Warmly funky work from a mighty nice combo – one who really set themselves apart from both more standard jazz and funk combos, in part by adding in a slight current of soul to the way they approach their music! The keyboards are totally great – handled by Joel Sarakula in this fluid way that resonates wonderfully next to the other instrumentation on the record – a shifting array of vibes, guitar, flute, and trumpet – plus drums from co-leader Phil Martin, who also plays bass and percussion as well. Hanna Williams guests on vocals on one track – "Summer Rain", a mighty nice soul number – but the rest of the proceedings are instrumental, and resonate with lots of really wonderful keyboard lines! Titles include "Brasiliance", "Desert Disco Nights", "Scandinavian Railways", "The Sunshine", "Giallo Days", "Firecracker", and "Interstellar Bachelor Pad". CD

Warmly funky work from a mighty nice combo – one who really set themselves apart from both more standard jazz and funk combos, in part by adding in a slight current of soul to the way they approach their music! The keyboards are totally great – handled by Joel Sarakula in this fluid way that resonates wonderfully next to the other instrumentation on the record – a shifting array of vibes, guitar, flute, and trumpet – plus drums from co-leader Phil Martin, who also plays bass and percussion as well. Hanna Williams guests on vocals on one track – "Summer Rain", a mighty nice soul number – but the rest of the proceedings are instrumental, and resonate with lots of really wonderful keyboard lines! Titles include "Brasiliance", "Desert Disco Nights", "Scandinavian Railways", "The Sunshine", "Giallo Days", "Firecracker", and "Interstellar Bachelor Pad". LP, Vinyl record album

The full early work of UK pop singer Kim Wilde – a big force on both sides of the Atlantic for a few short years, and part of a great wave of catchy girl-fronted music in the generation that also included Blondie and the Go-Gos! Kim's got her own special twist on the sound – one that also draws from some of the UK pop of the period, but which also never moves into too much synth or electro pop – and instead takes all the best upbeat, live energy of the early new wave years – and maybe gives it a more straightforward spin, in a way that helped Wilde get plenty of play on the charts! This nicely-done set features all three albums for the RAK label – Kim Wilde, Select, and Catch As Catch Can – plus bonus tracks that include "Boys", "He Will be There", "Child Come Away", "Just Another Guy", "Watching For Shapes", "Rain On", and "Back Seat Drive". CD4 features lots more bonus tracks too – special disco mixes that include "Kids In America (Luke Mornay rmx)", "Chequered Love (Matt Pop ext)", "Water On Glass (Project K soundtrack)", "Cambodia (Matt Pop ext)", "View From A Bridge (Project K soundtrack)", and "Take Me Tonight (Luke Mornay profondo giallo mix)". CD

A gem of a sound library record from one of the all-time greats – and maybe one of the few artists who gave his equal all, whether he was cutting a full film soundtrack, or just a discreet batch of tracks like these in the studio! The music is as groovy as groovy can be – sometimes funky, sometimes slinky – and done in this blend of heavy electric bass, nicely snapping drums, riffing guitar, and some great use of wordless vocals – maybe no surprise, since Alessandroni was the man behind the legendary I Cantori Modern! There's a great sense of variety all the way through – all killer, no filler – and titles include "Vocalisation", "Spiagge Azzurre", "Aliante Giallo", "Ciclamino", "Arioso Spirituale", "Cielo Verde", and "Marmittone". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky & jazzy sounds for a seedy little Italian giallo film – the ultra rare soundtrack for the little seen AAA Massaggiatrice Bella Presenza Offresi – masterfully put together by genre film composer Lallo Gori! Lallo's name doesn't always crop up quickly in mind when the top 60s & 70s Italian film score gurus crop up – but that's an injustice we'd be happy to see turn around, because all of the 70s work we've heard is as compelling and exciting as it is pulpy and groovy – with swinging, lively and exotic jazz flourishes, lush string and wind accented moments, rubbery bits of of funk, and occasional muscular rocking bits – all conveying the mood masterfully! The soundtrack includes 18 themes, 41 minutes of prime exotic film grooves! CD

A pair of soundtracks for two of the creepiest horror movies of the 70s – back to back on a single CD, and given the top-shelf Film Score Monthly treatment! First up is the score for Soylent Green – a mix of very moody, unusually-toned passages that are mixed with some mellower, jazzier numbers that offset things nicely – composed by Fred Myrow, but also given a bit of help from horror maestro Gerald Fried! The music is definitely above the norm – not just in the higher budget, but also in the way that things come together sonically – at a level that makes for a lot of surprises throughout – on titles that include "Tab's Pad/Furniture Party", "Shirl & Thorn", "Home Lobby Source", "Can I Do Something For You", and "Sol's Music". Demon Seed is a great one from Jerry Fielding – definitely at the darker side of his sonic spectrum, which is pretty darn fitting, given that the film involves a computer having sex with Julie Christie! There's a sense of evil that resonates in the music right from the start – a mode that's partially borrowed from the Italian giallo generation, but which is given a more varied approach here, often at a level that's very low in the sonic spectrum. Tracks include "Birth Scene", "Probed Or Put To Bed", "Last Voyage", and "Closing Crawl". CD features almost 80 minutes of music – and detailed notes on both scores! CD

Pianist Paul Giallorenzo has a fantastic flow here – a deeply personal sound that certainly warrants the title – and which is set up beautifully in a trio with Josh Abrams on bass and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums! It's great to hear Abrams working as a sideman in a setting that's a bit more standard than some of his own projects – as his basswork is sublime, and really matches the pacing and energy of Giallorenzo's work on the keys – in a mode that's modern, but never too avant – with almost the freshness of some of the most inventive pianists of the 60s! Paul wrote all the tunes on the album, and they're extremely fresh – not overplayed standards, or easygoing melodies – but instead material that finds its own space and pace, but without ever calling undue attention to itself. Titles include "Flipd Scrip", "Over/Under", "Rolling", "Interstice", "Fractures", "A Way We Go", and "Lightness". CD

A Chicago group with a really great approach to improvisation – long tracks that seem to build out of a slow pulses of energy between the players – finding their "groove" at the start, letting things flow, then really adding a lot of their own voices to the mix! The main trio features Charlie Kirchen on bass, which is really the core of the sound – plus Ryan Packard on drums and a bit of electronics, and Paul Giallorenzo on electronics, keyboards, and pump organ – the last of which sounds as cool as you might imagine – and which really unlocks the sonic possibilities of the project! The great Ben Lamar Gay appears on side b, the long track "The End" – and his work on cornet really adds a lot of spirit and soul to the cut – a nice break from the others in a really great way. But side a is great too – and features the long improvisation "The Beginning". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy goodness from the wonderful Piero Umiliani – a set that's got some sweet instrumental touches from Chet Baker on trumpet, plus piano from Umiliani himself! The overall feel is very much in an early 60s crime jazz style – that best Italian groove before more mod and bossa-styled elements came into play – and in addition to trumpet and piano, instrumentation also features vibes and guitar that step out strongly on some of the best numbers! Most of the tunes are relatively short – more jazz themes than straight jazz tunes – but manage to say quite a lot with just a little. Titles include "Motel", "Idillio Giallorosa", "Jazz Bar", "Pedinamento", "Agguato", "Contagio Atomico", and "Ritmo Neutronico". CD also features two bonus tracks – "Agguato" and "Spogliarello Da Circo". CD