(Gospel, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the lesser-known John Barry scores of the 60s – penned for an equally lesser-known comedy that starred Michael Caine, Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, Tony Hancock, and Dudley Moore! The tunes have kind of a period feel with slight whimsical touches – not as mod and groovy as you might expect for the time, or for Barry – but with a strong orchestral approach overall, showing John's ability to work well in a more mainstream setting. There's a nice undercurrent of darkness at times, as on some of Barry's other orchestral work – and titles include "Morris Visits Dr Pratt", "Bournemouth Strangler", "Morris Hides As He Sees Handcart", "Montage Of Deaths", and "Yes Who Is That". LP, Vinyl record album

A crime thriller, but one with a beautiful score from Bruno Nicolai – slinky and 70s at times, and with some really gentle tension at others! This is definitely one of the works that has Nicolai stepping nicely away from Morricone – using some warmer elements in some of his best themes – almost dreamy at times, which is odd given the lack of romance in the film – put together with masterful timing, and this haunting sense of space that makes the music almost better than the images were in the film! And yes, the story is that old Agatha Christie chestnut Ten Little Indians – but forget the overdone trope of the store, as the music is totally great – completely different than the more hackney 70s whodunit soundtracks of the time. LP features 16 tracks in all! LP, Vinyl record album

The jury is sometimes out on the Mick Jagger on-screen performance in the Nicolas Roeg film Performance – but the soundtrack is something pretty separate entirely, and really says a lot more about the spirit of late 60s Warner Brothers Records in LA than it does the arthouse cinema scene in England! The great Jack Nitzsche composed a number of instrumental tracks for the score – maybe his first time in this mode, and prefacing some later 70s successes to come – with titles that include "Rolls Royce & Acid", "Harry Flowers", and "Natural Magic". Other Warner talents get a hand in the music too – as Randy Newman conducted all of Nitzsche's charts, and also sings "Gone Dead Train" – while Ry Cooder delivers bottleneck solos on "Get Away" and "Powis Square". There's also some nice soul-based moments – the cut "Wake Up N*ggers" by The Last Poets, and "Poor White Hound Dog" and "Performance" by Merry Clayton. And yes, Mick does get to sing on one tune – the album's "Memo From Turner" – and the set is completed by Buffy St Marie work on "The Hashishin" and "Dead Dead Red". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first big moments of global fame for the legendary Ennio Morricone – and a record that still stands as one of his landmark albums all these many years later! The set's famous for its haunting theme – that "wah-wah-wah" melody that led to countless covers and samples over the years – but the whole thing's a lot more complex than just that tune – with lots of the same sense of space and brooding that Morricone brought to his music for Once Upon A Time In The West – with careful use of key instruments on a track by track basis, and these floating lines that almost signaled a whole new way of recording music for a film soundtrack. And yes, there's certainly key western elements like guitar or harmonica – but maybe more striking are all the points at which these obvious tropes disappear – to leave us with those really unique Morricone sounds that go way beyond music! Titles include "The Sundown", "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly", "Marcia", "The Desert", "The Strong", and "The Trio". LP, Vinyl record album

Massive work from Isaac Hayes – a hard and heavy soundtrack that we like even more than his classic work on Shaft! Unlike Shaft, Ike actually starred in the film Truck Turner – which may be one reason why he brought his full game to the table for the record – and scored a batch of badass tunes that still stand with some of the best funky soundtrack work of the 70s! The rhythm's especially hard on the best cuts – really crackling with a lot of intensity, and a stark, hard funky sound that's made the record a favorite of beatheads for years! Ike kicks it hard on cuts like "Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile", "House Full Of Girls", "Drinking", "Give It To Me", "Now We're One", "Breakthrough", "House of Beauty", and the massive title cut "Truck Turner". (Soul, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

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". LP, Vinyl record album