A wonderfully groovy soundtrack – one we'd never heard before, and a set that's filled with great little numbers in a range of different styles! The main theme is filled with percussion – really hard-driving drums that are chased by this echoey piano bit that's totally cool, and very unique! Some other sweet tracks have a gentle bossa-styled groove – including one with wordless vocals from Edda Dell'Orso – and other numbers have a different vibe, one that's a bit gentler, and almost sentimental at times, but pretty great too. There's also a few cuts that are more stark and moody – a bit towards Morricone horror fare, but not entirely – and the reissue features a whopping 27 tracks in all, most of which are short, compelling numbers! CD

A surprisingly sweet little soundtrack at times – with tunes that are nicer than you might expect from the title or the image on the cover! Some of the material here is definitely in keeping with the horror setting of the movie, but other tracks have a slinky, almost jazzy feel – bits of piano, keyboards, or guitar skipping along with some lightly rhythmic backings that lilt them up and down with a gentle swing. Other tracks are slower, and sparer, but even these are usually not too dark, and certainly not in the atonal modes of other Italian scores from the time. The DeAngelis approach here is almost like Stelvio Cipriani at his best – and titles include "Perugia", "Il Primo Omicidio", "Corpi Smembrati", "La Strage Ha Inizio", and "Marcellazione". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly sweet little soundtrack at times – with tunes that are nicer than you might expect from the title or the image on the cover! Some of the material here is definitely in keeping with the horror setting of the movie, but other tracks have a slinky, almost jazzy feel – bits of piano, keyboards, or guitar skipping along with some lightly rhythmic backings that lilt them up and down with a gentle swing. Other tracks are slower, and sparer, but even these are usually not too dark, and certainly not in the atonal modes of other Italian scores from the time. The DeAngelis approach here is almost like Stelvio Cipriani at his best – and the CD features 33 tracks in all, most of them previously unreleased, with titles that include "Perugia", "Il Primo Omicidio", "Corpi Smembrati", "La Strage Ha Inizio", and "Marcellazione". CD

Music from Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, The John Barry Orchestra, Louis Armstrong, Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney & Wings, Lulu, Carly Simon, Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton, Rita Coolidge, Duran Duran, a-ha, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Garbage, Madonna, Chris Cornell, and much more. CD

Themes from Monty Norman Orchestra, Matt Monro, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, The John Barry Orchestra, Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney & Wings, Lulu, Carly Simon, Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton, Rita Coolidge, Duran Duran, a-ha, Gladys Knight, and more/ CD

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

From what we remember about the story of this film, the original score was supposedly written by Bernard Herrman, then discarded – although we're not sure if that story's actually true. Whatever the case, John Addison does a surprisingly nice job with this one – and his music for the film is one of the better things about this oft-forgettable cold war thriller. The main theme has a nice dark little melody – one that shows up in the better numbers on the album – and although the overall approach is dramatic, it's handled with a rare flourish that makes it stand alone fine away from the film. Titles include "Premonitions Of Trouble", "Michael & Sarah", "Escape On The Bus", "Pi Bus Theme Variations", "Sarah Alone", and "Love Theme From Torn Curtain", sung by the Johnny Mann Singers. CD

Demonic sounds, but surprisingly sweet as well – done with this easy-flowing style that's really wonderful – and much more similar to the seductive sound library work of Alessandro Alessandroni, than to some of the starker, darker horror of the time! There's definitely some spooky passages, but they're almost always warmed up in really nice ways – both with keyboards, and with these wordless vocals from the lovely Giulia De Mutiis, who drifts through the record like some sexy ghost. Her vocals almost give the whole thing a more dream-like feel at times – not too atmospheric, but with clouds of sweet sounds that blow through the space in a wonderful way. Titles include "Demon Night II", "Demon Arise", "Dark Dreamer", "Devil's Nightmare", and "Erotic Demon". LP, Vinyl record album

The sound of industry, circa 1969 Italy – which means that everything sounds a heck of a lot groovier than you might expect! Soundtrack genius Alessandro Alessandroni handled the album – and it's completely fantastic right from the very first note – nothing like an industrial album, nor even some of the peppier "industry themed" sound library sets of the European postwar theme – and instead, the music is full of jazzy elements and cool wordless vocals – especially those scatting styles you'd know from Alessandroni's work with I Cantori Modern! Tremendous throughout – and quite possibly one of the grooviest albums the composer has ever given us. Titles include "Moto Blues", "Dialogando", "Circolazione", "Basso Regime", "Vie Motrici", "Escursione", and "Numero Uno". (Sound Library, Soundtracks) CD

With John Scofield on guitar, Geri Allen on keys, Michael Formanek on bass, Daniel Humair on drums, and Jerry Gonzalez on percussion. (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing little soundtrack – written in mid 60s Peru by jazz pianist Jaime Delgado Aparicio, but easily on a par with some of the best American or Italian scores from the time! The music's got a really wonderful feel throughout – jazz at the core, but with touches of spy soundtrack scoring and some of the lighter, more comedic modes of the Italian scene. Delgado uses a core combo with heavy piano, percussion, and some great trumpet and tenor – almost with the tightness of the Basso-Valdambrini group – but he also expands the sound with bits of strings and some fuller orchestrations, used to shade in some amazing colors that roll, dip, and turn with the beautiful grooves penned for the set. The whole thing's tremendous, with equally great production that creates some odd twists and turns that further keep things interesting as the album rolls on. Titles include "Elm Embajador Y Yo", "Sexy Surf", "Llegando A La Capital", "Isometria", "Todo El Mundo Me Persigue", "Lucha En El Mar", and "La Arana". Added to the soundtrack is Jamie's 1964 album – Jaime Delgado Aparicio Y Su Trio – a crackling bit of piano jazz from the Peruvian scene of the 60s – and a record that's somewhere between the best of Horace Silver on Blue Note, and some of the Brazilian bossa trios of the time! There's a strong sense of rhythm throughout – round, rolling basslines punctuated by great work on the drum kit – all topped by beautifully lyrical lines from Delgado Aparicio on piano – filled with color, light, and life throughout – and soloing with a depth that's rare for such a young player! Titles include a great version of Horace Silver's "Sayonara Blues", plus "The Climate", "Autumn Leaves", "Walkin", and "Blue Daniel". CD

Music from the film of the same name – with some extracts from the film, too! (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Probably the greatest album ever by the Art Ensemble of Chicago – and also one of their rarest! The album was cut for Pathe Marconi in Paris in 1970, and was the soundtrack to a film that was as obscure as the album. The group's never been finer – and plays with a creative tightness that you'll be hard pressed to find on other record. Some tracks are almost straight jazz – but there's all these wonderful little breakdowns and burst of creative energy that keep the AACM spirit alive and true. The centerpiece of the album is the massive "Theme De Yoyo", a righteous powerful groover that features vocals by Fontella Bass (wife of Lester Bowie of the group), and which has become an all-time jazz dance classic! Other tracks have a sparer soundtracky feel, and a few more are in the experimental vein of the Art Ensemble's other Paris work at the time. Wonderful overall though – and an incredibly righteous album filled with power and imagination! Titles include "Theme De Celine", "Proverbes", "Theme Libra", and "Variations Sur Un Theme De Monteverdi". Very hard to find original French pressing – with different cover image! (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime soundtrack music from Edward Artemiev – not a big name for film scoring on this side of the Iron Curtain, but a really well-remembered talent for his classic 70s work for the films of Andrey Tarkovsky! Side one of this album features wonderful sounds from the film Stalker – music that begins in a sweet electronic mode, but soon gets darker – a weird space that's somewhere between the German elements of Cluster and Tangerine Dream, and some of the more abstract electronics of the underground academic scene! Yet throughout it all, Artemiev has a very visual approach to his sounds – one that steps out nicely on the one track from the film The Mirror, and an extended tribute to the director too. Titles include "Exodus", "Dedication To Andrey Tarkovsky", "Meditation", "They Go Long", "Stalker", and "Train". LP, Vinyl record album