Director Alexander Jodorowsky has done music for his own films in the past – but for the well-circulated Santa Sangre, he turned to Simon Boswell – who does a perfect job of expanding on the sorts of musical ideas we might have expected from the master! Given the film's setting, there's a variety of older Mexican modes at play, mixed with some late 80s cinematic styles from Boswell – but all with that haunting, refracted sense of reality that Jodorowsky brings to his films. Titles include "Triste", "Alma", "Carnival Violin", "Fin Del Mundo", "Grave Business", "Acid Revenge", and "Church Tattoo". CD

A beautiful jazzy score by Duke Ellington – and a fitting companion to this classic Otto Preminger film! The record captures Ellington at a perfect moment – right during his Indigos period of increased sophistication, when his band was at an all-time level of perfection – and really shaking free of the too-familiar modes of the past. Ellington's music has a wonderful range of feeling here – even more so than usual, given the shifting scenes of the film – and the players are an all star lineup that includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Titles include "Upper & Outest", "Almost Cried", "Sunswept Sunday", "Happy Anatomy", "Flirtibird", and "Low Key Lightly". (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful jazzy score by Duke Ellington – and a fitting companion to this classic Otto Preminger film! The record captures Ellington at a perfect moment – right during his Indigos period of increased sophistication, when his band was at an all-time level of perfection – and really shaking free of the too-familiar modes of the past. Ellington's music has a wonderful range of feeling here – even more so than usual, given the shifting scenes of the film – and the players are an all star lineup that includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Titles include "Upper & Outest", "Almost Cried", "Sunswept Sunday", "Happy Anatomy", "Flirtibird", and "Low Key Lightly". (Jazz, Soundtracks) CD

A beautiful jazzy score by Duke Ellington – and a fitting companion to this classic Otto Preminger film! The record captures Ellington at a perfect moment – right during his Indigos period of increased sophistication, when his band was at an all-time level of perfection – and really shaking free of the too-familiar modes of the past. Ellington's music has a wonderful range of feeling here – even more so than usual, given the shifting scenes of the film – and the players are an all star lineup that includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Titles include "Upper & Outest", "Almost Cried", "Sunswept Sunday", "Happy Anatomy", "Flirtibird", and "Low Key Lightly". Plus, the CD features a huuuuge amount of bonus tracks – including other tunes from the movie, outtakes, and even the original single version of the theme! 26 cuts in all! (Jazz, Soundtracks) CD

A beautiful jazzy score by Duke Ellington – and a fitting companion to this classic Otto Preminger film! The record captures Ellington at a perfect moment – right during his Indigos period of increased sophistication, when his band was at an all-time level of perfection – and really shaking free of the too-familiar modes of the past. Ellington's music has a wonderful range of feeling here – even more so than usual, given the shifting scenes of the film – and the players are an all star lineup that includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Titles include "Upper & Outest", "Almost Cried", "Sunswept Sunday", "Happy Anatomy", "Flirtibird", and "Low Key Lightly". Plus, the CD features a huuuuge amount of bonus tracks – including other tunes from the movie, outtakes, and even the original single version of the theme! 26 cuts in all! (Jazz, Soundtracks) CD

This is the kind of moog album we can get behind – a sweet 70s update of the moogy groovy that Hugo Montenegro first started crafting in the 60s! The album's got both moog and Arp – the latter of which brings in more of a 70s electric vibe – and there's also some very cool sound effects on the record too, which really ups the ante for the sort of groove that Montenegro was creating! Tunes are all pretty well chosen – making for a super-dope batch of numbers that really gets past the usual – and the set includes an excellent reading of "Me & My Arrow", from Nilson's The Point; 2 versions of Nino Rota tracks from The Godfather; a nice version of Faure's "Pavane", with lots of spirally keyboards; a medley of "Baby Elephant Walk" and "Moon River"; and even a few nice originals, like "Quadimodo" and "Stutterology". (Now Sound, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Funky grooves, floating vocals, mellow keyboards, and a whole lot more – easily one of the greatest soundtracks ever from the legendary Armando Trovajoli – and certainly one of the grooviest too! There's a sublime quality to this score that's well made Sessomatto one of the best-remembered albums from the glory years of the Italian soundtracks – a sense of space, pacing, and timing that are simply breathtaking – and which are the perfect summation of Trovajoli's earlier experiments in music. As with his score to La Matriarca, the instrumentation here varies often – sometimes a bit of horns, nicely compressed; sometimes a floating harmonica line; sometimes keyboards; and sometimes a funky rhythm topped with vocals – all woven together in a rich pastiche of styles that makes the album one of the deepest soundtracks you'll hope to own from the time. The remastering here is wonderful – way better than the previous Japanese reissues, and done in a way that really isolates the best elements of the music – letting the simple balance of sound and space resonate beautifully, and exposing even more of Trovajoli's genius with a wealth of bonus tracks. These added numbers really open the whole thing up – taking the album way past the familiar "Sessomatto" theme (reworked and remixed for the dancefloor often in later years), and almost creating a mini-movie in sound – with all the requisite scene shifts and drama to match! CD features a whopping 41 tracks in all – with titles that include "Sessomatto", "Signora Sono Le Otto", "Two Happy People", "Ammuri Ammuri", "D'Amore Si Muore", "Un Amore Difficile", "Due Cuori E Una Birra", "Bravo Balli bene", "Scappa Gilda", "Vorrei Che Fosse Amore", "Searching For Something", and "L'Ospite". CD

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

That's Miles Davis and Jeanne Moreau on the cover – and image is a perfect summation of what makes this period in film music so unique! The set brings together music from the French new wave of the late 50s and early 60s – a time when revolutionary directors were putting fresh new images on screen, and also turning to lots of new ideas for their music, too – using jazz musicians like Miles to create some of their soundtracks, and also moving past some of the more overblown orchestral styles that had dominated most of the world of film scores during the postwar years. Much of the work used by these directors was in a style that was closer to the people, and more fitting for the sorts of themes in the films – and this 3CD collection features a wonderful array of different modes from the period. Many films are included here with a few selections from their famous soundtracks – and the 3CD package includes work from Tires Sur Le Pianiste (Shoot The Piano Player) by Georges Delerue, A Bout De Souffle (Breathless) by Marial Solal, L'Eau A La Bouche by Serge Gainsbourg, A Double Tour by Paul Misraki, Les Liaisons Dangereuxes by Art Blakey with Barney Wilen, La Tete Contre Les Murs by Maurice Jarre, Le Bel Age by Georges Delerue, Les Bonnes Femmes by Paul Misraki, Jules Et Jim by Georges Delerue, Lola by Michel Legrand, Les 400 Coups (400 Blows) by Jean Constantin, Une Femme Est Une Femme by Michel Legrand, Zazi Dans Le Metro by Fiorenzo Carpi, Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud by Miles Davis, and Cleo De 5 A 7 by Michel Legrand. CD

Not actually a proper album – but still one of the greatest Miles Davis albums of all time! Side one features 10 tracks from Miles' amazing soundtrack to the film Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud – with excellent work by French players Barney Wilen, Rene Urtreger, and Pierre Michelot, on haunting moody tracks like "Generique", "Lassassinat De Carala", "Au Bar Du Petit Bac", and "Dinner Au Motel". Great stuff – and with a wonderful sound that's like no other Miles album! Side 2 is equally great – as it features 3 classic sextet tunes – "On Green Dolphin Street", "Put Your Little Foot Right Out", and "Stella By Starlight" –peformed with Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans in that amazing Kind Of Blue mode of perfection. Truly one of our favorite albums of all time! (Jazz, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A real stunner from Lalo – filled with tight jazzy soundtrack grooves, most of which sound even better than the work on the original Mission Impossible soundtrack! The groove is very much in the pocket, and perfectly captures Schifrin's classic mix of bossa, jazz, and crime themes. Titles include "Self-Destruct", "Mission Blues", "More Mission", "Foul Play", and the sample classic "The Danube Incident". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky grooves, floating vocals, mellow keyboards, and a whole lot more – easily one of the greatest soundtracks ever from the legendary Armando Trovajoli – and certainly one of the grooviest too! There's a sublime quality to this score that's well made Sessomatto one of the best-remembered albums from the glory years of the Italian soundtracks – a sense of space, pacing, and timing that are simply breathtaking – and which are the perfect summation of Trovajoli's earlier experiments in music. As with his score to La Matriarca, the instrumentation here varies often – sometimes a bit of horns, nicely compressed; sometimes a floating harmonica line; sometimes keyboards; and sometimes a funky rhythm topped with vocals – all woven together in a rich pastiche of styles that makes the album one of the deepest soundtracks you'll hope to own from the time. LP, Vinyl record album