Freaked-out fuzzy work from the Italian soundtrack scene of the 70s – all with a sound that's quite appropriate for a film that was also known as Hallucination Strip! There's a lot more guitar in here than you'll hear on other Italian 70s scores – often used in fuzzy, psychedelic ways with a definite rock influences – but also laying out in more spare, open-ended styles too – almost spacey at points, with some really weird sounds mixed in alongside keyboards and percussion! The music has some touches of darkness, but not really any of the atonality of some of the horror work of the generation – and even though many tracks are short, they pack in plenty of punch, and plenty of fresh ideas too. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirdest Italian soundtracks you're ever likely to hear – mad music from the 70s, originally written for a demonic religious performance! Stefano Marcucci has roots in the psych scene, but also recorded the set in the Sound Workshop of Piero Umiliani – and the work has just the sort of mix of fuzz and electronics you'd expect from that pedigree – some really way out analogue electronic elements at times, mixed with more familiar song structures and some chorus vocals – often set to a psych funk groove that reminds us of some of the grooviest French arrangers at the end of the 60s, such as Michel Colombier and Jean Claude Vannier. The chorus vocals are especially offbeat – as they sound like they're going to be sweet, but feel more satanic in the end – and titles include "Pange Lingua", "Inferno", "Coro Dei Penitenti", "Allejua", "Rendete Grazi", "Gli Occhi Di Tutti", and "Roma Nobilis". LP, Vinyl record album

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A great anime soundtrack from Hiromasa Suzuki – sometimes a jazz artist, but sounding great here for the project! LP, Vinyl record album

Melina Mercouri and director Jules Dassin team up once again for this early 70s dramatic film. Music is by Georges Delerue, handled in the typical style of his more serious work at the time – with plenty of dreamy touches and more dramatic moments. The soundtrack also sports a strange vocal number called "I'm Greek", with arrangements by Alan Gourager and vocals by Melina. Instrumental numbers include "Romain's First Love", "The Friend's Farewell", "Various Professions", "Promise At Dawn", and "The Arrival In France". LP, Vinyl record album

Daisaku Kume did a fantastic job with the music for this excellent film from Takeshi Kitano – serving up a fair bit of the keyboard sounds that you'd know from his work in the famous fusion group T-Square, but in a way that's nicely different than those records too! There's definitely lots of 80s elements in the production, yet the sound is often nice and spare – matching the directorial genius of Kitano – with slow-moving drum machine rhythms, nicely chromatic keyboards, and a glow in the overall sound that's mighty nice. A few passages have lead tenor solos, and there's also two takes on work from Erik Satie – which might stand as a good inspiration for Kume's direction with the music. LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of work by Francis Lai – the great French soundtrack composer who's best known for his magical work with Claude Lelouch on films like A Man & A Woman and Live For Life! The set features tracks from films that stretch back to 1966 and up into current years – and together, they offer a picture of Lai that shows a more serious, almost orchestral approach to his music – with plenty of darker themes that still contain the charm of early years, but which show a more traditional sense of soundtrack scoring. Still, there's plenty of nicely warm and romantic tracks – which are always his strongest suit – like "Live For Life", "Theme To Catherine", "Zoom", "A Man & A Woman", "Stronger Than Us", "Today It's You" and "124 Miles An Hour". LP, Vinyl record album

A crime thriller, but one with a beautiful score from Bruno Nicolai – slinky and 70s at times, and with some really gentle tension at others! This is definitely one of the works that has Nicolai stepping nicely away from Morricone – using some warmer elements in some of his best themes – almost dreamy at times, which is odd given the lack of romance in the film – put together with masterful timing, and this haunting sense of space that makes the music almost better than the images were in the film! And yes, the story is that old Agatha Christie chestnut Ten Little Indians – but forget the overdone trope of the store, as the music is totally great – completely different than the more hackney 70s whodunit soundtracks of the time. LP features 16 tracks in all! LP, Vinyl record album

A unique western soundtrack – written for a strange early 70s Italian film that featured Ringo Starr! Composer Stelvio Cipriani didn't score as many westerns as some of his Italian contemporaries, and that fact makes for a really unique approach to the genre here – one that breaks past western conventions, and features some very unusual moments! Many tunes have some of the sweeter touches that Cipriani brought to his romantic and crime scoring for other films – modes that don't normally show up in westerns, and which provide a fresh juxtaposition here next to some of the more guitar-based songs. A number of the tracks have wordless vocals – either from Nora Orlandi or Choir 4+4 – and these voices enhance the mood of the soundtrack a lot, often with chanting that has a cool spooky edge! LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous score from Ennio Morricone – one that has a number of links to earlier Italian soundtrack modes, but which still has some undeniable touches of the maestro! There's passages here that evoke the warmer, sometimes more romantic styles used in Italian films in the earlier part of the 60s – but these are offset by mellower passages with a really subdued sense of darkness – which are then again mixed with a few tunes that get bolder and more mod-sounding – a really complicated array of themes that may lack the subtlety of other Morricone work, but which more than makes up for that lack with a really dynamic energy! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Isaac Hayes' richest soundtracks – deeper and more complicated than the groove of Shaft and Truck Turner, and filled with some great tunes that glow with color, life, and imagination – showing an Isaac Hayes that almost seems to be moving beyond the usual blackploitation groove! The album sports 2 really classic tunes – the title theme "Tough Guys", and the classic "Hung Up On My Baby" – both of which have a solidly funky feel that will more than please the usual soundtrack beathead crowd. But overall, the other tunes twist and turn in a delightful mix of modes – expanding on the soulful territory Ike first explored in his original soundtracks, and offering up a great range of moods and emotion. The album's got some especially great chromatic guitar work – and other titles include "Joe Bell", "Randolph & Dearborn", "Buns O Plenty", "Run Fay Run", and "Red Rooster". (Soul, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Riz Ortolani did the soundtrack for this groovy film about 3 Americans (Peter Lawford, Telly Savalas, and Phil Silvers) returning to Italy after the war in a reunion with the woman who is the mother of a child that belongs to one of them. Sounds odd – and it is (believe us, we've seen the film!) Most of the score kind of has a romantic "vet returning to Italy after the war" feel – but there are some nice groovy moments – including the title theme "Buona Sera Mrs Campbell", a great vocal number by Jimmy Roselli! Other tracks include "Carla Is In Love", "Gia's Theme", "A Blessed Event", "Contessa Theme", "Fiesta In The Pizza", and "Braddock's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by 38 Special, Roman Holliday, Joe Cocker, Night Ranger, Freddie Mercury, ZZ Top, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Eric Martin, The Motels, and Ian Hunter. LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible soundtrack work! You may know nothing about Francois De Roubaix, and the films these tracks are from are even more obscure – but trust us, this is a great set of tracks! De Roubaix follows in a tradition of strange baroque arrangements that's vaguely similar to early work by Michel Colombier, with touches of romanticism from Francis Lai – but it's got a strange twist that's all its own. These tracks feature odd bits of electronics, weird guitar parts, haunting woodwind passages, jaunty rhythms, strange vocals – and almost always, a commitment to keen melody and inventive instrumentation. A few cuts are a bit cheesy, but others are jaw-droppingly fresh – and are some of the best soundtrack work we've been exposed to in a long time. LP, Vinyl record album