Really early sounds from the great John Barry – a huge amount of tracks recorded with his combo for the Drumbeat TV show in the UK! The program had a strong focus on the emerging rock and roll sounds of the late 50s – and the John Barry Seven were a perfect group to provide musical accompaniment – professional enough to handle the gig in just the right way, but youthful enough to come up with plenty of sharp-edged sounds! The instrumentation's often heavy on guitar, but features some trumpet lines from Barry too – and although the set features some instrumentals by the group, there's also a lot of vocal numbers – with singers who include Derry Hart, Adam Faith, Bob Miller, Sylvia Sands, Roy Young, Vince Eager, and others. 40 tracks in all – including "Mad Mab", "Bees Knees", "Don't Leave Me", "Slippin & Slidin", "Rockin Sandy", "Get Happy", "Italian Style", "Beatnik", "Catwalk", "I Go Ape", "Shame On You Miss Johnson", and "Buzzin". CD

The return of Lee Van Cleef's Sabata – presented here in a soundtrack that's even groovier than the music from the first film! The title tune is especially wonderful – a killer soundtrack groove with a mix of English lyrics and scatting vocals from I Cantori Moderni – easily one of the grooviest tunes the group ever recorded! Other tunes have a groovy undercurrent too – romping basslines and piano bits, and weird strings and sounds folded together beautifully – making for music that's as compelling as the movie, even when heard far away from the images on the screen. This reissue includes a few previously unreleased bonus tracks – making for 18 tracks in all! CD

Sublime soundtrack material from Max Richter – but work that dovetails perfectly with some of his more "serious" albums on Deutsche Grammophon! The music features Richter on piano, alongside two cellos, a violin, and viola – but sounding completely unlike piano and strings – as the instruments are all used in that flowing, open, spacious style that Max his brought to other compositions – melodic and atmospheric at the same time, yet rich in feeling and tone, and never sleepy at all! Richter's a fantastic minimalist – but one who's completely different than the generation of Steve Reich and Philip Glass – although, like Glass, his compositional techniques are turning out to be a perfect accompaniment to images on a screen. Titles include "Stairs Abyss Starlight", "Ocean House Mirror", "Interior Horses", "The Young Mariner", "Powder Pills Truth", "Whale Window Hotel 1", and "Dinner & The Ship Of Dreams". CD

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A record with a gimmick – but one that we really really like! The set's a tribute to the sounds of older Brazilian porn movies, done in a style that's really faithful to the original sound of the 70s – a mode that's never too kitschy, never just easy funk – but really well-done work with a tremendously groovy sound! Producer Che originally wanted to make a compilation of the best music from 70s Brazilian pornochanchadas, but found that the source material was in such bad shape that he couldn't do the job right – so he headed into the studio with a key group of musicians who really get the original sound of the films, and who revel here in a hiply-jazzy take on older grooves! We should say that the overall sound here is more jazzy and bossa-based than some of the skunkier funk of 70s US porno – a bit warmer, with some echoes of Italian soundtrack work of the same period – but still a gritty enough groove to fit the nasty scenes going on screen! Instrumentation includes lots of keyboards and vibes, and the album's a really great one that could easily be passed off as a 70s original – but which we like even more for its honesty about its intentions. Titles include "Desejos Ardentes", "A Bailonia De David", "Helena X Aldine", "Suite Para Pereio", "Sala Especial", "Mulher Objeto", "Simplesmente Gloria", "Vera A Diaba Loira", "Pixoxo Em Lua De Mel", and "A Jeitosa Do Morro". (Deep Funk, Soundtracks) CD