Some of the moodiest, most unusual music we've ever heard from Mario Nascimbene – an artist who's maybe best known for working in the more romantic side of the spectrum, but who here is using a "mixerama" keyboard – which works a bit like the mellotron to sample elements, then put them into a specific scale! The tunes are often stark and spare, and build slowly in these waves of sonic energy – almost with a quality that feels more like the industrial underground of Zoviet France or Hafler Trio than anything we might have expected from Nascimbene, especially in the 60s. The album features a selection of songs used in short documentary films directed by Roberto Rossellini – and titles include "Angoscia", "Totalia Viole-Celli", "Attesa Antica", "Situazione Orientale", "Riberbo Di Tam Tam", "Percussione Di Timpani", "Tragedia Greca", and "Lunare". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful underwater fantasy of sound library grooves – a set that's almost the Italian equivalent to the Inner Space soundtrack from Australia by Sven Libaek! Like that set, this one uses waves of instrumental energy to create an almost watery vibe – strings mixed with keyboards, often underlain by electric bass – all at a level that's occasionally funky, always dreamy, and plenty darn cool throughout! The style continues some of the Italian soundtrack modes of a few years before, but with more fluttering elements that emphasize the "sea" in the title – on tracks that include "Underwater Fantasy", "Tempest Force 8", "High Tide", "Surging Surf", "Calm Sea", and "In The Ocean Depths". LP, Vinyl record album

The definitely got the title right on this one – as the album's got plenty of violin, but never in the way you might expect – as the instrument is used in all these weird and wonderful ways that really make the record a treat! There's neither classical nor jazz-based violin approaches at play – and instead, Armando Sciascia almost seems to be trying to find all the weird, offbeat sounds he can from the instrument – but in ways that are sometimes funky, sometimes dark, and always pretty darn compelling! Some tracks have these chugging rhythms that come from percussion by Tullio De Piscopo – best known for his later club work – others have a spare, moody vibe with offbeat string passages echoing in space – almost as if they're electronic, with weirdly spacey qualities. The record is quite experimental for a sound library session – and titles include "Reagente B", "Acidocloroscuccinico", "Atomo Asimmetrico", "Nucleofilo", "Planctonico", "Enantiomorfo", and "Substrato Ax". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued material from Australian experimentalist Steve Maxwell Von Braund – best known for his work in the space rock band Cybotron, and working here in relatively similar territory on tracks from a host of lost tapes from the late 70s! Steve plays Arp, Mini Korg, and other keyboards – plus a bit of alto sax too – all with a cool sound that's nicely processed, and maybe a more down to earth take on some of the modes from the German scene at the start of the 70s! Most of these tracks are tuneful and rhythmic, and occasionally feature contributions from additional musicians – but still in a way that's nice and lean, and which maybe is almost more like some of the space funk and club recordings that were coming out of Paris and Rome. Titles include "Abbey Moor", "The Floor Before", "Detective", "Goldhawk", and "Unorganization". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful and exotic score from the great John Barry – one that never had as much circulation on record as some of his bigger hits of the time, but which is equally well deserving of praise! The music is done for Nicolas Roeg's film Walkabout – set mostly in the Australian outback – and Barry mixes these breathy orchestrations with some rootsier acoustic elements – in ways that really echo the contrast of the characters in the narrative, and remind us of the sensitivity that Barry can have at his most sophisticated moments. Three tracks differ slightly from this approach – the seven minute long fuzzy freakout "Electronic Dance", which is totally great in its own sort of way – the experimental echoey "Professional Crumble" – and the vocal number "Los Angeles", kind of a hippy dippy tune. Other titles include "The Three Of Us", "Walkabout", "The Children", "The Journey", "Stranded", and "Night In The Outback". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic debut LP from the combined members of the legendary Hieroglyphics collective! For as long as individual members and like Del Tha Funky Homosapien and affiliated groups like Souls Of Mischief had been dominating discussions about Bay Area hip hop, you had to wonder how they'd rein it all in for the a consistent group effort, but it may be that veteran wisdom that makes it such a winning effort. Some of the tracks hew closer to the older Hiero sound introduced by Del and the Souls of Mischief on their classic first couple of LPs, and some of the tracks have a grittier late 90s feel – and it's a consistently strong effort to this day. Features Pep Love, Casual, Del, Tajai, Opio, A Plus and Domino on the mic – and production by Domino, A+, Toure, and J-Biz. Titles include "The Who", "After Dark", "Mics Of The Roundtable", "Off The Record", "You Never Knew", "All Things", "Oakland Blackouts" and more. Anniversary version includes the bonus track "Battle Of The Shadow". 23 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album