bernhart and Dick Nash on trombones, Bob Bain on guitar, Russ Freeman on piano, Shelly Manne on drums, and Francisco Aquabella on percussion – and titles include "Rat Race", "Three Time Blueser", "Hop Skip But Jump", "Jubilation", "Man With The Golden Arm", "Saints & Sinners", and "Sweet Smell Of Success".

An amazing tribute to one of our favorite soundtrack composers ever – a massive overview of the work of Michel Legrand, one that spans over 70 films, 4 decades, and 5 hours of music! The package looks at Legrand's career on a film-by-film basis – offering up key tracks and themes in a historical progression that begins in late 50s France, runs through key European films of the 60s, and takes off into important global territory in the 70s. Throughout this long span of work, Legrand always has an amazing ear for the sensitive melody – the kind of simple, straightforward tune that often becomes as important to a film as the image itself (and honestly, looking through the films in this collection, it's clear that many of the tunes have had a longer life than the movies they were used in!) The package comes complete with a great booklet on Legrand's career, complete with older photos and images – as well as both English and French versions of an interview with Legrand, and reflections on his work by Sydney Pollack, Agnes Varda, Norman Jewison, and others. Includes music from the films Lola, Cleo De 5 A 7, Le Gentleman D'Epsom, Eva, Love Is A Ball, The Happy Ending, Sweet November, Play Dirty, L'Homme A La Buick, The Go-Between, Le Mans, Portnoy's Complaint, Time For Living, Brian's Song, Peau D'Ane, To Catch A Pebble, Le Gang Des Otages, Castle Keep, The Magic Garden Of Stanley Sweetheart, F For Fake, Un Homme Est Mort, Lady Sings The Blues, Breezy, and many others!

The MJQ always manage to sound especially great when working on music for film – and this album's a great illustration of that fact! The work here is written by John Lewis, for a movie that never lasted the test of time as much as the record – and it's some of John's most evocative writing of the time – almost imagistic enough without the film! Selections are played by the core quartet of Milt Jackson on vibes, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums – and titles include "The Golden Striker", "One Never Knows", "The Rose Truc", "Venice", "Cortege", and "Three Windows".

The MJQ always manage to sound especially great when working on music for film – and this album's a great illustration of that fact! The work here is written by John Lewis, for a movie that never lasted the test of time as much as the record – and it's some of John's most evocative writing of the time – almost imagistic enough without the film! Selections are played by the core quartet of Milt Jackson on vibes, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums – and titles include "The Golden Striker", "One Never Knows", "The Rose Truc", "Venice", "Cortege", and "Three Windows".

The first-ever release of the soundtrack to the movie Satanik – a wonderful soundtrack penned by the team of Roberto Pregadio and Romano Mussolini, who teamed up a few years before on the classic Kriminal! The style here is even more open and creative than before – sometimes straight jazz, in a mode that rivals the best American soundtracks of its type from the mid 60s – but at other times, the styles get a bit weirder – often thanks to a thin-sounding guitar that kind of wiggles and wobbles into the mix, shaking things up with a mod sort of edge. Other solo instrumentation includes trumpet, flute, accordion, and piano – the latter of which is played by either Mussolini or Pregadio – and the pic disc version features a total of 15 tracks from the film, pressed on very groovy-looking vinyl!

A pair of very groovy soundtracks – back to back on a single CD! I Due Vigili is a real departure from Carlo Rustichelli – and a score that has him in the best mod territory of Piero Piccioni and Armando Trovajoli – with lots of cool guitar, sweet Hammond lines, and other hip instrumental touches that make for tunes that are as groovy as they are playful! There's still a few echoes of early 60s Italian scoring at times, but most numbers have a great bouncy comedic feel – and the CD features 11 tracks from the film, including one unused number! Ma Chi T'Ha Dat La Patente is pretty great too – with some very cool moments that include a whimsical main theme with echoey whistling, some jazzier interludes, and weird use of voices and guitar at points! The whistling enough is more than enough to draw us in – and the CD features 9 tracks from the film!

A great entry in the Kriminal series of films – one that features some wonderfully groovy work from Piero Umiliani! The music here is Umiliani at his most playful – rooted in jazz, but with warmer touches from bossa and other mod 60s Italian styles too – sometimes set to wordless vocals that scat along wonderfully with the rhythms, other times delivered instrumentally with some mighty nice Hammond upfront in the mix! The overall presentation is way tighter and more professional than some of the images on the screen from the film – although the movie itself does have plenty of charm too – and the CD features great remastering, and a total of 19 great numbers in all!

A strange, eerie psychedelia and prog steeped soundtrack to the Jean Rollins French vampire film Le Frisson Des Vampires – played by the group Acanthus – a great little set of evocative, stripped down macabre instrumentals and trippy bits of dialogue! Finders Keepers describes the sound by comparing it to lynchpin combos of early prog as affected by "a 1000 year old acid infused blood transfusion", and guess what – that's perfect! Guitar melodies spun very loosely and eerily rolling along with improved bits and creepy sound sound effects – but it never veers into shlocky horror movie music, it's psych-steeped instrumental rock, played in a spooky style. The music is great, and the bits of dialogue (in English) is totally priceless! Includes Funerailles Des Vampires", "Le Frisson Des Vampires", "La Chateau", "Wedding Party (Angoisse Temporelle)", "Occupied Clock", "Who Are You?", "Blood-Cups", "Isabelles Demise", "Night Excursion", "Isa's Ceremony", "Flightless Bird", "The Shiver Of The Vampires", "Envol Vers La Folie" and more. 27 tracks in all – the entire, previously unreleased soundtrack!

Two funk blacksploitation soundtracks, back to back on one CD! Cornbread, Earl, & Me wasn't exactly a Superfly-type film, but the Blackbyrds do a nice job of playing Donald Byrd's score of funky instrumentals and sweeter jazz themes, written to fit the "coming of age" story of the film. The big sample cuts on here are the short cuts "Wilford's Gone" and "Soulful Source" – but there's a lot of other nice mellower numbers, like "Cornbread", "Riot", "One-Eye Two Step", and "The Gym Fight". Charles Earland did the funky score for Dynamite Brothers – an obscure Kung Fu movie, that was his one entry into the blacksploitation genre of the 70s. The lineup includes a lot of the great players that were helping him on his mid-70's stuff – Eddie Henderson, Dave Hubbard, Patrick Gleeson – and the groove is deeper and funkier than most of his other mid-70s Prestige albums. The album's got a very nice batch of material that really stands on its own away from the movie, with some very funky grooves that stand as some of the best shorter funk tracks cut by Earland from the time. Tracks include "Snake", "Razor J.", "Kunfusion", and "Weedhopper".

A killer little soundtrack – and one that's quite different than the usual blacksploitation set, but still pretty funky overall! The film Black Girl was a surprisingly sensitive movie directed by Ossie Davis in the early 70s – not as much about action as it was about the everyday life, and the hopes and dreams of the lead characters – all of which made for some really well-rounded music, of the sort you'd find on some of the other great Fantasy Records soundtracks of the time, especially the classic Cornbread Earl & Me score. Ed Bogas and Ray Shanklin put together the whole thing, and the album's a mix of hip instrumental tracks with some other vocal ones – a really nice range that draws from singers like Betty Everett, Rodger Collins, and JJ Malone – and jazz players like Sonny Stitt and John Hunt (plus organ from Merl Saunders on one cut.) Titles include "BJ's Step", "Black Girl", "Sister", "Earl (Still A Pearl)", "Mothers Day Song", "Power", "Get Me To The Bridge", "Chock-lite Puddin", and "Black Girl Cue".

Incredibly captivating work from the legendary Alexader Jodorowsky – a soundtrack that's beyond compare, penned for a movie to match – and issued famously as one of the key releases on Apple Records! Given the lack of distribution for the film, the record's become one of the few lasting relics of the bizarre El Topo project – filled with tunes penned by Jodorowsky that are as offbeat as the images on the screen! The movie's kind of a surreal western, with lots of trippy touches – and the soundtrack runs from straight numbers that echo an Italian spaghetti era, to others that have a playful almost circus-esque aspect, to others that come across with a weird mix of organic instrumentation and psychedelic inspiration. Titles aren't listed individually, which is great – because the whole thing works together as some brilliant sound collage – better absorbed as a whole, and with plenty of space for contemplation!

An amazing double-header – and a set that really adds a lot more music than we might have expected! First up is a richly expanded version of Cleopatra Jones – one of the best of the blacksploitation scores of the early 70s – a masterpiece of music that we rate every bit as high as Shaft or Superfly – maybe even higher! The music here is incredible – a surprising funky turn for JJ Johnson, who most folks know for his straighter jazz work – and like Marvin Gaye, Barry White, and others who were surprising the world with their ability to score music for a full film during the early 70s, JJ really knocks it out of the park with this one – coming up with a batch of tunes that are a wonderful mix of sophisticated scoring, creative instrumentation, and some damn funky grooves! The title cut features Joe Simon on vocals, and Millie Jackson sings on the cuts "Love Doctor" and "It Hurts So Good". The rest of the set is instrumental, and other cuts include an instrumental take on "Cleopatra Jones", plus "Go Chase Cleo", "Goin To The Chase", "Wrap Up", and "Airport Fight". This new version features 17 bonus tracks from the original film score, not the record – amazing extra music by Carl Brandt, with titles that include "Emdee", "Elevator/Cleo & Captain", "Pot Burn/Mommy/Police Raid", "Ambush", "Doodle Apartment", "Before Crash", and "Snake Crib". CD 2 features some long-lost music from the film Cleopatra Jones & The Casino Of Gold – a well-known follow-up to the original movie, but one that was never properly represented on record – making this CD set a long-awaited premiere of the original music for the film! The set features music by Dominic Frontiere – penned in a mix of funky action modes, with some slight exotic touches too, due to the location of the story. Frontiere's in his best soul/funk mode – a side that few folks realize he can do this well – and the music has a slightly different feel than JJ Johnson's Cleo Jones work, but is equally nice. Titles include "Casino Source", "Chopped Meat", "Oymia", "Les Orgie", "Fatman Stomp", "Dead Dragon Lady", and "Pool Hall Rock" – plus the vocal number "Playing With Fire". CD also features 4 more bonus tracks from Cleopatra Jones – including extended versions of the theme, and Pattie Brooks singing "Swing Down Chariot" and "Am I Blue". Great notes too – very full, with lots of photos, in the best Film Score tradition!

Amazing sounds from Polish composer Andrzej Korzynski – penned for a legendary horror film from the early 80s! The movie goes way beyond typical grit and gore – with a surreal bent that's made it the stuff of much discussion over the years – and Korzynski's music definitely lives up to the spirit of the images on the screen – mixing 80s electronics with offbeat strings, odd percussion, and other compelling bits – often used in very short songs that shift often throughout the course of the album – easily making the record one of the most playful we've ever heard from Finders Keepers – yet also one of the darkest too! A few sweet keyboard melodies offset some of the spookiness in a nice way – and titles include "Helen Has Green Eyes", "Opetanie 1", "The Night The Screaming Stops", "Blue Ford B AZ6", "Heinrick's Demise", "Mark Looks In The Fridge", "What Is It", and "Closely Observed Anna".

A wild one from Italian soundtrack composer Piero Umiliani – a set that definitely lives up to the disco promise of the title, but which still has some of the cool playful touches of Umiliani's work in movies too! The record may well be the funkiest that Piero ever cut – and was done for a sound library series, so has a groove that's a bit different than soundtrack material – longer songs with more focus, and instrumental grooves that mix together funky rhythms with larger orchestrations – but always in a style that's slightly offbeat, and quite different from disco material from the US. Titles include "Happy End", "Forcing", "Odeon", "Hobby", "Optimist", "Skypass", "Carousel", and "Discomania". CD features two bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Odeon" and "Discomania".

One of the most fantastic soundtracks of the 70's – and of all time! For this, his masterpiece film, Melvin Van Peebles composed a non-stop collage of crazy sounds and funky jams, played by him and a very young Earth, Wind, & Fire, and pasted together in a pastiche of music, dialogue, and sound effects that serve as an audio document of the film. If you've ever seen the movie – and even if you haven't – you'll find that the soundtrack works as a 40 minute version of the film, shifting back and forth with a loose narrative progression. Of course, the real appeal is the funky music – and you'll hear more than enough of that on tracks like "Sweetback's Theme", "Hoppin John", "Come On Fee", and "Sweetback Getting it Uptight".

An excellent double-header – and a very cool collection that brings together two different scores for the film Una Su 13 – one used in the Italian release, the other for the American version! Carlo Rustichelli handled the Italian tracks – and he brings his great legacy of comedic scoring strongly into play – using some romping rhythms, playful horn passages, and a few modder moments to really keep things moving – with some especially nice use of vocals from I Cantori Moderni on a few of the standout groovers! The American release is even better – scored by Stelvio Cipriani and David Whitaker, who bring in way more music than before – and hit lots of cool 60s mod and fuzz modes! There's definitely a freakbeat element to many tracks here – a bouncing, jerking set of rhythms that are mighty nice – given lots of sweet organ and guitar lines to really underscore the 60s elements in the music – offset by a few lighter Italian touches that still sound mighty nice! There's a whopping 36 tracks on the American version – plus another 13 tracks from the Italian one – making the set a treasure trove of under-discovered musical gems!