One of the greatest soundtracks ever from Luiz Bacalov – a set that's filled with sex and slink, but which also has a great sense of groove as well – blending bossa jazz, mod moments, and all the best styles of the late 60s Italian scene! The music is mostly acoustic, but has a really great way of using sustained notes on flute – which creates this dreamy vibe that's almost electric, especially when offset by acoustic basslines, percussion, and piano – all used at a level that's right up there with the best from Morricone or Trovajoli at the time! There's also wonderful drifting vocals in the mix – courtesy of Nora Orlandi – and titles include "Round Nassau", "Swingin Easy In Tanganika", "Rio Zona Sul", "L'Amica", and "Taxi Cab 67". Features two bonus tracks – "L'Amica (ripresa)" and "The Bitter Truth (inst)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest soundtracks ever from Luiz Bacalov – a set that's filled with sex and slink, but which also has a great sense of groove as well – blending bossa jazz, mod moments, and all the best styles of the late 60s Italian scene! The music is mostly acoustic, but has a really great way of using sustained notes on flute – which creates this dreamy vibe that's almost electric, especially when offset by acoustic basslines, percussion, and piano – all used at a level that's right up there with the best from Morricone or Trovajoli at the time! There's also wonderful drifting vocals in the mix – courtesy of Nora Orlandi – and titles include "Round Nassau", "Swingin Easy In Tanganika", "Rio Zona Sul", "L'Amica", and "Taxi Cab 67". Features two bonus tracks – "L'Amica (ripresa)" and "The Bitter Truth (inst)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the strangest albums in the career of Chico Buarque – and one of the best-remembered too! Os Saltimbancos is a children's play adapted by Buarque from original text by Sergio Bardotti – set to music by Luiz Enriquez Bacalov, and recorded in both Rome and Rio! Most of the album is spoken, with narration by Magro from MPB-4 – and the story is about some unhappy animals that are on their way to the big city to become musicians! The donkey (played by Magro) gets tired of doing hard labor and meets a dog (played by Ruy, another of the MPB-4 guys), a cat (played hilariously by Nara Leao), and a hen (Miucha, the sister of Chico Buarque). The music is pretty strange, and some of the tracks have a sound that's actually kind of avant-poetry, with lots of strange sounds, shouts, and whispers – in a manner that's almost as experimental as it is whimsical. Titles include "Minha Cancao", "Bicharia", "O Jumento", "Todos Juntos", and "A Batalha". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite volumes in this now-legendary series – a set of grooves that runs from 70s electric back to 60s groovy – with plenty of space in between! There's a number of cuts on here that feel like they were lifted from lost CTI sessions of the 70s, thanks to warm keyboards and spare, subtle beats – while others mix together mod 60s styles, and even bits of Latin and Brazilian influences! The track selection is sublime, and still one of the best illustrations of the genius of this period – with tracks that include "Diamond Bossa Nova" by Franceso De Masi, "Lady Magnolia" by Piero Umiliani, "Nago" by Luiz Bacalov, "Bob E Hellen" by Piero Umiliani, "North Pole Penguin" by Piero Piccioni, "Beryl's Tune No 2" by Agusto Martelli, "Flute Sequence" by Franco Micalizzi, "Danza Citar Free" by Piero Umiliani, "Honey Rhythm & Blutter" by The Green Future, "Esquetando Os Tambourinos E Cuica" by Sergio Nilo, and "Soul Samba" by Attilio Donadio. CD

Soundtrack funk doesn't get any better than this – thanks to a head-expanding of tracks from the Italian scene of the 60s and 70s – served up with the usual ear for a great cut by the folks at Easy Tempo! The groove here is far from the "easy" you might expect – and most numbers have tight drums, funky basslines, and other heavy elements – all put together with an approach to the music that's far different than anything happening in the US at the time, especially in the way the instruments sound in the end – and in the way that the production techniques make them do really crazy things! Titles include "Parangua" by Luiz Bacalov, "Flirt a Rio" by Piero Umiliani, "Side Sleep" by Berto Pisano, "Little Shakie Girl" by Armando Trovajoli, "Tremendous Stars" by Piero Piccioni, "Under Drama" by Giancarlo Gazzani, "Realta No 5" by Stelvio Cipriani, "So" by Lara Saint Paul, "Israelites" by Capuano, and "Citta Viva" by Ennio Morricone. CD

Slammin's a definite good choice for the title of this one – as this 5th entry in the Easy Tempo series seems even funkier than the other volumes – a set that's got plenty of full-on grooves, hand-picked from the genius Italian soundtrack years of the 60s and 70s! If you're looking for a place to start digging the full range of talents of the maestros of this time, you'd be hard pressed to find a better collection – as the Easy Tempo name always means the best bits from this scene, served up in a package that packs a lot more punch than any single individual soundtrack! Titles include "Loco Love Motor" and "The Frog" by Augusto Martelli, "Montreal Non Stop" and "Anice Nuraghi" by Luiz Bacalov, "L'Arcangelo" by Piero Umiliani, "Running Fast" by Stefano Torossi, "Blazing Magnum" by Armando Trovajoli, "Trop's" by Alberto Baldan Bembo, "Vuca" by Tony Mimms, and "The Chicken" by Dick Oliver. CD