Exactly the kind of record that makes us love sound library records so much – and definitely the sort that sets the style apart from anything else we can think of! Both Sandro Brugnolini and Giorgio Carnini turn in some great work here – a mindblowing mix of modes over the space of ten short tracks – some tunes a cascading array of instrumentation, in a hip groove that's neither American jazz or soundtrack funk, but a special space of its own! Other tunes use an electronic approach that's years ahead of its time – as groovy as 60s analogue, but a lot darker, too – in ways that the rest of the world might not touch until the German new wave. The balance is almost even between swinging groovers and darker electronic cuts – and titles include "Grinta", "Azione CIA", "Scalo Clandestino", "Alambicco Cibernetico", "Strutture Generative", "Omicido Bianco", and "CIA Massacre". (Sound Library, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

The frenzied piano of Carmen Cavallaro gets a nice does of Latin rhythms on this set – and the set's a great example of the way that cocktail piano and Latin were strongly linked in the New York scene of the 50s! Carmen's style here is certainly different than that of Joe Loco, Noro Morales, or others who skirted the same territory – but the difference is also not that great, and it was Cavallaro's earlier sense of drama and color that often helped inspire piano work in players who followed. The rhythms are especially great here too – not straight Latin all the time, but a nice mix of inventive and exotic touches from bass and percussion that really liven things up, and make the tunes come across with modes that are quite different than their familiar readings. Titles include "Dolores My Own", "Frenesi", "Andalucia", "Maria La-O", "Perfida", "Adios", and "Poinciana". LP, Vinyl record album

As the liner notes say, "The Magic Beat is not primitive or ritualistic. To the contrary, it emphasizes the more sophisticated and romantic aspects of rhythmic sorcery." We won't say more, except to tell you that tracks include "Fever", "Ziganette", "Lover", "Rots O Ruck", "Colonel Bogey", and "Hot Sombrero". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Fuzzed-out groovy 60s tunes – very mod, hip, and out of this world! These tasty little gems are pulled from obscure Italian soundtracks – very nicely collected in this fab package, with an ear-popping sound that includes great work on organ, guitars, electric harpsichord, and other instrumentation just right for coming up with a Blow Up party mood! Titles include "Discoteque Party" by Piero Umiliani, "Franco Nero Shake (new edit)" by Fred Bongusto, "Catherine Spaak Shake (new edit)" by Armando Trovajoli, "Easy Dreamer" by Piero Piccioni, "I Baronetti" by Alessandro Alessandroni, "Gaby Shake" by Nico Fidenco, and "Black Sheep Shake" by Luis Bacalov. (Funky Compilations, Now Sound) CD

An Italian funk double-header – a sweet little set from the end of the 60s, and one that features killer cuts from both Sandro Brugnolini and Stefano Torossi! We love either artist on their other own records, but there also seems to be something about putting them together here that makes them even better than before – certainly funkier, as the album's full of the kind of sharp, hard-grooving titles that first made us fall in love with sound library records in the first place! The date of the album's 1969, and both musicians make nice use of psych elements in their instrumentation – adding a bit of fuzz, wah-wah, or trippy guitar in just the right spaces – never going over the top, or getting too indulgent – but just moving in a groove that's tightly jazz funky at the bottom, and maybe a bit freaky at the top. Wonderful work throughout – and titles include "Sweet Beat", "Repetition", "Starter", and "Makkaresh" by Stefano Torossi – and "Wawa", "Motuproprio", "Polyphony", and "Flyer" by Sandro Brugnolini. (Sound Library, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the moogiest records of all time – a legendary LP of "electronic pop music of the future" – sourced and claimed as an influence by everyone from Stereolab to the Beastie Boys! The legendary team of Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perry are working here in early tape experiments that chop up quirky analogue electronics – and uses them to produce moogy songbits and space sounds, all with a really groovy beat! There's a simple magic here that has made the album hold up for years, and stand apart from a legion of later imitators with a clear, simple, and effective style that makes the best of all the bleeps and blonks in the set! Titles include "Unidentified Flying Object", "Spooks in Space", "Barnyard In Orbit", "Swan's Splashdown", and "Girl From Venus". A loving musical space party! CD

One of the moogiest records of all time – a legendary LP of "electronic pop music of the future" – sourced and claimed as an influence by everyone from Stereolab to the Beastie Boys! The legendary team of Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perry are working here in early tape experiments that chop up quirky analogue electronics – and uses them to produce moogy songbits and space sounds, all with a really groovy beat! There's a simple magic here that has made the album hold up for years, and stand apart from a legion of later imitators with a clear, simple, and effective style that makes the best of all the bleeps and blonks in the set! Titles include "Unidentified Flying Object", "Spooks in Space", "Barnyard In Orbit", "Swan's Splashdown", and "Girl From Venus". A loving musical space party! LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful batch of instrumentals from the legendary Raymond Scott – and a set that features some of Scott's most wonderful compositions ever! These numbers all date from the 30s, and were originally released as 78s on the Master Records label – but this later Columbia package really brings the sounds together wonderfully, and gives Scott a long-overdue showcase as one of the budding modernists of the pre-war years – a composer who could match swing and whimsy, exoticism and jazz, playfulness and poise – all without every losing his beat! The instrumental is wonderful, the arrangements inventive, and the whole thing's got the same sort of audio appeal as an old Warner Brothers cartoon. Titles include "Twilight In Turkey", "The Penguin", "The Toy Trumpet", "Powerhouse", "New Years Eve In A Haunted House", "War Dance For Wooden Indians", "Peter Tambourine", and "At An Arabian House Party". (Jazz, Now Sound) CD

One of the most striking records we've ever heard from Swiss music legend Bruno Spoerri – a set that's very different from both his straight jazz recordings and his more experimental work – and instead a soundtrack for an obscure 60s film about a strangler in London! There's definitely a lot of mod elements in the music on the groovy cuts, which are then turned towards more sinister purposes on the spookier ones – so that an organ line can move from swinging to spare and moody, and a bassline can follow in just the same way! There's great use of Spoerri's famous sonic palette here – built up in ways that are almost a precursor to the more striking sonic modes of the Italian scene in the early 70s – and the set fatures 20 tracks in all, including "Plane To Peru", "Brogues In Robes", "Reading The Killer", "Spiral Staircase", "Check Out The Gravel Pit", "To The Brothers Of Compensatory Righteousness", "Don't Blame Jane", and "Kiddie's Beat". (Soundtracks, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album