Our favorite chapter in the long and storied career of film score legend John Barry – music from a moment when he'd moved past the fame of his earlier James Bond soundtracks, and started hitting territory that was even more mindblowing overall! Barry was already great with Bond, and as those films moved on, he developed this amazing ear for more sophisticated, subtle elements – which unfold here at a level that easily puts the composer/arranger in territory of much more lauded studio and sound library talents! There's still some catchy vocal tunes in the mix – but what's even more striking is Barry's evolved sense of sound and timing – so that familiar instruments can sound all weird and unusual – yet still tuneful too – almost as if he were running over to the European avant garde to borrow a few sonic ideas, then fold them into the groovier numbers included within. The set features some of our favorite John Barry tracks ever, mixed with other more obscure numbers that are equally great – tunes that include "Follow Follow", "The Adventurer", "Highway 101", "The More Things Change", "Theme From The Appointment", "Fun City", "Midnight Cowboy", "Theme From Romance For Guitar & Orchestra", "We Have All The Time In The World", "Afternoon", "Theme From The Persuaders", "Lion In Winter", and "Who Will Buy My Yesterdays". (Soundtracks, Sound Library) CD

A heavy funk gem from the UK sound library scene – exactly the kind of record that makes digging for sound library records so great – filled with grooves that never saw the light of day on the mainstream market back in the 70s! Heavy drums rule the scene on many cuts – making the record a real beathead classic – and instrumentation shifts from track to track, from funky flute to wah wah guitar, and plenty more 70s touches too – all delivered with tight, sharp instrumentals that work together perfectly on an all-killer, no-filler session! Titles include "Superdrive", "Decisive Action", "Hard Hitter", "No Way", "Stay With It", "Inflation", "Race With Time", "Speed Trap", "Hair Raiser", "Fun Seeker", and "Great Technique". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary sound library album on the famous Italian Octopus label – and a set that's maybe one of the most unusual to be recorded by Amadeo Tommasi! The music is filled with all sorts of weird sounds and production elements – almost taking the experiments of the musique concrete generation, and then mixing them with groovier, more upbeat sounds from the early 70s Italian scene – so that things might be jazzy one minute, funky the next, and haunting after that – all at a level that makes the whole thing one of the tip top Italian library gems of the period! Titles include "Crisi Politica", "Episodio Di Cronaca", "Manifestazione Mondana", "Avvenimento Drammatico", "Ripresa Esterna", "Colpo Di STato", and "Problema Ecologico". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet keyboard-heavy sound library set from the 80s – a record from that time when the sound library studios had gone down to one or two man performances, instead of the fuller groups from the past – and were making best use of the keyboard and drum machine elements of the time to come up with all sorts of catchy, playful grooves! That's definitely the case here, as things are lean, but very melodic – and the record almost feels like a more upbeat take on territory that Young Marble Giants had explored on their Testcard EP a few years before – but with more Italian funky club elements from time to time too! Titles include "Expander", "Forth", "Personal", "Pet Speed", "Software", "Basic", "Speech", "Programmers", and "Language Monitor". LP, Vinyl record album

A really heady record from British drummer Brian Bennett – an artist known for both jazz and funky sound library work – here stretching out in a mode that really fits the image on the cover! The tunes are longer than some of Bennett's earlier sound library material – almost a mix of progressive energy with jazzier funk – a lot cooler than the disco reference in the title might imply! The set's got tremendous keyboards from Francis Monkman – who handles all the spacier elements, while the drums of Bennett works the rhythms with bass from Alan Jones – on long tracks with plenty of complexity, but also plenty of groove! Titles include "Voyage", "Solstice", "Chain Reaction", "Pendulum Force", "Air Quake", and "Ocean Glide". LP, Vinyl record album

Two rare KPM sound library grooves – back to back on a single piece of wax! "Name Of The Game" is fantastic – slow funk, but super-heavy – with measured drums that space things out as keyboards really take their time to build up the mood, before serving up a mighty sweet solo in the middle! The drums break nicely by their own at one point too – and "Confunktion" has a similar slow funk start, then really builds with frenetic energy on the drums – almost a proggish take on funk at times! (Funky 45's, Sound Library) 7-inch, Vinyl record

A really fantastic pairing of forces – as keyboard collector Matt Berry serves up a special set of instrumental tracks for the KPM sound library – many of which are done on the kinds of keys that KPM were recording back in the day! You might know Matt for his work on screen, but he's also a very devoted musician, with a rich legacy of projects – and although we love his vocals on his more pop-oriented records, this set lets his keyboard skills really come to the forefront! The set features Berry on electric pianos, guitars, bass, and other keyboards – assisted by the funky drums of Craig Blundell, on titles that include "Rising Bass", "Set The Scene", "Simple Basics", "Widescreen Features", "Too Many Hats", "Telescopic", and "Driving Seat". CD

A really fantastic pairing of forces – as keyboard collector Matt Berry serves up a special set of instrumental tracks for the KPM sound library – many of which are done on the kinds of keys that KPM were recording back in the day! You might know Matt for his work on screen, but he's also a very devoted musician, with a rich legacy of projects – and although we love his vocals on his more pop-oriented records, this set lets his keyboard skills really come to the forefront! The set features Berry on electric pianos, guitars, bass, and other keyboards – assisted by the funky drums of Craig Blundell, on titles that include "Rising Bass", "Set The Scene", "Simple Basics", "Widescreen Features", "Too Many Hats", "Telescopic", and "Driving Seat". LP, Vinyl record album

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". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set from that moment when sound library instrumentation was winnowed down from a larger group of studio musicians to usually just a composer and a keyboard – definitely the approach used in this all electric set! The groove certainly lives up to the title – most of these tracks are mellow, but they're also funky too – unusual slow-stepping cuts that are awash in 80s keyboards, basslines, and beats – almost erotic funk for the style of the decade, with some occasional darker soundtrack moments from time to time! Titles include "Slow Reactor 2", "Moody You", "Slow Business 1", "Threat To Research", "Slow Groovement", "Ion Exchanger", "Wave Motions", and "Scenic Vision 1". LP, Vinyl record album

America's never sounded better than in the hands of Italian sound library talent Daniela Casa – who does a great job here of serving up all these cool tracks that would have been right at home in a film set during the 70s! The music is a mix of themes that evoke different slices of the American experience – almost all of them with keyboards, and most with a nice current of funk as well – plenty of action elements that resonate nicely with the best Italian soundtracks of the crime/cop variety from the same stretch in time! Titles include "Icarus", "Big Sur", "Spiralys", "Beta Lady", "NYC 42nd", "Fix", "Third World Tango", "Puertorico Slum", "Soft Bird", and "Kentucky Fried Chicken". CD

A full and funky sound library gem from mid 70s France – a set that really takes advantage of the strong drum work of Pierre Alain Dahan, whose work on the kit is at the core of every one of the instrumental gems on the set! The mood changes up nicely from cut to cut – sometimes there's some heavy guitar, or soulful tenor, sweet keyboards, and more – and the record mixes funky rhythms with darker currents in a way that's really stunning – and which makes for a set that's all killer, no-filler all the way through! Titles include "Africa Semper", "Merci Boa", "Kuzi Kuza", "Soul Car", "Super Airship", "Electric Mutation", and "Happy Penalty". LP, Vinyl record album