A sublime soundtrack from John Barry – common, to be sure, but also a wonderfully-crafted set that goes way beyond the stereotypes of his work for the James Bond films! The record is probably best known for Nilsson's famous version of the Fred Neil tune "Everybody's Talkin" – which is great in itself – but it's Barry's own work on the title theme that we totally love. "Midnight Cowboy" is a darkly turning slowly pondering tune that will haunt us until the day we die – performed here on the original number with a sad-tinged harmonica that unites both the country of Joe Buck's roots and the sleaze of the love generation. The tune's great – and is matched here by the whimsy of "Florida Fantasy", and the Barry tracks "Fun City" and "Science Fiction". But also, Barry acted as the overall music director for the film – and used some tracks from the hip group Elephant's Memory, plus others by The Groop – but offbeat acts who really fit the spirit of the film. The record's almost worth it just for the cut "Old Man Willow", a really tripped-out longer track from Elephant's Memory – swirling around in organ and hippie vocals, and oddly echoing the main Barry theme of the set at times! LP, Vinyl record album

A well-done look at London's V4 Visions label – a small but important label on the underground scene in the early 90s – one who was close enough to the ground to pick up all the best styles that were taking place at the time! British soul had a bit step forward at the end of the 80s, and had even entered the American mainstream with a few key acts – but there was still plenty of experimentation taking place underground – new takes on American styles, interwoven with new jungle modes from London – and sometimes even with the grittier electro quality of street soul of the decade before! You'll hear all that and more here, served up in the usual well-done Numero style – normally reserved for older soul music labels, but very well suited here to V4 – on titles that include "What's This World Coming To" by Ashaye, "Just Dreaming" by Julie Stapleton, "The Way I Love You" by Rohan Delano, "I'm Believing In Love Again" by Maureen Mason, "Get Off That" by The Wades, "All The Way (guitar mix)" by Julie Stapleton with Ashaye, "Endangered Species" by Endangered Species, "Joy In The Jungle" by Jungle Biznizz, "Inflight" by Rohan Delano, "Fantasy (insight mix)" by Insight with Ashaye, "Just A Memory" by Endangered Species, and "If This Is A Dream" by Maureen Mason. LP, Vinyl record album