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

Vince Guaraldi's wonderful music for the first-ever cartoon to feature the Peanuts characters in animated form – a sublime batch of jazz instrumentals that forever changed the face of music in shows of this nature! Vince steps out with an amazing sound right from the start – even different than his previous jazz records from the San Francisco scene – with a more careful balance of swing and sadness, lyricism and soul – always played in a subtle, understated way that really makes the music come through with a lasting degree of power. Core sounds are from the trio of Guaraldi on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums – and titles include key early versions of the "Charlie Brown Theme" and "Linus & Lucy" – plus "Oh Good Grief", Pebble Beach", "Schroeder", and "Blue Charlie Brown". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue issue of this jazzy Peanuts classic – music that's delighted ears for decades, yet never got the same sort of commercial release as Charlie Brown Christmas music! As with that work, the music here all comes from the genius of Vince Guaraldi – and given the early 70s recording of the tunes, Vince definitely has updated his style since the 60s – using Fender Rhodes at times, and even having an electric sensibility to his acoustic piano work too – a sense of spacing and timing that's totally great! The core combo features a young Tom Harrell on trumpet, plus Chuck Bennett on trombone, Seward McCain on bass, and Mike Clark on drums – a very cool jazzy group. Vince sings on the wonderful tune "Little Birdie", which has some larger arrangements – and other titles include "Is It James Or Charlie", "Thanksgiving Theme", "Charlie Brown Blues", "Peppermint Patty", "Linus & Lucy", and "Thanksgiving Interlude". This expanded release features lots of great alternates on the themes – and the tune "Clark & Guaraldi", and "Is It James Or Charlie (bonus mix with whistling)". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Over the years, we've come to realize that the best thing about the Peanuts cartoons isn't the actions of Charlie Brown and Lucy, but the wonderful music from Vince Guaraldi – perhaps the one aspect of the cartoons that's kept on giving over the years, and which we can proudly carry into adulthood! Vince's music is sublime – often simple, but groovy – a mix of rhythmic vamps and more lyrical passages that perfectly underscore the melancholy that graced the characters of Charles Schultz, and which perhaps defines them even better than the clunky stories or voiceovers on the screen. This set features all the best numbers from the glory days of those cartoons – mostly holiday numbers, but some other gems too – titles that include "Skating", "Little Birdie", "Baseball Theme", "Linus & Lucy", "Happiness Is", "Oh Good Grief", "Christmas Is Coming", "Great Pumpkin Waltz", "Thanksgiving Theme", and both vocal and instrumental versions of "Christmas Time Is Here". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful soundtrack material for the last film ever from Alejandro Jodorowsky – composed and performed by his son Adan – aka Adanowsky – in a style that's surprisingly sensitive, and wonderfully thoughtful throughout! The movie is a fantasy autobiography from the legendary filmmaker – and Adan scores the music at a level that takes us back to some of our favorite French soundtracks of the 60s and 70s – sentimental, but never soppy – carefully emotive, yet never overdone – with a haunting blend of keyboards, piano, and light strings – all used in very focused ways, on melodies that range somewhere between the furniture music of Satie, and the whimsical themes of Nino Rota. First-ever release of the soundtrack – with titles that include "Los Mineros", "Bucefalo", "Jose", "Bodisua", "The Midget", "God Doesn't Exist", and "The Clowns". LP, Vinyl record album

Two amazing works from Belgian electronic genius Alain Pierre – both appearing in this form for the first time ever! Side one features 11 minutes of continuous music that Pierre created for the short film O Sidarta – music that mixes a range of electronics, keyboards, and acoustic percussion with studio effects and voice – all with a result that almost feels like some of the longer-form prog creations of the German scene of the time – although with qualities that are much more varied, less rock-based, and with occasional nods to the earlier generation of musique concrete! The flipside features the 17 minute "Notions De Physique Intererieure" – a work that uses a wide array of electric sources in a very short space – theremin, Arp sequencer, Telefunken echomixer, and more Arp, Kort, and Oberheim keyboards – all in this slow-building, wonderfully spacey sort of mode – almost hinting at some of the straighter fantasy soundtracks that Pierre would create in the mainstream – as the piece has the feel of a story in sound! LP, Vinyl record album