A wild one from Italian soundtrack composer Piero Umiliani – a set that definitely lives up to the disco promise of the title, but which still has some of the cool playful touches of Umiliani's work in movies too! The record may well be the funkiest that Piero ever cut – and was done for a sound library series, so has a groove that's a bit different than soundtrack material – longer songs with more focus, and instrumental grooves that mix together funky rhythms with larger orchestrations – but always in a style that's slightly offbeat, and quite different from disco material from the US. Titles include "Happy End", "Forcing", "Odeon", "Hobby", "Optimist", "Skypass", "Carousel", and "Discomania". LP, Vinyl record album

Piero Umiliani at his funkiest – with two great tracks from the Baba Yaga soundtrack! "Open Space" has a killer bassline at the start, with fast breaking drums – then moves into this cool moogy keyboard part that fills the groove and gets all cool and moody over the top! "Slogan" has a jazzier vibe overall – but then strings step in and echo the rhythm, while the drums get all this freedom to dance around the kit and really open things up! Plus, there's more moogy magic too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Really warm, whimsical early work from Piero Umiliani – music that comes from his first few years in the soundtrack scene, but which already shows some of the differences that set him apart from the rest! Some tracks are straight jazz, but done in a way that echoes some of the hipper, modern tones on the Roman scene – and are recorded with that unusual sense of Umiliani sound, which can make the familiar feel strangely fresh, and almost unsettling. Other tunes offer playful melodies, but with offbeat instrumentation – an odd-tuned piano on one number, guitar and percussion on another, weird woodwinds on a third – so that the sonic palette is changed up nicely, and balanced well against the jazz in the mix! Titles include "La Nottola Di Notto", "Colpo Gobbo All'Italiana", "Lolita", and "Quello Che Bolle In Pentola". Features five bonus tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

Percussion and special effects – a really wonderful blend, especially in the hands of Italian maestro Piero Umiliani! The album's one of Piero's more experimental and electronic outings – done for the Liuto sound library label, with lots of cool production techniques that make the drums and percussion nice and echoey, and just ripe for layers of keyboards and electronics, too! And although the record is experimental, it's often quite groovy – in the best Umiliani manner, with a few funky passages stepping out of space as well – in a blend of acoustic, electric, and cosmic that reminds us of some of the sci-fi soundtrack work of Peter Thomas. Titles include "Ritmi In swing", "Timbales", "Protesta Giovanile", "Bongos In Suspense", "Dinimica In Beat", "Dinemica In Tensione", "Organo In Suspense", "Fascia Metallica", "Battimenti", and "Esplosioni". LP, Vinyl record album

An early 80s soundtrack from the great Piero Umiliani – but one that seems to echo some styles from deeper in his past, including some of of the jazz elements he used in his early days – and some of the more unusual sonic textures he created for his sound library projects in the 70s! The film's a comedy, but as usual with Umiliani, the music is way more than you might expect – sometimes light and melodic, other times served up with unusual sonic elements – maybe more in the warmer side of the spectrum than the cold, but always with a knowledge of darkness at all the right points. The main theme gets some strong renditions in a few different ways – and there's also a great instrumental titled "Ultimissime", which has great Fender Rhodes – and the killer "Samba Mah Na", which uses Brazilian percussion and brassy horns to rework Umiliani's classic "Mah Na Mah Na" theme! A few tracks even get a bit funky – and the CD features 20 tracks from the film, plus notes in Italian and English. CD

A totally cool set from Piero Umiliani – an Italian composer who was so inventive, he had to create his own studio just to find a space to express all of his many ideas! And while Umiliani's more experimental side has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, a lot of the tracks here are in his jazzier, groovier mode – the sort you'd know from his famous 60s soundtrack work – with lots of organ, Fender Rhodes, moog, and other keyboards from Umiliani – and some great guest appearances that include saxes from Enzo Scoppa, trumpet from Cicci Santucci, Fender Rhodes from Enrio Pieranunzi, and even a bit of vocals from I Cantori Modern! The tracks here were all recorded by Piero on his own – some were used on soundtracks, some on sound library albums, and a number are previously unissued – and together, the whole thing features lots of rare work from this genius that we'd never heard before. Titles include "Rakto E L'Oroso Tema Moog", "Petra Tema Jazz", "L'Invasione Dei Folletti", "Le Cascate Di Iguacu", "C'En Una Fantasma Nel Mio Letto M68", "Risaie", "Millenni", "Grand Canyon", "Il Burattinaio M8 + M9", and "Non Mollare". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweetly funky and very slinky – this is one of the best early 70s scores by the great Italian composer Piero Umiliani! The record has lots of bubbling electric piano, rumbling electric basslines, warm acoustic percussion, and moody wordless vocals. At some level, the album sounds a lot like the contemporaneous work by the great Italian Fender Rhodes combo Crossfire – but it's also filled with a spacey madness that could only come from the pen of Umiliani! One of the best of the recent Easy Tempo reissues – and very nicely put together, with a consistent sound throughout! Titles include "The Body", "Tidal Stream", "Chaser", "White Sand", "In The End", "Free Life", "Stream", and "Dusken". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the sort of psychedelic music you'd expect from an American rock band of the late 60s – and instead, a stunning set of funky genius from Italian soundtrack maestro Piero Umiliani! The record's actually a precursor to Umiliani's famous global score for Sweden Heaven & Hell (Svezia Inferno E Paradiso) – and shares many of the themes that went onto that record, complete with romping funky rhythms, sweet jazzy Hammond lines, and mod fuzzy guitar! Many numbers are upbeat groovers, without any of the longform indulgence you'd expect from psychedelia – and Umiliani draws on his jazz background to allow just the right space for solo instruments to take the lead in the instrumental setting. Titles include "Birra Vermouth E Gin", "Contestazione", "Hippies", "Nel Cosmo", "Stoccolma My Dear", "Notte Di Mezza Estate", and "Viva La Sauna Svedese" – a version of the classic "Mah Na Mah Na". LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from the great Piero Umiliani – and maybe one of his funkiest, grooviest projects ever! The set is more sound library funk than soundtrack – and features some very strong keyboard work in the lead on most track – including Fender Rhodes, moog, Hammond, and even Lowrey organ! Other instrumentation is nice and spare – lots of tight and slight rhythms – which lets the keyboards carry equal parts of the groove and the melody, in a really wonderful style! Players on the session include Umiliani on moog and Fender Rhodes, Oscar Valdambrini on trumpet, Giovanni Tommaso on bass, Franco D'Andrea on piano, Dino Piana on trombone, Antonello Vannucchi on Hammond, and Marcello Boschi on flute. The whole thing's wonderful – a deep deep treasure all the way through – and tracks include "Lady Magnolia", "Open Space", "Goodmorning Sun", "Railroad", "Safari Club", "Free Dimension", "Truck Driver", and "Music On The Road". LP, Vinyl record album

A really groovy soundtrack for a late 60s Italian film of the "mondo" variety – one whose title literally translates as "Excuse Me, Do You Like Sex?" The music comes from the sublime pairing of Piero Umiliani and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino – both well-traveled Italian film composers, who seem to each be pulling out the grooviest sides of their talents here – using bossa rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, playful melodies, and some occasional weird instrumentation – all in shifting ways that really match the changing settings of the film! Umiliani gives us some of his especially great organ lines – the kinds you'll recognize from better-known soundtracks of the period – and the CD features a whopping 23 tracks in all, almost all of them pretty darn groovy! CD

A haunting 60s soundtrack from the great Piero Umiliani – done for a TV special on ancient Egyptian culture, and handled with a vibe that's a bit different than some of Umiliani's other work! The tunes have this great use of exotic elements – percussion, flute, and even organ that's played in a way that feels eerie and ancient – all with a style that's maybe more exotica than some of Piero's usual mode sounds of the time – shaded in with loads of wonderful touches around the edges, almost sounding like a much trippier take on Les Baxter modes from a few years before! There's one 60s-styled number – the groovy "Twist Del Faraone" – and other titles include "Verso Il Dudan", "Cleopatra", "Mercato Arabo", "Mausoleo Dell'Agakan", "Magia Delle Acque", "La Valle Dei Re", and "Abusimbel". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing work from the legendary Piero Umiliani – a perfect soundtrack to show the warmer sound of his talents, which are sometimes eclipsed by his weirder electronic modes! The soundtrack's from an erotic film starring sex-goddess Zeudi Araya, but despite the kinky origins of the material, the music's actually got a lot more sophistication than you'd expect – and the score feels more like a Morricone cerebral one than a cheesy sexy one – with dreamy wordless vocals floating around in the mix, and these sweet-stepping basslines that are especially wonderful – setting a slow funk current at great moments, in that Euro easy way of blending some hip bass with warmer strings and other instrumental touches. There's some haunting piano at points, too – and Umiliani has a great way of making the music sound emotive, but never sappy at all. Titles include "Pelle Di Luna", "Addio All'Isola Felice", "L'Ultima Spiaggia", "Seyga Seyga", "Nostalgia Dell'Isola", and "Tanto Tempo Fa". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest soundtracks ever from the mighty Piero Umiliani – sounds initially written for a film that was an international "sexpose" of daily life in Sweden – but which have grown to even greater fame on their own over the years – thanks to the talent of the maestro! The music here is awash in groovy elements – lots of sweet Hammond organ lines, mod basslines, and some especially cool wordless vocals from the choir of Alessandro Alessandroni – scatting away in a great way alongside the instruments, and bringing an added level of breathy eroticism to the whole thing! This special LP version recreates the original Omicron release of the record – with titles that include the two lyrical tracks "You Tried To Warn Me" and "Sleep Now Little One", sung by Lydia McDonald – plus the tracks "Topless Party", "Eva Svedense", "Essere Donna", "La Signora Cameriera", "FotoModelle", and "Le Ragazze Dell'Archipellago". (Note, does not contain the track "Mah Na Mah Na", which is on other versions of the soundtrack – but it appears on the "partner" reissue of Umiliani's Psichedelica from Schema, under the title "Viva La Sauna Svedese".) LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy little soundtrack by the great Piero Umiliani! The score is for a b-grade spy film from the late 60s – starring Stewart Granger as (according to the notes) "a seasoned secret agent, but always ready to kiss and to bang!" A lot to live up to, we know – but Umiliani more than does the job, with a wonderful mix of tunes that run from Barry-esque Bond to swinging Milan, blending electric guitar, bubbling organ, and exotic themes into a 17 track package that sparkles with the best of his late 60s work! Titles include "Don't Ever Let Me Go", which is the main song, plus a number of variations on the title theme, named "Spanish mood", "lounge suite", "Arabian bistrot", and so on! LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent funky and groovy tracks pulled from the catalog of the legendary Cinevox Records – home to some of Italy's greatest soundtrack work of the 60s and 70s! Sure, we've had some of the label's great stuff on single CDs – but this set pulls from a lot of soundtracks that haven't been reissued yet, and also includes a number of tracks that were never issued before at all! There's plenty of funky drums, fuzzy guitars, groovy organ, and lots of other nice bits in the set's 16 tracks – and the overall sound is a nice departure from some of the other Italian compilations. Titles include "Unknit" by Carlo Rustichelli, "2968" by Carlo Savina, "Up To Date" by Fred Bongusto, "5 Bambole Per La Luna D'Agosto" by Piero Umiliani, "Milano Rhythm & Blues" by Gianni Ferrio, "Serata Al Night" by Guido De Angelis, and "Il Dopolotta" by Piero Piccioni. CD

An amazing treasure for fans of Italian soundtrack music – the fresh discovery of rare material from the vaults of Cinevox Records – one of the most important Italian soundtrack labels of the 60s and 70s! All of the music here is previously unreleased – and runs from full songs to snippets, all laid out in this really beautiful way – so that the package is not only presenting some great grooves from Cinevox, but also tracing a history of Italian cinematic styles – moving back and forth from the 60s through the 70s, with a superb presentation that really has the music sounding tremendous in this setting! These aren't clunky discards, but really wonderful tunes – unused extra material from soundtrack giants who include Piero Umiliani, Armando Trovajoli, Riz Ortolani, Giorgio Gaslini, Piero Piccioni, Gianni Ferrio, Franco Bixio, Enrico Simonetti, and many others – laid out here in a limited package, with 161 titles in all. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing treasure for fans of Italian soundtrack music – the fresh discovery of rare material from the vaults of Cinevox Records – one of the most important Italian soundtrack labels of the 60s and 70s! All of the music here is previously unreleased – and runs from full songs to snippets, all laid out in this really beautiful way – so that the package is not only presenting some great grooves from Cinevox, but also tracing a history of Italian cinematic styles – moving back and forth from the 60s through the 70s, with a superb presentation that really has the music sounding tremendous in this setting! These aren't clunky discards, but really wonderful tunes – unused extra material from soundtrack giants who include Piero Umiliani, Armando Trovajoli, Riz Ortolani, Giorgio Gaslini, Piero Piccioni, Gianni Ferrio, Franco Bixio, Enrico Simonetti, and many others – laid out here in a limited package, with 161 titles in all. CD

Maybe the coolest and grooviest music we've heard from the obscure Braen's Machine sound library project from early 70s Italy – a record that's less tripped out than its predecessors, and instead has this great style that's heavy on bossa elements and funky jazz! The vibe's a bit like the best Italian soundtracks of the period – especially work by Morricone or Trovajoli – and the group still apparently features contributions from Alessandro Alessandroni, working with Piero Umiliani – which gives the whole thing a very strong soundtrack pedigree! Instrumentation includes some mighty nice keyboards – both Hammond and electric piano – and lots of great production on familiar instruments, which can give things like a snare drum a very odd crackle, or a flute this weirdly spacious sound. Titles include "Movimento", "Dinimica", "Gara", "Passeggiata", "Aspetti Grotteschi", "Esercizi Ginnici", "Ritmica Sportiva", and "Rinuncia". LP, Vinyl record album

We've heard some funky sounds from Misha Panfilov in the past, but this record is something else entirely – more like a groovy set of sound library electronics from the 70s – the tuneful sort, not the noisy kind – served up in ways that are wonderfully tuneful and extremely playful! The work is like the best music of its sort from Piero Umiliani – always with a rhythm and a melody, and sometimes even a little groove – a great addition to Misha's funk legacy, but with a whole different set of sounds and flavors! Titles include "Spiraalid", "Elu Margid", "Hommik", "Kallistus", "Tagasi Teele", "Eha", "Labi Oometsa", "Luidja", and "Veealune". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest, grooviest Christmas records we've heard in years – a set that's the first-ever effort from Roman Coppola's Molto Groovy Productions – and which has a mod 60s vibe all the way through! The styles here are steeped in the best Italian soundtrack modes from years back – cool keyboards, fuzzy organ, funky basslines, and lots of offbeat instrumentation that really transforms the tunes – almost as if someone like Piero Umiliani or Ennio Morricone recorded a whole album of Christmas instrumentals! The sound is perfect – even better than you might suspect from the cover – and you can take it from us, as we're not easily fooled by "fake" retro projects – and really tip our hat to these guys for getting the instrumentation, arrangements, and production just right. Most titles are familiar songs, but done in very unusual styles – and tracks include "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Joy To The World", "Jingle Bells", "Sleigh Ride", "Feliz Navidad", "Little Drummer Boy", "Silver Bells", and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". CD