Did you think that Star Lord launched into space with only one special mixtape from his mom? Think again – as this second volume serves up an equally great array of pop tracks from the past – a mad musical mixup that made the second Guardians Of The Galaxy film every bit as enjoyable as the first! As before, most of these tracks are familiar, but they really sound great together – and hey, for the youngsters hearing them for the first time, they're a perfect path back to the musical genius of the 70s! Tracks include "Brandy" by Looking Glass, "Mr Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra, "Fox On The Run" by Sweet, "Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta Hayes Jeremiah, "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, "Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell, "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, "Wham Bam Shang A Lang" by Silver, "Surrender" by Cheap Trick, and "Flashlight" by Parliament. Also includes "Guardians Inferno" – the fake disco tune at the end of the film, with vocals by David Hasselhoff! CD

A lesser-known soundtrack from Ennio Morricone – but one of his grooviest moments of the late 60s! The score is a great blend of heavy and light – and blends together that wonderful floating Morricone style with some heavier, fuzzier tunes that show the late 60s period of the film – all making for a really fleshed-out sound, of the sort that you're usually likely to hear in some of Morricone's classics! The album includes one great number that's got an extended sitar solo, and a few more with hard-edged male vocals by Patrick Samson that almost feel like late 60s French pop! Titles include "Gloria", "Sytar", "Una Voce Allo Specchio", "Tell Me Tell Me", "Sospendi Il Tempo", "In Tre Quarti", "Laila Laila", and "Dinamica Per 5 + 1". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic sexy soundtrack from Bill Loose – scored for a Russ Meyer Sexploitation film, but handled with a care that goes way deeper than you might expect! Bill brings in some nice jazzy moments on organ and guitar – and there's also some Sunshine Pop-styled vocals at points – sometimes with lyrics, sometimes wordless singing in a cool harmony mode – all of which make the whole thing feel more like some higher-level rock-era score on a label like Uni or Tower! A few tunes are more romping and groovy – most likely for some of the sexier scenes in the film – and titles include "Toys Of Our Time", "Harry's Theme", "Here's Harry", "Cherry & Raquel", "Franklin & Cherry", and "Cherry's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual score for an unusual Italian film of the 80s – one that presents outwardly as a bit of a comedy, but which has some darker moments too – all of which come through very nicely in the music by Fabio Libertori! Fabio's definitely in the spirit of the decade with his instrumentation – there's a lot of keyboards and drum machine parts on the record – borrowed from American electro soul, and stripped down a lot more – then balanced with warmer passages that still use electric instrumentation, but with some deeper soundtrack elements. The core theme's almost got some breakdance appeal – the kind of lean cut that was always popular as beats on the street – but the other passages make for a surprisingly complicated soundtrack overall – on titles that include "Tema Di Sandy", "Fuga Di Sandy", "Acqua E Sapone", "Tema Di Enzo", "Primo Servizio Fotografico", and "La Tintoria/Il Vestito". Includes the bonus tracks "La Festa", "Tema Di Sandy (alt)", "C'E", and "La Sfilata Di Sandy (alt)". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual score for an unusual Italian film of the 80s – one that presents outwardly as a bit of a comedy, but which has some darker moments too – all of which come through very nicely in the music by Fabio Libertori! Fabio's definitely in the spirit of the decade with his instrumentation – there's a lot of keyboards and drum machine parts on the record – borrowed from American electro soul, and stripped down a lot more – then balanced with warmer passages that still use electric instrumentation, but with some deeper soundtrack elements. The core theme's almost got some breakdance appeal – the kind of lean cut that was always popular as beats on the street – but the other passages make for a surprisingly complicated soundtrack overall – on titles that include "Tema Di Sandy", "Fuga Di Sandy", "Acqua E Sapone", "Tema Di Enzo", "Primo Servizio Fotografico", and "La Tintoria/Il Vestito". Includes the bonus tracks "La Festa", "Tema Di Sandy (alt)", "C'E", and "La Sfilata Di Sandy (alt)". CD

A really great little soundtrack – an unusual comedic moment for Ennio Morricone, and scored with this very groovy blend of light orchestrations, gentle rhythms, and even a bit of bossa! Keyboard lines ring out with this spare, resonant feel on some of our favorite numbers – recalling the best Morricone modes at the start of the 70s, but with a slightly different twist – and the overall approach is way more classy and careful than the usual Italian comedy of this vintage – no throwaway disco or too-cheesy cuts – just the kind of careful sense of sound we'd expect from the maestro. Vinyl version features 20 tracks in all – titles that include "Marcetta Poplare", "Un Povero Emigrante", "Dance On", "Autostrada", and a number of variations on the title. LP, Vinyl record album

A lesser-known soundtrack from Ennio Morricone – but one of his grooviest moments of the late 60s! The score is a great blend of heavy and light – and blends together that wonderful floating Morricone style with some heavier, fuzzier tunes that show the late 60s period of the film – all making for a really fleshed-out sound, of the sort that you're usually likely to hear in some of Morricone's classics! The album includes one great number that's got an extended sitar solo, and a few more with hard-edged male vocals by Patrick Samson that almost feel like late 60s French pop! Titles include "Gloria", "Sytar", "Una Voce Allo Specchio", "Tell Me Tell Me", "Sospendi Il Tempo", "In Tre Quarti", "Laila Laila", and "Dinamica Per 5 + 1". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare early moment from the legendary Austrian group Paternoster – sounds that predate their one and only cult-status album – originally created for the equally legendary film, Die Ersten Tage! The music here was never issued commercially at the time – and the release of these sounds adds a much-needed page to the slim book of Paternoster – especially since the creative flair of these songs really fleshes out our understanding of the group! As with their vocal music, most of the style here is slow, but jamming – kind of mellow prog, almost – but lighter, too – and with a moodier vibe, given the absence of lyrics – which lets the offbeat guitar parts do most of the speaking for the group. The whole thing's fragile, yet jagged – earthy, but cosmic – and the set features 30 tracks in all, appearing here on record for the first time ever! 3CD version features a bonus CD2, with 7 more film cue tracks – and CD3, which features demo versions of the songs "I Wanna Bring You Down", "Not Like You", "Paternoster", "Old Danube", "Mammoth Opus", "The Pope Is Wrong", and "Stop These Lines". (Rock, Soundtracks) CD

A wicked little James Bond soundtrack – one of the lesser-known ones, which is why it's all that more great! The title theme is a totally catchy number, sung by Shirley Bassey with all the dark energy of her best pop work – and Barry's score has some really surprising moments, including some nicely restrained tracks that are a good blend of spareness and moody instrumentation. Titles include "Bond Smells A Rat", "Bond Meets Bambi & Thumper", "Diamonds Are Forever", "Circus Circus", "007 & Counting", and "Q's Trick". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweetly soulful soundtrack from Cagnet – music for the extremely popular Long Vacation series in the 90s, done in that Japanese style from the time that was very heavy on influences from American soul! There's English language lyrics on most tracks – sung by Natalie and Anna, with a bit of work from male singer David too – and the music has that groove from this key moment in Japanese club, when it seemed as if productions like this could easily cross the boundaries of cultures, as ears in both the US and UK scenes were really opening up to the groove. Titles include "Here We Are Again", "Long Vacation", "Into You", "Under The Moonlight", "What Will I Do", "Deeper & Deeper", and "Our Romance". (Japanese, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy groovy soundtrack that contains one of the Association's greatest songs! "Goodbye Columbus" may not be as famous as some of their bigger hits – but we love it to death, and it's the kind of catchy groover they'll find us singing in the coffin long after we've passed away! The soundtrack features the vocal version of the track – as well as some other vocal numbers like "It's Gotta Be Real" and "So Kind To Me". Plus, the soundtrack's also got some excellent instrumental numbers that are in the best spirit of the group's music – with loads of dreamy arrangements and light lilting pop melodies. Tunes include "Love Has A Way", "A Moment To Share", "A Time For Love", and "How Will I Know You?". (Rock, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful little record – and some of our favorite work ever from Japanese pop maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto! Sakamoto really surprised folks with this set – not just because it accompanied his strong performance (with David Bowie) in the film, but also because it opened up the way to some of the wonderful film and sound scoring work he'd do in years to come – music that was often as simple and maybe electronic as his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra, but able to create a stunning amount of feeling and depth with just a few simple elements. The music is sublime – a masterpiece in understatement – and a series of instrumental selections ends up with the fantastic song "Forbidden Colours", which features vocals by David Sylvian – on a number that was one of his first great solo moments. Other titles include "The Seed", "Father Christmas", "Dismissed", "The Fight", "Batavia", and "Germination". LP, Vinyl record album

Like any Spike Lee soundtrack from the 80s, this one's a mix of many different styles – with some straight-out pop tracks, like EU's hit "Da Butt", or a number of throwaway 80s R&B tracks by lost groups. The best moments, as usual, are the jazzy ones – like Phyllis Hyman's sweet "Be One", Bill Lee's spiritual "Wake Up Suite", and Kenny Barron & Terence Blanchard's duet on "One Little Acorn". (Soul, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful little record – and some of our favorite work ever from Japanese pop maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto! Sakamoto really surprised folks with this set – not just because it accompanied his strong performance (with David Bowie) in the film, but also because it opened up the way to some of the wonderful film and sound scoring work he'd do in years to come – music that was often as simple and maybe electronic as his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra, but able to create a stunning amount of feeling and depth with just a few simple elements. The music is sublime – a masterpiece in understatement – and a series of instrumental selections ends up with the fantastic song "Forbidden Colours", which features vocals by David Sylvian – on a number that was one of his first great solo moments. Other titles include "The Seed", "Father Christmas", "Dismissed", "The Fight", "Batavia", and "Germination". CD features a number of bonus tracks, too! CD

Three lost Roy Budd soundtracks on one CD! Soldier Blue is the most famous of these, and has a very nice baroque theme that feels kind of like a lofty piece of Brit orchestral pop from the early 70s. You almost get the feel that it, and the other tracks on the album, might have been used on an album by Elton John or Colin Blunstone. The other two scores are similar – although have a bit more of a period piece kind of feel. But with Roy at the helm, there's still nice piano moments, and a pretty great conception that keeps the whole thing fresh. Titles include "Soldier Blue", "Cresta's Theme", "Ride On", "Catlow's Theme", "Courtroom", "Get The Gold", and "All You Want Me To Be". CD

Mindblowing music for the Alejandro Jodorowsky film The Holy Mountain – even more compelling and complex than his sounds for El Topo! The score is a wonderful mix of earthy, organic elements and a few more composed and equally groovy parts – handled by Jodorowsky in collaboration with trumpeter Don Cherry and pop producer/arranger Ron Frangipane! Some of the work has the hypnotic blend of global elements you'll find in Cherry's recordings of the time – particularly his groundbreaking early 70s work in Sweden – and although Frangipane brings in some bigger, fuller charts, he always does so with a sense of irony, and this undercurrent of darkness that continues to link his sounds with those of Cherry. The double-length score is a wonder throughout – maybe Jodorowsky's highest musical moment – and titles include "Psychedelic Weapons", "Rainbow Room", "Alchemical Room", "Mattresses Masks & Pearls", "City Of Freedom", "Starfish", and "Violence Of The Lambs". LP, Vinyl record album