Sublime soundtrack music from Edward Artemiev – not a big name for film scoring on this side of the Iron Curtain, but a really well-remembered talent for his classic 70s work for the films of Andrey Tarkovsky! Side one of this album features wonderful sounds from the film Stalker – music that begins in a sweet electronic mode, but soon gets darker – a weird space that's somewhere between the German elements of Cluster and Tangerine Dream, and some of the more abstract electronics of the underground academic scene! Yet throughout it all, Artemiev has a very visual approach to his sounds – one that steps out nicely on the one track from the film The Mirror, and an extended tribute to the director too. Titles include "Exodus", "Dedication To Andrey Tarkovsky", "Meditation", "They Go Long", "Stalker", and "Train". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful music from Chicago, set to another Chicago-themed project – a film based around the Roy stories of writer Barry Gifford! Yet that literary reference aside, the music here has fantastic merits of its own, even if you've never read Gifford at all – a very different, more compositional side of the spectrum from vibist Jason Adasiewicz, yet still music that has a loose small combo vibe as well – serve dup by a cool quintet that features Jonathan Doyle on saxes, Josh Berman on cornet, Joshua Abrams on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums! There's a mix of new tones and modern ideas that take us back to that late 50s time on the Chicago scene when Sun Ra's Arkestra was still in town – and the tunes penned by Adasiewicz are not only superb, but a perfect showcase for his incredible tones on vibes. Doyle is a real revelation too – a player we don't know well at all at this point, but whose sense of timing and presence really makes the whole record sparkle – as does the work of the rest of the better-known players in the group. Titles include "Ballad For Kitty", "River Blindness", "Walkin To Clinton", "Rudy's Basement", "Sand", and "Blue People". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Demonic sounds, but surprisingly sweet as well – done with this easy-flowing style that's really wonderful – and much more similar to the seductive sound library work of Alessandro Alessandroni, than to some of the starker, darker horror of the time! There's definitely some spooky passages, but they're almost always warmed up in really nice ways – both with keyboards, and with these wordless vocals from the lovely Giulia De Mutiis, who drifts through the record like some sexy ghost. Her vocals almost give the whole thing a more dream-like feel at times – not too atmospheric, but with clouds of sweet sounds that blow through the space in a wonderful way. Titles include "Demon Night II", "Demon Arise", "Dark Dreamer", "Devil's Nightmare", and "Erotic Demon". LP, Vinyl record album

Probably the greatest album ever by the Art Ensemble of Chicago – and also one of their rarest! The album was cut for Pathe Marconi in Paris in 1970, and was the soundtrack to a film that was as obscure as the album. The group's never been finer – and plays with a creative tightness that you'll be hard pressed to find on other record. Some tracks are almost straight jazz – but there's all these wonderful little breakdowns and burst of creative energy that keep the AACM spirit alive and true. The centerpiece of the album is the massive "Theme De Yoyo", a righteous powerful groover that features vocals by Fontella Bass (wife of Lester Bowie of the group), and which has become an all-time jazz dance classic! Other tracks have a sparer soundtracky feel, and a few more are in the experimental vein of the Art Ensemble's other Paris work at the time. Wonderful overall though – and an incredibly righteous album filled with power and imagination! Titles include "Theme De Celine", "Proverbes", "Theme Libra", and "Variations Sur Un Theme De Monteverdi". Very hard to find original French pressing – with different cover image! (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album