The stand-out cut here is the break dance track "Son of Beat Street" with lots of cutting by Jazzy Jay. Also includes Treacherous Three "Santa's Rap" with beatboxing by Dougie Fresh, Rockers Revenge "Battle Cry" produced by Arthur Baker, and some club cuts by Juicy, Tina B and others. (Hip Hop, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A totally wonderful little record – not just a funky 70s soundtrack, but an excellent jazz outing as well – thanks to the talents of Hubert Laws on flute and Earl Klugh on guitar! Patrick Williams wrote and arranged the whole set – and he merges his jazzier roots with some of his sublime 70s soundtrack skills – in a mix that's still lean enough to keep the album right up there with Laws' best from the time, but also give things a bit more of a funky punch, too. There's lots of great moments in a CTI/Kudu mode – and titles include "Down River", "Piccolo Boogie", "The Edge", "The Caper", "The Scuffle", and "Ready To Run". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

An Italian comedy take on the story of Robinson Crusoe – one that's served up with lots of light musical touches, thanks to the team of Guido and Maurizio DeAngelis! The music here is a blend of tropical themes and some of the comedic 70s modes you'd guess from the cover art – rootsier percussion and a bit of light ukulele to create the "island" elements – and some warmer, fuller passages that evoke the Italian placement of the film – although overall, the music is probably more attuned to the acoustic elements than most of its type from the time. Heavy vinyl pressing features 12 tracks from the film – plus the 7" single versions of "Signor Robinson" and "L'Isola Di Robinson". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first great Italian cop movies of the 70s – and a superbly-scored film with a really wonderful soundtrack! The DeAngelis brothers are clearly drawing heavily from an American tradition initiated by Lalo Schfrin – using heavy guitar, funky undercurrents, and even some soulfully righteous touches to really set this one apart from other Italian films of the time. Yet the approach here is also a bit more different, touches with some of the darker modes and more redemptive themes of Italian westerns – a sense of suspension and drama that's incredibly powerful, and heard to best effect on the solo instrumental passages – which include guitar by Maurizio and flute by Guido. Titles include "Festa A Genova", "Gangster Story", "Chicca", "The Life Of A Policeman", "Il Libanese", "Casa Di Moda", "Rock Al Porto", and "La Storia Comincia". LP, Vinyl record album

A very groovy little soundtrack from the team of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis – one that was penned to accompany an offbeat Bud Spencer film of the late 70s, and which offers up plenty of variations on the catchy theme! Bud plays Bulldozer – an ex-US football player, holed up in Italy – where he cobbles together a team of locals to take down the team of the US Army stationed nearby – a goofy plot, but one that's made that much better by the work of the De Angelis brothers! The core theme is initially sung by Oliver Onions, in English – then taken through a range of great instrumental readings that echo some of the styles used by Guido and Maurizio on their straighter crime and action scores, but with lots of sweet twists and turns along the way. LP, Vinyl record album

A great entry in the Piedone series of films from Italian comedic legend Bud Spencer – scored by the DeAngelis brothers with a col sort of 80s take on their earlier cinematic modes! As with most of the Italian scores of the time, spare instrumentation and keyboards are used in place of fuller orchestrations – and the result is a batch of playful themes that really fit the goofy action that Spencer spins out on the screen – cheesier sounds that work very nicely with the offbeat performance that always made Bud's films such guilty pleasures! Features a total of 22 tracks – including two versions of the vocal theme "Sphinx" – fitting as the film is set in Egypt! 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

That's a cheesy 80s action shot on the cover, and the music within really carries through on that promise – from the starting cut "Black Inferno", which is a very groovy clubby sort of cut – to the more stark, keyboard-driven grooves from the brothers DeAngelis! The duo did plenty of great cop/crime work in the 70s – and hear they follow the more lean styles of their contemporaries in the early 80s – using lots of keyboards, basslines, and drum machine bits to make most of the music – kind of a John Carpenter mode, but a bit fuller and more groovy – definitely in keeping with the duo's legacy! There's two versions of "Black Inferno", one nice and long – plus 24 more instrumentals from the film. LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet soccer comedy from the 80s Italian scene – one that's scored with a fair bit of electric elements, but also a fair bit of percussion as well! The story's set in Brazil, and the music is this cool combination of more familiar 80s keyboard modes with samba-influenced percussion – often lively, colorful grooves that are matched by the keyboards doing these sonic waves that almost feel more like they could have come from a brass or woodwind instrument! The mood is playful and upbeat throughout – and this first-time vinyl issue of the material features 20 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirder soundtracks from Fabio Frizzi – a record that's spooky one minute, cheery the next – but in a way that really makes the schizophrenia appealing! The sunnier tunes have a bit of an island vibe – but are served up on relatively thin instrumentation, which then shifts quickly into some of the moodier, murkier sounds you'd expect from a zombie film like this – sometimes with some great early 80s-styled electronics! This version of the score is served up in a really lovely package – with a total of 13 different numbered tunes from the soundtrack – most around the three minute range. LP, Vinyl record album

A fresh take on one of the most unusual soundtracks ever created by legendary Italian group Goblin – music for a film that's a bit more light-hearted than some of the others they scored, and which gets a great blend of funky and breezy tunes throughout! The film's a cop comedy, and Goblin set things up with lots of great keyboards, but used in ways that are less prog-oriented than their other soundtracks – and more towards funk or sound library modes – styles that are carried out here perfectly by the contemporary group Girodivite, who recreate the music as the tapes have been lost to time – carrying things off so well, the recording really does feel like a late 70s vintage one, even right down to the production. The whole thing is great – and the CD features 14 tracks in all – a great discovery of this rare chapter in the long career of Goblin! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest spaghetti western scores we've ever heard – penned for an early collaboration between Terence Hill and Bud Spencer! The main theme "Trinity" starts off with some cool vocal backing by Alessandro Alessandroni's I Cantori Moderni, singing underneath the English-language lead vocal – and the group also make an appearance on the film's reprise of this song at the end of the movie. Other tracks mix together guitar, organ, whistling, and some other cool sonic elements that give the soundtrack a cool late 60s feel that reminds us more of some lost French gem than an Italian thriller! Titles include "Lazy Cowboy", "Un Cowboy e Due Ragazze", "Di Fronte Ai Killers", "Trinity: Con La Stella Di Viceseriffo", and "C'e Un Tempo Per Vincere". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful sound library set from the great Piero Umiliani – and a record that's filled with some of his coolest electronics ever! The feel of the record is very much in keeping with the image on the cover – kind of sci fi, but kind of playful too – a wonderful blend of keyboards and moogy bits, often played with a cool little groove – but one that's laidback enough to recall Umiliani's best soundtrack music! Tunes are relatively short – between one and four minutes in length – but really have a great sense of variety and imagination – at a level that goes way beyond some of the overdone repetition you might find in other albums of this nature. Really great all the way through – with cuts that include "Futuristic Jam", "Killer Robot", "Soft Key", "Bric Brac", "Soundmaker Blues", "Gadget", "Danza Galattica", and "Jingle No 1". LP, Vinyl record album

A spooky little soundtrack, with some slight erotic moments as well – all scored for a schlocky Italian film starring an ex-patriot Farley Granger! The story centers around an investigation of an earlier rape and murder – and the music does a good deal to underscore the mix of sexual tension and drama in the film – often using spare stepping basslines that move very slowly on the bottom of the tunes, while eerie keyboards, guitar, and weirder effects drift lightly over the top. A few numbers have a slightly warmer feel, in keeping with more erotic moments in early 70s Italian cinema – and there's also a bit of wordless vocals that float through some of the tunes, often with a theremin-like quality. LP features 15 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest racing soundtracks we've ever heard – a set that's a lot more funky than some of the better-known racetrack film scores that were coming into the racks during the late 60s! The vibe here is almost a bit like some of the sound library material of Alessandro Alessandroni – lots of great melodic elements, wrapped around rhythms that are nice and slinky on the slower moments, and downright funky on the faster ones – mostly instrumental, but with just a bit of vocals at points from I Cantori Moderni – that very cool harmony group that Alessandroni used on many recordings. The instrumentation is never too complex, and the focus feels more small combo than some of the larger orchestrations on Italian scores at the time – served up here in an assortment of 17 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to stop the Blastfighter when he's got music like this to back him up – an assortment of sounds served up by Fabio Frizzi – in a style that uses some of the instrumentation of his better-known horror work, but in a very different way! The buzzword here is "action" – and the best cuts have a throbbing rhythm driven by drum machines, and washes of 80s keyboards over the top – then guitars, basslines, and whatever touches are needed to move things forward – with an occasional rest on a cut that's a bit more mellow, but never sleepy at all! If you dig 80s action scores, you'll find plenty to love here – and there's a lean, compact vibe that gives the whole record a very unified feel. LP, Vinyl record album

Really cool cuts from the second generation of Bollywood funk – that 80s moment when things were still ever bit as groovy as during the heyday of 70s soundtracks, but served up with some slightly different instrumentation in the mix! There's maybe a bit more keyboards here at times – but not the cold kind that were dominating European films, especially horror – as they're mixed with plenty of percussion, basslines, and other elements – then topped with vocals by some of the greats who made the music so wonderful back in the previous decade! As you'll guess from the title, all the cuts here are from the vaults of CBS – beautifully remastered, and with great notes and design – in a set of tracks that include "Prem Ashram" by Asha Bhosle, "Aage Bhi Dushman" by Suresh Wadkar & Sadhana Sargam, "Baahon Me Leke Mujhe" by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle, "Mere Jaisi Mehbooba" by Sharon Prabhakar & Bappi Lahiri, "Hero" by Amit Kumar, "Meri Akhon Mein Zara Jhanto To" by Asha Bhosle, and "Becho Becho" by Amit Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor – plus some cool instrumental tracks too! (Global Grooves, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most enigmatic soundtracks we've ever heard from Luis Bacalov – a set that's still as groovy as his work from the 60s, but with a lot more 70s rock touches overall! These elements come through in some of the English language vocals at the start, but then slide into lighter variations on some of the more instrumental tracks – which move between sweet keyboards, flute lines, spare percussion, and a few more guitar-based moments! But there's also quite a sense of variety in the music – as the expanded reissue allows for a number of additional material that further expand past the few core themes, to some moodier, darker moments. Titles include "Like A Play", "Run & Run", "The Summertime Killer", "Lisboa's Tram", and "The House On The Lake". 21 tracks in all! LP, Vinyl record album

A nice little shark-themed soundtrack, but one that comes across with a vibe that's quite different than any of the music used for Jaws – partly because there's a number of vocal tunes in the mix! The set features three standout songs – "Hollywood Big Time" and "You've Changed The World For Me", sung by Yvonne Wilkins – and "Ballad", which is sung by composer Maurizio De Angelis himself – which are then mixed with instrumental numbers that are electric and keyboard-heavy, maybe more in line with Italian slasher/horror work of the period than you might expect! The colder electronics must have given the watery scenes a really great vibe on the screen – and the package features great sound throughout, and a mighty nice graphic appeal. LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful collection of work from Ennio Morricone – one of the greatest soundtrack composers of all time, especially during the period covered in this set! The songs here are from a time when the maestro was effortlessly combining jazz, mod rhythms, rock instrumentation, and other stranger elements – all with a flawless sense of presentation and production that could make even familiar sounds come across in really different ways! The package definitely focuses on the groove promised in the title – but if you know Morricone at all, you'll know that that doesn't mean familiar funk, and instead hits some really mindblowing territory beyond description. Includes work from the films Com Impari Ad Amare Le Donna, Ruba Al Prossimo Tuo, Il Diavolo Nel Cervello, Spasmo, Ad Ogni Costo, Maddaelna, La Dona Invisible, Le Foto Proibite, and other Morricone classics! LP, Vinyl record album

Killer cop/crime music from the Italian scene of the 70s – a famous genre soundtrack from composer Armando Trovajoli, who's usually known for his work in warmer, sexier styles! The grooves here are right up there with the best that Italy has to offer from the time – full, jazzy backings that often have a bit of keyboards or guitars amidst the larger horns – and rhythms that manage to sound tightly compressed, despite the larger arrangements – in ways that help keep things sounding nice and lean. Trovajoli adds in isolated instruments at the best moments – particularly some woodwind bits that snake along with warmly melodic touches, or keyboards used in spare and subtle ways – and each track seems to offer up a fresh approach to the sound, making for a well-balanced batch of tracks that's far from cliche! Titles include "The Puzzle Is Completed", "A Very Strange Party", "Theme For A Murderer", "Louise", "Tony's Magnum", "Who Killed Louise", and "Black Pearl Necklace". LP, Vinyl record album

A spooky little soundtrack, with some slight erotic moments as well – all scored for a schlocky Italian film starring an ex-patriot Farley Granger! The story centers around an investigation of an earlier rape and murder – and the music does a good deal to underscore the mix of sexual tension and drama in the film – often using spare stepping basslines that move very slowly on the bottom of the tunes, while eerie keyboards, guitar, and weirder effects drift lightly over the top. A few numbers have a slightly warmer feel, in keeping with more erotic moments in early 70s Italian cinema – and there's also a bit of wordless vocals that float through some of the tunes, often with a theremin-like quality. LP features 15 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool electronic soundtrack for this obscure early 80s slasher film – music that's a lot more complex and sensitive than the usual sounds used for slashers – with a style that reminds us of some of the hippest late 70s music on the Sky Records label! Eric Feremens comes from a relatively similar place – working here on self-built synthesizers, tailored specially to produced these wonderful sounds and tones – not tinny commercial keyboards, but much more thoughtful electronic elements that make the music way more appealing than just its use in a film. In fact, this is one of the few soundtracks of its type that could stand alone as a batch of spacey electronics – far from the schlocky images on the screen. Titles include "Harbour Fight", "Persecution", "Lady", "Hippy Song", and "Beat". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastically dark Morricone score! Morricone originally wrote this material for the film Quattro Mosche Di Velluto Grigio, the third part of Dario Argento's cult terror trilogy – and until the release of this reissue, only 2 of the tracks ever made it to the public, on a rare single issued by Cinevox in 1971. The leadoff track – "4 Mosche Di Vellutto Grigio (titoli)" – is actually a bit funky, with some very heavy drums and cascading fuzzy guitar riffs that sound very nice. Then, the record moves into spookier material – like the cut "Come Un Madrigale", and a number of self-titled themes – all of which feature strange harpsichord work, dark orchestral passages, and some very spooky production work! Fortunately, the score ends on an upbeat note – a hard driving, beat group sounding version of the main theme that's a nice cap to the whole package! LP, Vinyl record album

A timeless collaboration between Nujabes and Fat Jon – tracks done for the animated Samurai Champloo project, but music that stands more than strongly on its own – with a sublime mix of soulful currents and beat-heavy rhythms! The set begins with a number of tracks that have Nujabes in the lead – with that soul-heavy style that makes his work of this moment so wonderful – balanced by Fat Jon contributions that are maybe even better than records issued as a solo act! Titles include "Ole", "Genome", "No Way Back", "Transcendence", "Aruarian Dance", "Battlecry", "The Space Between Two Worlds", "1st Samurai", and "How You Feel". (Hip Hop, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A strange spacey soundtrack from mid 80s Spain – one composed for a daytime TV show, but with a weird electronic vibe that must have shocked the kids who were watching at the time! The music has some echoes of the cooler side of the German new wave – not the darkness of the cold wave side, but maybe the mix of playfulness and experimentation you'd hear from Pyrolator or Der Plan – both of whom would be a good comparison the spirit of the songs on this set! Most tunes are instrumental, but still pretty darn catchy – and when there's vocals, they're usually processed in the best 80s electro way. Titles include "Una Dia Especial", "Tema De Kiu", "El Mon De Kiu", "Un Dia Boig", "Beat De Beth", "Ball De Beth", "Quan Jo Sigui Una Estrella", and "Tema De La Lluno". LP, Vinyl record album

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". LP, Vinyl record album