The music of the French New Wave – brought out beautifully in an overstuffed 3CD set! The late 50s shift in French cinema is arguably one of the most important film moments in the 20th century – and although the movies are best remembered for their directors, stars, and striking images – most of the films also had some pretty amazing music as well! In fact, we've always felt that the music was integral to the Nouvelle Vague – from famous jazz scores, to lovely lyrical passages, to bold orchestral arrangements that also ended up having a huge impact on wider European music as well. This package is the first we've ever seen to really dig deep into the New Wave – and it brings together 80 tracks from dozens of films – a really wide variety of music, provided by artists who include Michel Legrand, Georges Delerue, Paul Misraki, Pierre Jansen, Miles Davis, Maurice Jarre, Jean Constantin, Martial Solal, Michel Magne, Antoine Duhamel, Alain Romans, and others – from movies that include 400 Blows, Jules & Jim, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Les Bonnes Femmes, Une Femme Est Une Femme, Breathless, Weekend, Lola, Cleo De 5 A 7, Le Bonheur, Alphaville, and many others! Some films are represented by a few tracks, others by famous themes – and the package also features a booklet with notes in French and English too. CD

Although composed by 70s sex-soundtrack genius Pierre Bachelet, this one's mostly a batch of jaunty, jagged little themes, a bit like Nino Rota's work for Fellini, with lots of similar touches. There's one striking number, though – "Ivory Coast Drums" – which has a weird back/forth rhythm approach, a bit of echo on the drums, and a melodic progression that makes the track a nice dark little number. Bachelet sings vocals on the French version of the "Black & White" theme – and other tracks include "The Letter", "The Battle", "Crossing The Rhine", "Fresnoy's Theme", and "La Chanson Des Souliers". LP, Vinyl record album

A really haunting bit of early electronics by Jean Michel Jarre – the soundtrack for the film Les Granges Brulees from the early 70s! The work here has a very different sound than Jarre's later music – not nearly so neat and tidy, with lots of rough edges, and shorter tunes that have a really kind of spooky, other-wordly feel. And yet despite these qualities, there's also a good degree of melody to the set – as the shorter tracks bubble forth with some great themes that sound even more enchanting in the analogue electronic mode. Titles include "L'Helicoptere", "La Chanson Des Granges Brulees", "Le Pays De Rose", "Theme De L'Argent", "Rose", "Les Granges Brulees", and "La Verite". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite soundtracks ever – a jazzy swinging ode to love found and love lost – all penned by the legendary Michel Legrand! The work was composed in collaboration with director Jacques Demy for his 1966 film of the same name – and, like the previous Demy/Legrand collaboration, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, the movie's a story in song – one that has much of the dialogue presented as sung lyrics to the tunes. The mode takes off from a Hollywood musical style, and pushes the genre into territory that's much hipper, very French, and with a soaring approach that's filled with plenty of mod 60s jazz grooves. Legrand's genius has never sparkled so brightly – and his ability to interweave different themes, stories, and grooves is simply amazing! Titles include "Chanson Des Jumelles", "Chanson De Delphine", "Nous Voyageons De Ville En Ville", "Chanson D'Andy", "La Femme Coupee En Morceaux", and "Marins Amis Amants Ou Maris" – plus lots of instrumental bonus tracks! CD

One of our favorite soundtracks ever – a jazzy swinging ode to love found and love lost – all penned by the legendary Michel Legrand! The work was composed in collaboration with director Jacques Demy for his 1966 film of the same name – and, like the previous Demy/Legrand collaboration, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, the movie's a story in song – one that has much of the dialogue presented as sung lyrics to the tunes. The mode takes off from a Hollywood musical style, and pushes the genre into territory that's much hipper, very French, and with a soaring approach that's filled with plenty of mod 60s jazz grooves. Legrand's genius has never sparkled so brightly – and his ability to interweave different themes, stories, and grooves is simply amazing! This US package is even better than the original French one – with a nice colored book inside the gatefold cover that has some great photos and lyrics (translated) for the songs. Titles include "Nous Voyagons De Ville En Ville", "Depart De Camionners", "Arivee Des Camionneurs", "Chanson De Maxence", "Marins, Amins, Amants Ou Maris", and "Chanson De Jumelles". LP, Vinyl record album

Michel Legrand is one of our favorite composers of all time – and although the man himself passed away in 2019, his music continues to live on strongly in the hearts of countless singers and musicians he's touched over the years – including those who work together on this wonderful tribute album! The set's very different than other Legrand-related projects of this nature – as both the choice of cuts and the execution is very special – not too pop-polished, or overly sentimental – as most of the numbers here are very spare and open – almost recorded as these elegies to Michel, with beautiful reworkings of his familiar themes, often just with piano and some other light instrumentation – never sleepy, given the talents on board, but sensitively done in just the right spirit of Legrand's genius. Titles include "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Chad Lawson, "Sans Toi" by Luca D'Alberto, "Les Parapluies De Cherbourg" by Lambert, "Toujoirs Jamais" by Akira Kosemura, "Peau D'Ane" by Alban Claudin, "Chanson De Jumelles" by Joseph Schiano Di Lombo, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" by Moux, and "Summer Of 42" by Chilly Gonzales. LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful sounds from the films of Jacques Tati – a set that overflows with the kind of warmly wistful tunes that really help define the images on the screen! Music is by Francis Lemarque, Francois Rauber, Charles Dumont, and others – and overall, the music is mostly in a small combo mode – with instrumentation that includes piano, vibes, guitar, and accordion – used in very whimsical ways throughout, with a quality that's almost as visual as the images on the screen – almost little cartoons in music, but with that warmer, more sentimental quality that made Tati's films so much more than slapstick. The collection runs much further in time than previous Tati collections – material from films that include Traffic, Play Time, Jour De Fete, Mon Oncle, Parade, and Les Vacances De Monseuir Hulot. Titles include "Paris Circus", "Super Market", "Play It In Time", "Musette", "Tournez Les Maneges", "Bereceuse", "Theme Oriental", "Take My Hand", "La Cours D'Auto", "Tournee Rapide", "Chanson Des Forains", "Voitures Ballet", "Mon Oncle", and "Pianissimo". CD

This is sort of a compilation that features Michel Legrand's great scores for the films Thomas Crown Affair, Young Girls of Rochefort, La Piscine, and Play Dirty. We think that most of the stuff has been re-recorded for this album, but we're not sure. Whatever the case, this is a stellar album of beautiful Frenchy soundtrack stuff, and it's all tight instrumental Now Sound nuttiness. Titles include "His Eyes, Her Eyes", "Souvenirs", "Chanson D'Un Jour D'Ete", "A Man's Castle", "Jazz Theme From Play Dirty", and "Chanson De Maxence". LP, Vinyl record album

Great stuff! This is the "alternate" version of Michel Legrand's great score to Les Demoiselles De Rochefort – and it's totally great all the way through! The whole thing's nice and jazzy, totally swinging, and has a groove that you don't get in some of Legrand's other work. We've been listening to this for years, and it's never dulled on us. Very groovy, very Frenchy, and very tough to find. Titles include "Chanson De Simon", "Les Rencontres", "Toujours Jamais", "De Dephine A Lancien", "Nous Voyageons De Ville en Ville", and "Marins, Amis, Amants, Ou Maris". LP, Vinyl record album

A really haunting bit of early electronics by Jean Michel Jarre – the soundtrack for the film Les Granges Brulees from the early 70s! The work here has a very different sound than Jarre's later music – not nearly so neat and tidy, with lots of rough edges, and shorter tunes that have a really kind of spooky, other-wordly feel. And yet despite these qualities, there's also a good degree of melody to the set – as the shorter tracks bubble forth with some great themes that sound even more enchanting in the analogue electronic mode. Titles include "L'Helicoptere", "La Chanson Des Granges Brulees", "Le Pays De Rose", "Theme De L'Argent", "Rose", "Les Granges Brulees", and "La Verite". CD

Michel Legrand is one of our favorite composers of all time – and although the man himself passed away in 2019, his music continues to live on strongly in the hearts of countless singers and musicians he's touched over the years – including those who work together on this wonderful tribute album! The set's very different than other Legrand-related projects of this nature – as both the choice of cuts and the execution is very special – not too pop-polished, or overly sentimental – as most of the numbers here are very spare and open – almost recorded as these elegies to Michel, with beautiful reworkings of his familiar themes, often just with piano and some other light instrumentation – never sleepy, given the talents on board, but sensitively done in just the right spirit of Legrand's genius. Titles include "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Chad Lawson, "Sans Toi" by Luca D'Alberto, "Les Parapluies De Cherbourg" by Lambert, "Toujoirs Jamais" by Akira Kosemura, "Peau D'Ane" by Alban Claudin, "Chanson De Jumelles" by Joseph Schiano Di Lombo, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" by Moux, and "Summer Of 42" by Chilly Gonzales. CD

A huge amount of music, and the first-ever collection to really do justice to the huge amount of vocal material recorded by the lovely Jeanne Moreau – a figure that most folks know as an actress on screen, famous for her work in French film starting in the new wave generation! Moreau sang a famous song in an early film by Truffaut – but shortly after that, she began a legacy of really interesting, well-done albums that created as surprisingly strong legacy away from the screen – music that's included here in a complete collection of her work, then mixed with lots of other rare music too! The core of the set features seven full albums, all with a lot of bonus tracks – her two albums of songs by Cyrus Bassiak, plus Les Chansons De Clarisse, Jeanne Chante Jeanne, Chante Norge, her 1994 album of songs by Satie and Poulenc, and her 2010 duet with Etienne Daho! Then, there are three more albums of additional material – one of 25 songs from films, plus two more CDs that offer up La Voix De Jeanne Moreau. Then, the set also features two more DVDs, which feature television performances from the late 50s onward – most of which we've never seen. The whole thing comes in a massive book-style package, with 48 pages of notes and images – and a whopping 203 songs in all, including lots of unissued work too. (French, Soundtracks) CD

Wonderful sounds from the films of Jacques Tati – a set that overflows with the kind of warmly wistful tunes that really help define the images on the screen! Music is by Francis Lemarque, Francois Rauber, Charles Dumont, and others – and overall, the music is mostly in a small combo mode – with instrumentation that includes piano, vibes, guitar, and accordion – used in very whimsical ways throughout, with a quality that's almost as visual as the images on the screen – almost little cartoons in music, but with that warmer, more sentimental quality that made Tati's films so much more than slapstick. The collection runs much further in time than previous Tati collections – material from films that include Traffic, Play Time, Jour De Fete, Mon Oncle, Parade, and Les Vacances De Monseuir Hulot. Titles include "Paris Circus", "Super Market", "Play It In Time", "Musette", "Tournez Les Maneges", "Bereceuse", "Theme Oriental", "Take My Hand", "La Cours D'Auto", "Tournee Rapide", "Chanson Des Forains", "Voitures Ballet", "Mon Oncle", and "Pianissimo". LP, Vinyl record album