A surprisingly nice score for this Italian sex comedy from the start of the 80s – one that reverses the roles a bit from earlier modes in terms of the story, and which gets a mix of groovy and sweet soundtrack handling from Detto Mariano! The group Clown turn in a few vocal performances – of the cuts "Step On Dynamite" and "La Pigiatura" – but the wealth of work here is instrumental, often based around a simple, playful theme – which Mariano can use with a sensual touch at one minute, or a sentimental one the next. The CD features a whopping 39 tracks in all – including a number of alternates of "Step On Dynamite" – with some cuts that are previously unreleased. CD

A surprisingly nice score for this Italian sex comedy from the start of the 80s – one that reverses the roles a bit from earlier modes in terms of the story, and which gets a mix of groovy and sweet soundtrack handling from Detto Mariano! The group Clown turn in a few vocal performances – of the cuts "Step On Dynamite" and "La Pigiatura" – but the wealth of work here is instrumental, often based around a simple, playful theme – which Mariano can use with a sensual touch at one minute, or a sentimental one the next. 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

Rare Italian horror work done by Franco Piersanti – done for a creepy film, as you might guess from the cover – but one that's scored by Piersanti with a surprising degree of sensitivity, and some very rich orchestrations that are very different than the stark, more electric modes being used in so much of 80s horror! There's some really beautiful woodwinds in the music, and some darker strings that echo 70s atonality from Morricone – on titles that include "Labirinto", "Omicidio", "Radio Jazz", "Budapest", and "Illusioni Ottiche". LP, Vinyl record album

Two very different films, both of which receive some mighty nice scoring from the lesser-known Italian maestro Franco Piersanti! First up is Il Nudo Del Ragno – a creepy film, as you might guess from the cover – but one that's scored by Piersanti with a surprising degree of sensitivity, and some very rich orchestrations that are very different than the stark, more electric modes being used in so much of 80s horror! There's some really beautiful woodwinds in the music, and some darker strings that echo 70s atonality from Morricone – on titles that include "Labirinto", "Omicidio", "Radio Jazz", "Budapest", and "Illusioni Ottiche". Next is Una Prova D'Innocenza, a film of a more serious nature, and which gets equally beautiful handling – with a blend of strings that can get very dark at times, almost with the richness of some of Morricone's global scores of the period – inflected with just the right dose of woodwinds too, matched by the occasional echoey piano line. CD features 15 tracks from the score – a real under-discovered beauty! CD

Human sacrifice never sounded so groovy – thanks to a wicked score from Carlo Savina, who really knocks it out of the park with this one! The leadoff theme is jaunty, bouncy, and almost more of a mod 60s Italian number – and the score that follows often has some other groovy touches, mixed with passages that bring in a bit of jazz, and a few more exotic elements too – the last of which are more of what you'd expect for a horror soundtrack of this nature, yet never seem to dominate too much. There's a great sense of pacing going on here – a shifting of themes as things move on, and a blend of tighter elements with some rougher percussion that almost feels like the demonic ready to break loose! Reissued with a whopping 20 tracks – and some sublime remastering. CD

That's a sexy-looking lady on the cover – sliding on her cutoffs after a rendezvous in the dark – and the sound of the album definitely fits the image, at least at the start! Stelvio Cipriani begins the music like the story – a bit light and romantic at first, then sliding into tension as the album goes on – marking a point in the narrative where sex turns to suspense, which Stelvio follows by picking up the action on some of the tunes, and dropping into darker moments at others! Edda Dell'Orso delivers a fair bit of wordless vocals on the album, next to keyboard lines from Cipriani – and the whole thing almost feels like a late 70s update of the modes she might have crafted with Ennio Morricone a decade before. CD features 17 tracks in all – and wonderful sound! CD

A really rare chapter of the soundtrack legacy of Italian giants Guido & Maurizio DeAngelis – a pair who are best known for their crime/cop movie work of the 70s, but who step out here in a whole host of different TV projects instead! There's definitely some music here that resonates with that famous legacy, but there's also projects with different scenes and stories too – and which provide a much richer palette of sounds than you might expect – as the DeAngelis brothers move effortlessly between contemporary 70s settings and more historical ones, depending on the program! There's a total of 69 tracks in the big 3CD set – which features many tracks each from programs that include Dedicato A Una Coppia, Guaranta Giorni Di Liberta, I Marsigliese, Sul Filo Della Memoria, Delitto Di Regime, and Ipotesi Sulla Scomparsa Di Un Fisco Atomico. CD

A sweet little score from Italian composer Nico Fidenco – best known round these parts for his sultry work for some of the 70s Emmanuelle films, sounding equally groovy on this more obscure album from the time! There's a light groove throughout the album – sometimes a slinky Euro sex sort of vibe, other times a much more pronounced approach to funk – with a mix of electric and acoustic elements that includes vibes, keyboards, flute, piano, and other great touches – all recorded with the spaciousness and care you'd expect from the generation. Titles include "La Ragazzina", "Speed", "Monica's Love", "Sandra's Dream", "Monica's Mirror", "Sandra", "Motor Ship", "Duello In 3/4", "Sandra In Love", and "Monica's Flight". CD features 15 tracks from the original promo-only album – plus 12 more previously-unissued numbers! CD

That's Goldsnake, not Goldfinger – but the soundtrack here from Carlo Savina is very much inspired by the James Bond music of the 60s – and served up in a great range of spy, mod, and crime jazz styles! The main theme gets a vocal reading at the start, but is transformed into other groovy instrumentals throughout – and balanced with some more mod jerk and shake-styled instrumentals that are heavier on electric bass and guitar, with overall results that may well be groovier than the best work that John Barry did for 007! CD features 17 tracks in all – and is an overlooked gem from the 60s spy spoof years. CD

A 70s racing soundtrack from Stelvio Cipriani – but one that's served up in a much wider mix of modes than the usual Formula 1 or stock car movie! Some numbers feature Cipriani's trademark use of keyboards – in groovy ways that drift over breezy rhythms with a very groovy vibe – even some bossa currents that are a real surprise! A few other tracks have a guitar strutting along in a playful melody – and a few others slow the pace, but still keep things kind of comedic, but with loping energy that you wouldn't expect from the fast-moving world of the racetrack. As you might guess, the bossa-styled tunes are our favorites here – and the CD features 16 tracks in all. CD

A surprisingly sweet little soundtrack at times – with tunes that are nicer than you might expect from the title or the image on the cover! Some of the material here is definitely in keeping with the horror setting of the movie, but other tracks have a slinky, almost jazzy feel – bits of piano, keyboards, or guitar skipping along with some lightly rhythmic backings that lilt them up and down with a gentle swing. Other tracks are slower, and sparer, but even these are usually not too dark, and certainly not in the atonal modes of other Italian scores from the time. The DeAngelis approach here is almost like Stelvio Cipriani at his best – and titles include "Perugia", "Il Primo Omicidio", "Corpi Smembrati", "La Strage Ha Inizio", and "Marcellazione". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly sweet little soundtrack at times – with tunes that are nicer than you might expect from the title or the image on the cover! Some of the material here is definitely in keeping with the horror setting of the movie, but other tracks have a slinky, almost jazzy feel – bits of piano, keyboards, or guitar skipping along with some lightly rhythmic backings that lilt them up and down with a gentle swing. Other tracks are slower, and sparer, but even these are usually not too dark, and certainly not in the atonal modes of other Italian scores from the time. The DeAngelis approach here is almost like Stelvio Cipriani at his best – and the CD features 33 tracks in all, most of them previously unreleased, with titles that include "Perugia", "Il Primo Omicidio", "Corpi Smembrati", "La Strage Ha Inizio", and "Marcellazione". CD

Wonderful late work from Ennio Morricone – penned for a film that was one of his last few soundtrack projects on this planet! The music matches some of the maestro's best period pieces from decades back – done with a style that's got some traces of the time in which the story is set, but always delivered with a personal approach that's pure Morricone – especially once things get going, and the instrumentation is even more spacious and moody! Violin is one of the main solo instruments, but there's also a few nice trumpet parts too – and titles include "New Attack", "The Publisher", "For My Father", "On The River", "The Flag", "Shot", "Pursued", and "For Three". CD

A really unusual soundtrack from the great Manuel De Sica – scored for an early 70s gangster film, and done in a mix of modes that links together some of the more familiar De Sica styles and some of the groovier elements of the time! At the core, the composer is able to reach back with that more sensitive Italian scoring style needed to evoke the sense of family and community needed for the deeper tensions in the story – but De Sica also brings in both some of the darker elements from the Morricone camp, and occasional bits that resonate more strongly with Italian cop/crime of the time. The main theme is a really lovely spare melody, played on acoustic guitar – one that reappears in a few spots, almost like chapter headings – amidst titles that include "Racket", "Rough", "Casa De Giocio", "Fuoco Contro Fuoco", "Mercato Di Resina", "Bossa Nova Boss", and "Tensione E Agguato". CD features lots of bonus tracks too – 10 more added to the original promo-only soundtrack record! CD

A western soundtrack with a different twist – one that definitely shares some of the darker aspects of the crime score work by Gianni Ferrio! There's a few hard-driving themes, but most of the tracks are pretty spare, short, and moody – almost melancholy at points, with great spare instrumental lines on guitar or flute, occasionally augmented with a bit of strings – but in ways that differ from more familiar western modes. Surprisingly rich stuff – and this special edition from Digitmovies is loaded up – including the complete film score in mono as the first half, and the the stereo soundtrack as it was originally released as the second half of the disc – a really nice approach to give a more complete presentation! The score half of the CD includes 18 sequences off the Quei Disperati, and titles on the stereo soundtrack titles include "Uno Dopo L'Altro", "Notturno A Toiuca", "Oltre Il Confine", "Que Disperati", and "Alba Senza Speranza". 40 tracks in all! CD

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. CD features 18 tracks in all! CD

A sweetly sexy soundtrack from the great Berto Pisano – one that really lives up to its image on the cover! There's a gently grooving feel to the music that's right up there with the best erotica work from Morricone – handled by Pisano with light strings, keyboards, bits of flute, and some especially nice vocals from Edda Dell'Orso, who's definitely on the warmer side of her talents with a record like this! The tunes glide along nicely, and are supported with some great artwork from the film – and titles include "Orchestra For Edda", "Piano Dreams", "Free Hammond", "Sound For A Child", and "Voice In The Night". CD also features 11 more tracks from Carlo Savina's score to Suggestionata – an equally great 70s erotic film with a really slinky feel! Savina's music borrows a bit from older bossa modes, but also rolls in some more adult 70s styles too – the kind of sexy Sunday morning themes that always make Euro soundtracks of the time worth seeking out, even if the film itself isn't that great! CD

Rare work from composer Robby Poitevin – a great action score, put together with a heavy dose of jazz – great vibes, flute, and plenty of other horns – blasting out with a hip style over lots of tight percussion – almost in the manner of spy films from the time, but with a lot more complexity at points, almost the depths of a drama, without any of the sleepy moments – maybe at a level that rivals some of the best Lalo Schifrin work of the period! There's plenty of drama in the progression of tunes, but things are always pretty darn groovy – jazzy 60s action at its best – on titles that include "Alba A New York", "Central Station", "My Man", "L'Ultima Vittima", "Bassifondi", "Clint In Agguato", and "Tecnica Di Un Omicido". LP features 7 more bonus tracks – half of which are unreleased! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work from composer Robby Poitevin – a great action score, put together with a heavy dose of jazz – great vibes, flute, and plenty of other horns – blasting out with a hip style over lots of tight percussion – almost in the manner of spy films from the time, but with a lot more complexity at points, almost the depths of a drama, without any of the sleepy moments – maybe at a level that rivals some of the best Lalo Schifrin work of the period! There's plenty of drama in the progression of tunes, but things are always pretty darn groovy – jazzy 60s action at its best – on titles that include "Alba A New York", "Central Station", "My Man", "L'Ultima Vittima", "Bassifondi", "Clint In Agguato", and "Tecnica Di Un Omicido". CD features 12 more bonus tracks – most of which are previously unreleased! CD

Plenty of exotic themes in this lesser-known Italian western score from the 60s – bits of flute, bits of whistling, and even some vocals from I Cantori Moderni! Mellower moments are nicely juxtaposed with more dramatic ones – underscoring the mix of romance and drama that follows the story of the film. I Cantori appear on more of the former – singing somewhat quietly and sweetly, with a very warm finish – in ways that are a bit different than their other work of the time, and almost sentimental at points. Alessandro Alessandroni handles the whistles and guitar in the work – and Bruno Nicolai handles the larger orchestrations. Titles include "Tema Dolores", "Mulini A Vento", "Viaggio", "Espanto En El Corazon", "Duello", and "Fuga Dall'Ovest". LP, Vinyl record album