... LP, Vinyl record album

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

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 "Birth Of A Penguin", "The Lair", "Selena Transforms", "Cat Suite", "Rise And Fall From Grace", "The Children's Hour", and "Final Confrontation". CD

A very cool Japanese set – with new readings of music from films that include Enter The Dragon, 2001, The Godfather, Morning After, Jaws, Superman, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Black Hole, and Star Wars! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirder soundtracks from Fabio Frizzi – a record that's spooky one minute, cheery the next – but in a way that really makes the schizophrenia appealing! The sunnier tunes have a bit of an island vibe – but are served up on relatively thin instrumentation, which then shifts quickly into some of the moodier, murkier sounds you'd expect from a zombie film like this – sometimes with some great early 80s-styled electronics! This version of the score is served up in a really lovely package – with a total of 13 different numbered tunes from the soundtrack – most around the three minute range. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most haunting scores you'll ever hear for a vampire film – a soundtrack that's moody, open, and extremely evocative! Henryk Kuzniak uses a range of instruments and sounds here – sometimes more familiar elements like vibes, other times more abstracted with effects and electronics – not in a mainstream 80s horror way, but at times almost with echoes of some of the industrial experiments that were happening at the time! The whole thing is as evocative of the dark economic corners of Poland as it is the horror of a vampire taking its victim – and titles include "Zasdzki", "Tropicel", "Mgla", "Slady Zbrodni", "Wampir I Ofiary", and "Zmierzch Dnia". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Rare soundtrack material from Waldemar Parzynski – maybe best known as the music director for the groundbreaking vocal group Novi Singers, but even more stunning here in an instrumental setting for an obscure documentary! The tracks are all very long – more musical suites than shorter cues for a film – and the album's awash in amazing sounds that range from modern orchestrations to unusual keyboard passages, and even some funky fusion touches too – all done in these great ways that shift effortlessly over the course of the extended tunes on the set – one of which stretches out well past the 20 minute mark! Titles include "Huta Katowice", "Wszystkie Moje Dzieci", and "Do Dnia". CD

A rare vinyl version of this classic Italian horror soundtrack! Piero Piccioni did the soundtrack for Seven Murders For Scotland Yard – in a style that mixes more dramatic orchestrations with a few great mod touches on organ, flute, and percussion – which step out nicely on the groovier tracks, and bring in a nice note of action and surprise to a score that's mostly tense and poised for danger! These few light bits really offset things nicely – and create an unsettling feel in a work that's pretty darn dark overall, and which shows some of the most somber qualities we've ever heard in Piccioni's music. Titles include "Seven Murders", "Unknown Maniac", "Reminding The Ripper", "Suspecting", "Inspector Campbell", and "Professor Christie" LP, Vinyl record album

Two Italian horror scores on one CD! Piero Piccioni did the soundtrack for Seven Murders For Scotland Yard – in a style that mixes more dramatic orchestrations with a few great mod touches on organ, flute, and percussion – which step out nicely on the groovier tracks, and bring in a nice note of action and surprise to a score that's mostly tense and poised for danger! Titles include "Seven Murders", "Unknown Maniac", "Reminding The Ripper", "Suspecting", "Inspector Campbell", and "Professor Christie". Francesco De Masi follows with the score for 7 Hyden Park La Casa Maledetta – done in a cool 70s electronic mode, one that often features the keyboards playing simple, but eerie melodies that set a great tone for the film's creepy plot! Titles include "Handicapped Girl", "Falling", "In The Past", "Cursed House", "House In The Park", "Fear & Blood", "So Many Corpses", and "Dreadful Cellar". CD

A surprisingly nice score from Riddle – and pretty different than most late 50s crime jazz LPs! There's a number of tracks on here that have a period setting, in keeping with the locale of the TV show – but there's others that are really wonderful orchestral numbers, shaded with the darker tones of jazz, almost in a Kentonian mode, with a range of expression that's almost surprising from Riddle. Titles include "Suspensful-Ness", "30 30", "The Untouchables Theme", "Ebony & Ivory", "The Loop", and "Eliot Ness". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

An early jazzy soundtrack from the great Piero Umiliani – made even better by some key work from Chet Baker on trumpet and Helen Merrill on vocals! The set was done at a time when both artists were spending some time in Italy – shaping the scene with their presence, and really standing out on a handful of rare recordings like this one – quite different than their American material of a few years before! Baker is especially striking – with lead solos that have a great sense of compression, and a depth of soul that really move beyond the Pacific Jazz recordings. And Merrill is wonderful, too – with that special flavor she only ever seemed to open up when she went overseas – and got to move into more unusual settings. But the real star is Umiliani throughout – balancing modern impulses with late night jazz in a way that really points the way towards his later scores in the 60s – but which is already nearly perfect here! Titles include "Smog" (done in instrumental and vocal versions by Baker and Merrill), plus "Dawn", "Tensione", "Tops", "California In The Summer", "Hollywood Tonight", "Bowling", and "Twilight At Los Angeles". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool collection – one put together in celebration of the centennial of the Hollywood sign that rises above Sunset Strip in LA – and which brings together a whole host of unusual performances by actors who sing, singers who act, and other artists who made some key contributions to the American film scene in the postwar years! Most of the music here is from the late 40s through 60s period that you'll usually find on Bear Family collections – but there's also some surprises from later years too – a few tracks near the end from later films, thrown in for good measure. As always with Bear Family, the package is as cool as the set list – a set of 61 titles that feature work from Jane Russell, Anthony Perkins, Julie London, Robert Mitchum, Sophia Loren, Henry Manciny, Jayne Mansfield, Telly Savalas, Hugo Montenegro, Twiggy, Richard Chamberlain, Ray Campi, Carl Parkins, Gene Ray, Laurel & Hardy, Gina Lollobridigda, Jerry Lewis, Fred Astaire, Val Kilmer, and dozens of others. CD

Iconic soundtrack in peak 80s fashion scored by Giorgio Moroder, features the title theme by Irene Cara, "Maniac" by Michael Sembello, "Romeo" by Donna Summer, "Imagination" by Laura Branigan, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool take on the sound of Studio One – a package of late 60s themes from James Bond films and other soundtrack sources! The mix is maybe not that surprising, given the use of Jamaican music early on in the series – as part of the Dr No soundtrack – and maybe that global moment of understanding helped the groups back home in Kingston to reach for the skies with material like this! The whole thing is a fascinating document of two strands of Brit culture in these post-colonial years – with titles that include "James Bond Danger Man" by The Soul Brothers, "Pussy Galore" by Lee Perry & The Wailers, "Mr Flint" by The Soul Brothers, "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" by The Soul Brothers, "Hang Em High" by Jackie Mittoo, "From Russia With Love" by Roland Alphonso & The Studio One Orchestra, "Ball Of Fire" by The Skatalites, and "James Bond Girl" by The Soul Brothers. (Reggae, Soundtracks) CD