Totally groovy work from the legendary Piero Piccioni – a score for an obscure "mondo" documentary about the sad state of culture in late 60s England! The score is probably best known for its very funky "Black Flower" theme – but it's filled with loads of other really wonderful cuts that mix jazzy moments, mod rhythms, and the best late 60s Italian film instrumentation – all in a blend that makes this soundtrack every bit as great as the better-known Fumo Di Londra! And if you don't know that one, it's one of Piccioni's best from the late 60s – a perfect blend of his roots in jazz, his love of bossa rhythms, and his key role in all things groovy that were happening in Italian film in the late 60s. There's plenty of "party" tracks here – "Party Music" and "Drug Party" tracks – plus others titled "Country Mood", "Night Club", "Soho", "Country Shake", "Endless Love", and "Organ Shake". CD

All the classics – including "Big Bottom", "Sex Farm", "Stonehenge", "Listen To The Flower People", and "Hell Hole". LP, Vinyl record album

A real oddity – a soundtrack on Vee Jay records, the label best known for their groundbreaking work in soul, blues, and jazz. Even stranger, the score is for a schlocky Vincent Price film, based on a Jules Verne story – written by Les Baxter, in the flowery style he used for some of his late 50s, non-exotic work at Capitol. The album is performed by the 100 Men, directed by Cal Carter of Vee Jay – and titles include "Topage", "Flight Concerto", "Philadelphia", "Drifting Clouds", and "Over The Rocks". Nice painted cover, too! LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked score from the great Roy Budd – one that we're not sure ever made it to vinyl back in the day – and which is presented here in a nicely expanded version! The music has that tense quality that made the non-groovy cuts from Budd's Get Carter score so great – and which was followed in some of his other early 70s soundtracks – which, like the music here, really shows a maturation away from the straighter jazz of Roy's roots – but still features the occasional piano solo (including electric) to remind us that he's a performer as much as a composer. There's a darkly moody vibe to many numbers – this current of sadness that's really beautiful, and which flowers often in a subtle way – on titles that include "Change Of Plan", "The Journey Continues", "Opening", "In The Woods", "Peeping Robin", "Mingle With Me", "Swept Up In Memories", "In The Office", and "Bossa Nova". CD features the bonus tracks "Pipe Tobacco", "You Can Never Trust A Friend", and "Demo Jingle". CD

Not the Prince music from the first Batman film – but all those other sounds that were used in the movie, penned and produced at a surprisingly strong level by Danny Elfman – who shows the world that he's got a lot more to offer than just his previous work in the group Oingo Boingo! This isn't a rock soundtrack by a fading talent from the mainstream – and instead, it's one of Elfman's first full forays into scoring – performed by the Sinfonia of London with a richness that's given the music maybe a more enduring quality than the film! Titles include "Waltz To The Death", "Roof Fight", "Batman Theme", "Clown Attack", "Flowers", "Roasted Dude", "The Joker's Poem", and "The Bat Cave". CD

One of the most famous Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks ever – even if the film itself wasn't much of a hit! Goldsmith really rose to the top ranks of film composers with his work for Blue Max – able to orchestrate both full action and quiet moments with effortless ease – often through these compressed passages that really move beyond the usual Hollywood scoring standard of the time! Things are never too flowery, yet still remain quite full at times – and Goldsmith really demonstrates his great skill with creating special odd sounds out of more familiar instruments. Titles include "First Blood", "Bridge Duel", "The Lonely Victor", "Small Favor", "Statchel in Berlin", and "The Bridge". CD

A chilling soundtrack for one of the last great Irwin Allen disaster films of the 70s – The Swarm, the story of a bunch of bees that go crazy! The score was penned by Jerry Goldsmith, whose talent for creating off-beat string passages makes for some great "bee-like" moments in this one – times when the strings really swarm around nicely, and convey the spooky feel of the film! Orchestrations are by Arthur Morton, and titles include "The Bees Arrive", "Gift Of Flowers", "The Bee's Picnic", "Tommy's Death", "Don't Take Him", and "Exact Instructions". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly sensitive score from Henry Mancini – much more so than we'd expect for this famous film about Joan Crawford's child-rearing habits! Mancini's at his mature best here – and there's lots of lovely, beautiful little tunes that kind of unfold like gentle flowers – slight strings and light woodwinds that move slowly, but with this really evocative quality – one that builds up a bit more strongly as the score progresses towards the end. Really great stuff – and a rich reminder that Mancini has so many great moments that go way beyond his familiar hits. Titles include "Spoiled Children", "Home Again", "No More Pain", "Test Of Wills", "Battle Axe", "On Your Mark", "My Darling Daughter", and "Of Shoes & Socks". Great CD reissue – with 9 more bonus tracks – including source cues and other older music used in the film. CD

A really unusual soundtrack from Ennio Morricone – one that's from the start of the 80s, and which has some sweet electric touches used alongside some of his more familiar modes! There's a bit of funk at the start, which heralds some of the less conventional instrumentation for the maestro – yet tunes still then follow that sense of slowly unfolding, flowering melody that can make his work so great – all the classic Morricone modes we love so much, but given a nice twist as well! The change is a great one – especially as at this moment, Morricone was moving into much larger orchestrations for bigger global films – and the set also features a bit of vocals from Nora Orlandi, and work from Alessandro Alessandroni on one track too. CD

The jury is sometimes out on the Mick Jagger on-screen performance in the Nicolas Roeg film Performance – but the soundtrack is something pretty separate entirely, and really says a lot more about the spirit of late 60s Warner Brothers Records in LA than it does the arthouse cinema scene in England! The great Jack Nitzsche composed a number of instrumental tracks for the score – maybe his first time in this mode, and prefacing some later 70s successes to come – with titles that include "Rolls Royce & Acid", "Harry Flowers", and "Natural Magic". Other Warner talents get a hand in the music too – as Randy Newman conducted all of Nitzsche's charts, and also sings "Gone Dead Train" – while Ry Cooder delivers bottleneck solos on "Get Away" and "Powis Square". There's also some nice soul-based moments – the cut "Wake Up N*ggers" by The Last Poets, and "Poor White Hound Dog" and "Performance" by Merry Clayton. And yes, Mick does get to sing on one tune – the album's "Memo From Turner" – and the set is completed by Buffy St Marie work on "The Hashishin" and "Dead Dead Red". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice little soundtrack by the great Trovajoli – scored for an Italian sex comedy starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni! The film's divided up into three segments with three different themes – the first of which is historical, the other two of which are great and groovy! The "Anna" segment features three strong jazz numbers – "Anna With The Rolls", "Descansado", and "Flowers For A Poor Millionaire". The "Mara" segment is the best, though, with some groovy jazz and organ bits that are similar to Trovajoli's best late 60s work. Titles include "Mara", "Rome, Don't Be Stupid", and "Portrait Of MM". LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy groovy work from Johnny Williams – a second volume of material for one of his best 60s soundtracks – excellent early work from on the great modern film score composers! The film's a goofy sex romp, as you might expect from the title, and Williams' tunes really keep the spirit of the movie up nicely – running through a variety of upbeat styles, from jazzy Hammond, to groovy vocals, and even a few surprisingly nice chorus vocal type tunes! Includes the great song "Big Beautiful Ball", presented in vocal versions as well as a bonus instrumental, the former with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. This great Film Score Monthly Vol 2 features the nearly complete original film tracks, derived from the original scoring masters. Other titles include "My Inamorata", "It'll Take Hours", "Tom's Jealousy", "Two Of Everything", "High Tank", "Cold Feet", "Bowed Heads And Flowers" and many more. Also includes several bonus track instrumental versions. 38 tracks in all. CD

Features music by The Greenhornes, Mulatu Astatke, The Tennors, Marvin Gaye, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Holly Golightly, Sleep, Dengue Fever, and Gabriel Faure. CD