A really haunting little sound library record, and one that's very different than just about anything else we can think of in the genre! The set is filled with spare keyboards and electronics – almost in the territory of Terry Riley, but slowed down in pace – so that it's more spacious and meditative, with these elements that almost feel like they'd be perfect for tripping out in a planetarium and watching some nighttime star show! The work was originally used in the film In Kluis, but works beautifully here as a meditative album on its own – with titles that include "Fences", "Nude", "The Wall", "Tree Angle", "Observations", "Problems", "Inside", and "Desire". (Sound Library, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Ok, ok, we'll admit it! When we were kids, we totally dug this hippy-dippy show and all of its insider jokes, games, and languages. Listening to this old soundtrack, though, we kind of wince to think how this drivel might have affected us if punk hadn't come along to make us totally boring and cynical for the better part of the 80s! With such favorites as "Zoom Theme", "Fannee Doodle", "Ballin The Jack", "I Believe In Music", and the legendary "Address Song"! (Children's, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

There's a real Escape From New York look to the cover here – and the music by Guido & Maurizio DeAngelis has a very strong John Carpenter vibe – lots of spare, stark numbers that shift between electro funk and moodier numbers – really setting up the action with a dose of horror, and maybe having a depth that can last longer than the film itself! Instrumentation is very 80s, in the best way possible – lots of keyboards and electro drum patterns – at a level that certainly make the DeAngelis brothers a key precursor to the sort of sounds that are very much favored by the Stranger Things generation. 17 tracks in all – and very strong all the way through. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful early soundtrack from Dave Grusin – surprisingly sensitive, and quite different than his later funky work in the 70s! The score is a cool mix of strings and keyboard parts – sometimes played on harpsichord by Grusin, an instrument that we don't always hear him use, and which rings out here with a hip 60s cinematic style – often a bit spacey at points, with a slow-stepping pace that really fits the feel of the orchestrations. The strings are never too full, and they're often cut by some woodwind parts too – and a few tracks feature some more familiar 60s modes, including a few standout vocal tracks – like "The Color Of The Wind", "Elizabeth", "I Can't Afford To Let You Go", and "Beyond The Reach Of Love". Includes the main title theme, plus "Drop Out", "The Last Walk", "Aftermath", "Growing Pains", and "Symphodelic", which is a nice twist on a bit of Mozart! LP, Vinyl record album

A sleazy film, but one with some really great music from Francis Lai – the composer better known for his mainstream contributions to classics like A Man & A Woman and Live For Life! In any setting, Lai displays an amazing genius for spare tunes that hit a lyrical chord and a warmly sentimental mode – never one that's sleepy or drippy, but just the right balance of sounds and rhythms to convey a tremendous amount with very little. Lai plays a fair bit of keyboards here, lightly electric, and relatively spare – but not as much so as on some of his other 70s soundtracks. Titles include "Une Soiree Orientale", "La Vierge Anna Marie", "Emmanuelle Au Hong Kong", "Le Theme D'Emmanuelle", and "La Maison De Rendez-Vous". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest soundtracks ever – an archetypal album from French composer Francis Lai, and a record that set the tone for countless other imitations to come – yet which is still the best! The groove here is really unique – a spare blend of bossa influences, jazzy organ lines, and wordless vocals that are sung beautifully by French singers Nicole Croisille and Pierre Barouh – and although a mainstream success, the record was the initial force behind the legendary Saravah imprint that Barouh would form later, to record a wide range of groundbreaking work in a variety of genres. But history aside, the music here is plenty – and from the very first note the whole soundtrack grabs you with a sense of warmth and sentiment that defy description – modes never heard before in the soundtrack world, and which really broke the mold from Hollywood conventions! Titles include the seminal bossa number "Samba Saravah", plus "A Man & A Woman", "Today It's You", "In Our Shadow", "At 200 MPH", and "Stronger Than Us". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius work from French composer Francis Lai – one of his greatest soundtracks ever, and done during the same period as Live For Life and A Man & A Woman! The feel here is very similar to the work of those films – and was also done for a project directed by Claude Lelouch – and as on A Man & A Woman, both Pierre Barouh and Nicole Croisille sing vocals on the session, bringing a really groovy vocal touch to the set! The tunes range from broadly sweeping and soaring numbers, to others that have a bouncy French pop feel – and Lai really comes through with some beautiful instrumentation for the set, especially on a few of the tracks that feature organ! There's three versions of the great track "Killy", an anthemic ditty that's sung by Nicole Croisille, and played again on solo organ – and other tracks include "Descente", "Peggy", and "13 Jours En France". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 60s magic from Johnny Williams – a cool little score to an obscure heist film that starred Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole! The style here is very much like some of Johnny's other best of the time – often playful at points, but warmer at others – a great blend of fuller strings and more whimsical instrumentation that keeps up all the delightful play of the action on the screen. Titles include "Two Lovers", in both vocal and instrumental versions – plus "At Maxims", "The Cellini Venus", "The Prowler", "Simon Says", and "The Can Can". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty striking little record in the Frank Zappa catalog – the double-length soundtrack for the movie of the same name, and a set that explodes the Zappa palette of sound even further than some of his previous albums! A number of tracks feature a full studio orchestra – sounding as if they were lined up to perform a conventional Hollywood film score, but somehow tricked into working with Frank when he showed up on the podium to conduct the proceedings! Other tunes echo more of the Mothers Of Invention material, but with shorter selections, and lots of twists and turns along the way – all of which make the whole record this really mad pastiche of songs, sounds, and sonic interplay. Titles include "This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich", "Redneck Eats", "She Painted Her Face", "Janet's Big Dance Number", "Daddy Daddy Daddy", "The Girl's Dream", "A Nun Suit Painted On Some Old Boxes", and "Mystery Roach". (Rock, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Hmmm...we've never heard of the film, but this "soundtrack" is actually a nice Ronco compilation with a lot of groovy 70's soul cuts by both American and UK artists. Titles include "Girls" by The Moments & Whatnauts, "Dance With Me" by The Real Thing, "Living On the Dole" by The Cimarons, "Lonely I" by Lee Vanderbilt, "Darlin Darlin Baby" by The O'Jays, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and "When Will I See You Again" by the Three Degrees. (Soul, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

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". LP, Vinyl record album

A unique western soundtrack – written for a strange early 70s Italian film that featured Ringo Starr! Composer Stelvio Cipriani didn't score as many westerns as some of his Italian contemporaries, and that fact makes for a really unique approach to the genre here – one that breaks past western conventions, and features some very unusual moments! Many tunes have some of the sweeter touches that Cipriani brought to his romantic and crime scoring for other films – modes that don't normally show up in westerns, and which provide a fresh juxtaposition here next to some of the more guitar-based songs. A number of the tracks have wordless vocals – either from Nora Orlandi or Choir 4+4 – and these voices enhance the mood of the soundtrack a lot, often with chanting that has a cool spooky edge! LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure zombie film, but one with a great trio of talents in the music! Most noteworthy here are the legendary Goblin – still very much at the top of their game, and working in that mode that has them taking leaner prog energy down to the sparer sound of the John Carpenter generation – with lots of great keyboards and guitar lines in the process! There's also some wonderful work from Gianni Dell'Orso, who turns in a number of more percussive tracks on the record – these spare, almost tribal numbers that really fit the spirit of the "cannibal" expectations you might have in the title! Gianni also handles a few more electric tracks. Titles include a few variations on "Virus" – plus "Diamanti Rossi", "L'Alba Dei Morti Viventi", "Connexion", "Zombi", "Quiet Drops", and "Whity". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost 70s score from Ennio Morricone – penned for a period piece set in 19th Century Italy, and done with a driving, dramatic sort of feel! Some of the numbers here have that subdued orchestral mode that Morricone used at his most subtle moments – a style that's not as crazy as some of his other work from earlier years, but which still comes across with some nice dark edges – especially in the mellower moments. Other numbers feature violin solo work, or chorus vocals from I Cantori Moderni – not used that often, but enough to provide some nice variety in the album. LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous score from Ennio Morricone – one that has a number of links to earlier Italian soundtrack modes, but which still has some undeniable touches of the maestro! There's passages here that evoke the warmer, sometimes more romantic styles used in Italian films in the earlier part of the 60s – but these are offset by mellower passages with a really subdued sense of darkness – which are then again mixed with a few tunes that get bolder and more mod-sounding – a really complicated array of themes that may lack the subtlety of other Morricone work, but which more than makes up for that lack with a really dynamic energy! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual period score by Ennio Morricone – and a record that turned out to be one of his most successful of the 70s! The film, as you might guess from the title, is about the famous and unjust trial of Italian-American activists Sacco & Vanzetti – and in keeping with that setting, a number of the tunes have a folksy, almost "historic" quality to them. Other tracks still have nice Morricone-esque touches – like solo electronic keyboard on one track, or a nice bit of oboe on another – and Joan Baez sings the folksy "Ballad of Sacco & Vanzetti". Titles include "Speranze Di Liberta", "Nel Carcere", "Sacco E Il Figlio", "E Dover Morire" and "Here's To You", which features some backing work by I Cantori Moderni. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest soundtracks we've ever heard from the mighty Piero Umiliani – a sparkling set that's filled with jazzy scatting, mod instrumentation, and loads of other wonderful 60s touches throughout! The music has that special Italian sound that's built on bossa that you'll find in some of the coolest soundtracks from Umiliani's generation – and like the rest, it really takes off in its own unique direction – with soaring, seductive sounds that live quite vibrantly away from the screen! The whole thing's right up there with bossa jazzy classics like Sweden Heaven & Hell or La Matriarca. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful music from Chicago, set to another Chicago-themed project – a film based around the Roy stories of writer Barry Gifford! Yet that literary reference aside, the music here has fantastic merits of its own, even if you've never read Gifford at all – a very different, more compositional side of the spectrum from vibist Jason Adasiewicz, yet still music that has a loose small combo vibe as well – serve dup by a cool quintet that features Jonathan Doyle on saxes, Josh Berman on cornet, Joshua Abrams on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums! There's a mix of new tones and modern ideas that take us back to that late 50s time on the Chicago scene when Sun Ra's Arkestra was still in town – and the tunes penned by Adasiewicz are not only superb, but a perfect showcase for his incredible tones on vibes. Doyle is a real revelation too – a player we don't know well at all at this point, but whose sense of timing and presence really makes the whole record sparkle – as does the work of the rest of the better-known players in the group. Titles include "Ballad For Kitty", "River Blindness", "Walkin To Clinton", "Rudy's Basement", "Sand", and "Blue People". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A much groovier 70s show than Sesame Street! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest soundtracks ever from Luiz Bacalov – a set that's filled with sex and slink, but which also has a great sense of groove as well – blending bossa jazz, mod moments, and all the best styles of the late 60s Italian scene! The music is mostly acoustic, but has a really great way of using sustained notes on flute – which creates this dreamy vibe that's almost electric, especially when offset by acoustic basslines, percussion, and piano – all used at a level that's right up there with the best from Morricone or Trovajoli at the time! There's also wonderful drifting vocals in the mix – courtesy of Nora Orlandi – and titles include "Round Nassau", "Swingin Easy In Tanganika", "Rio Zona Sul", "L'Amica", and "Taxi Cab 67". Features two bonus tracks – "L'Amica (ripresa)" and "The Bitter Truth (inst)". LP, Vinyl record album