MORRICONE, ENNIO Morricone Giallo (Bella Casa / Cherry Red) cd 17.98

MORRICONE, ENNIO Morricone In The Brain (Blowing Your Mind With The Maestro) (Bella Casa) cd 15.98
It seems one can never have enough of Ennio Morricone's sublime cinematic orchestrations. Here's a new compilation of scores from a variety of films spanning the years 1965-1981, that's heavy on the ear candy and less concerned with the actual films that spawned them. As far as we can tell, none of the iconic spaghetti western themes are here, but there is a bit of overlap from other compilations, most notably the Alan Bishop compiled Crime and Dissonance comp from a couple of years ago. But while that compilation celebrated the darker and more trepidatious side of Morricone's oeuvre , this compilation is all about a sparkling joie de vive, taking the listener through a wide variety of styles, from wistful melancholy to goof-ball reverie and everywhere in between. And we mean everywhere! Some tracks are like a summer scooter ride through Rome, while others feel like tropical danger in Namibia. There's madcap Moog, poly-rhythmic madness, on-the-move organ psych, heart-wrenching vocalizing, and so much more. While that Crime and Dissonance comp did not make for pleasant road trip music, this new comp more than makes up for it. And it's a wonderful starting place for those who are new to Morricone's world of sound or for those who are looking to explore beyond his more well-known themes.
MPEG Stream: "Ninna Per Adulteri"
MPEG Stream: "Rag Nuziale"
MPEG Stream: "Anghingo"
MPEG Stream: "Bianco Rosso & Verdone"

MORRICONE, ENNIO Morricone Kill: Spaghetti Western Magic From The Maestro (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

MORRICONE, ENNIO Psichedelico Jazzistico (Cherry Red / El) cd 16.98

MORRICONE, ENNIO Psycho Morricone (GDM) cd 16.98
Ah, Morricone compilations. So many to choose from, so little time (and money). Being an avowed Morricone fan-atic, I (Windy) have had to be very very picky with all these records suddenly appearing out of the woodwork. I mean, we want quality, right. Some bang for our buck. It's quite nice that Dagored has taken to releasing worthy, whole soundtracks to single films that Morricone scored (altho please put out Come Maddalena!), and yes, it's also nice when a variety of labels collect the best tracks for those of you who only want one or two Morricone cds. But the *point* of the collections is to represent his best work, and to dispense with the filler tracks, or the ones that just obviously don't work when there's no images to accompany them. Unfortunately it would appear that Psycho Morricone, which claims to feature tracks from twelve Morricone-scored films such as Copkiller, Il Serpente, L'Attentato, Revolver, etc, is comprised of just that: filler! It's decent music of course, but Morricone fans will not find any unearthed gems, or even any memorable melodies or effects. It's basically lot of scary high-pitched violins, and some rackety percussion, and it's only slightly scary or 'psycho'. I'm looking forward to hearing the other attempts by GDM to collect Morricone stuff, namely the Bizarre Morricone and the Chase Morricone titles, but this one is, sadly, a disappointment.
RealAudio clip: "Rapimento"
RealAudio clip: "Paura e aggressione"

MORRICONE, ENNIO Revolver (Dagored) cd 14.98

MORRICONE, ENNIO Slalom (Dagored) cd 14.98
As we have said, genius Italian soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone is best known for both his lounge-style pop music for Italian sex kitten comedies and other flicks, and also the stunning, atmospheric (and archetypal) soundtracks to Westerns such as For a Few Dollars More. The soundtrack to Slalom falls into the former category, the bouncy "space age bachelor pad" stuff, and if you're a fan of the Dagored label that's been responsible for so many recent excellent reissues, you'll probably like this one too.

MORRICONE, ENNIO Tepepa (Dagored) cd 15.98
A classic Spaghetti Western soundtrack from 1969. This film, Tepepa (also known as Blood And Guns or Long Live The Revolution), features Orson Welles as the evil Colonel Cascorro. Sounds of the film, such as desert noises or gunshots, punctuate the orchestral swells of the music. A stunning and beautiful classic.
MPEG Stream: "Viva La Revolucion (Tepepa)"
MPEG Stream: "Tradimento Primo"

MORRICONE, ENNIO The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Capitol) cd 5.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
If you're gonna own any Morricone soundtracks, or Spaghetti Western ones, or heck soundtracks in general, you gotta have this one - and it's now only five bucks! With its famous whistling theme, a motif which recurs throughout, Morricone's bombastic, evocative music for Sergio Leone's 1966 epic Western is what helped make it a classic - along with the performances of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach as the titular characters, of course. Morricone's soundtrack too is a classic, and a good example of many aspects of the maestro's music that have had a big influence in various ways on such disparate artists as Sun City Girls, Grails, Barn Owl, John Zorn, and Bjorn Olsson.
Also, it's awesome that the interior of the cd booklet consists solely of stills from the movie, specifically close ups of just the eyes of the three main characters in 3 two-page photo spreads, presumably staring each other down at the climax of the film.
21 track expanded edition.
MPEG Stream: "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (Main Title)"
MPEG Stream: "Marcia"
MPEG Stream: "The Ecstasy Of Gold"

MORRICONE, ENNIO The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Dagored) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Also known as "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly", this is Ennio Morricone's most famous movie theme. Contains ten tracks *not* on the 1966 original soundtrack. We have this on cd (Italian title) and also on LP -- 180 gm virgin vinyl gatefold double LP with poster.

MORRICONE, ENNIO Ultimate Morricone (DagoRed) 24 cd box 194.00

MORRICONE, ENNIO White Dog OST (Film Score Monthly) cd 17.98
Samuel Fuller's dynamic and gritty film career often courted controversy but it was this last film he made in the US in 1982 that was perhaps his most controversial of all. White Dog, based on the Romain Gary book of the same name and starring Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield and Burl Ives, is a social thriller about a stray dog found and taken in by McNichol and the harrowing discovery that her new pet was trained by previous owners to attack and kill black people. After several attacks and one brutal killing, desperate attempts are made to try and cure the dog of his trained behaviors, the most radical and questionably successful method by a trainer played by Paul Winfield, a black man. The overarching themes and hard questions raised by the movie whether racism can be unlearned or is indeed incurable were too controversial for the time and Paramount pictures suppressed the film after receiving negative press attention accusing the film of being racist before its release. It didn't even get a proper dvd release until 2008, by the Criterion Collection. Originally slated to be Tony Scott's directorial debut, his lack of a coherent script forced producers to turn to Sam Fuller and screenwriter Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, 8 Mile). Fuller douses the film with a B-movie grittiness, and it's his hard line look at racism dead on that makes this film so dramatically compelling. The movie never had a trailer, but one YouTube user made one and it's pretty damn great and shows how the amazing score by the one and only Ennio Morricone is used to full dramatic effect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkrvBNnAcw). Morricone utilizes a dreamy but pensive title theme with piano, reeds, and strings that is pastorally lilting, but tinged with an undefined creepiness. Like David Shire's score for The Conversation, Morricone's score lingers lovingly on the surface, but is all paranoid foreboding underneath, and like The Conversation, beautiful to listen to on its own. We highly recommend watching this film though as well as pretty much anything else by Sam Fuller!
MPEG Stream: "Main Title"
MPEG Stream: "Dog's Return"
MPEG Stream: "Sweeper Attack"
MPEG Stream: "Cage Escape"
MPEG Stream: "Absentmindedly From A Radio Far Away"

MORRICONE, ENNIO / DARIO ARGENTO An Ennio Morricone - Dario Argento Trilogy (DRG Movies) cd 15.98
Includes The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, The Cat O' Nine Tails, and Four Flies On Grey Velvet.

MORRICONE, ENNIO, & BRUNO NICOLAI Dalle Ardenne.../Il Sorriso... (Spalax) cd 14.98
Soundtracks to two Morricone-scored films, on cd for the first time.

MORTE MACABRE Symphonic Holocaust (Mellotronen) cd 23.00
This Swedish progrock supergroup got together to interpret great horror film soundtracks, like Komeda's theme to "Rosemary's Baby" and Frizzi's music from "City Of The Living Dead" and "The Beyond". This should definitely appeal to fans of Goblin (who get covered here too, of course). Includes an amazing, epic 20-minute piece that will even satisfy Godspeed You Black Emperor fans looking for their filmic music fix.

MORVERN CALLAR (SOUNDTRACK) (Warp) cd 17.98
Lynne Ramsay, director of "Morvern Callar" and the bleakly beautiful "Ratcatcher," is emerging as one of the most interesting and talented new directors on the international film scene. Her impeccable visual sensibilities and restrained approach to narrative truly set her films apart from other contemporary UK filmmakers' tired, flashy and substanceless Tarantino/ Trainspotting rip-offs, as well as from the more traditional British realism. "Morvern Callar" is the story of a young Scottish supermarket clerk (Samantha Morton) who finds her boyfriend dead, wrists slashed, under the christmas tree. She deals with it by telling her friends he's run off, burying him in the highlands herself, signing her name to the novel he's left behind on the computer and selling it to a publisher, and using the money he had left for a funeral to take a holiday in Spain. The actions of Morton's virtually silent, emotionally unreadable Morvern somehow make sense as a last-ditch escape channel from small-town malaise. Guiding Morvern through her journey is a mix tape left by her boyfriend, and this soundtrack is basically that mix tape, although there are a couple omissions, like the Mamas and the Papa's "This Is Dedicated to the One I Love," which was the first thing I pulled out of my record collection after hearing it in the movie. What did make it is a really excellent collection of songs by Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada, Stereolab, Velvet Underground, Broadcast, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Ween, Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood (doing "Some Velvet Morning," always delightful!) and both Can and solo Holger Czukay. Unfortunately, none of the songs are exclusive to the soundtrack, although some of the tracks, such as the Boards of Canada track, made their previous appearences on eps or collections as opposed to proper albums. Still, this definitely functions as a really good mix tape, one whose tone of downer bliss worked perfectly in the film. If you haven't seen "Morvern Callar" yet, it's definitely recommended -- that goes doubly for "Ratcatcher," which is out on video now.
RealAudio clip: APHEX TWIN "Nannou"
RealAudio clip: VELVET UNDERGROUND "I'm Sticking With You"
RealAudio clip: LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY "Hold Of Death"

MOTHMAN PROPHECIES (SOUNDTRACK) (Lakeshore) cd 16.98
We had been mocking this movie for months, based on that ridiculous trailer, where Richard Gere tells the mysterious voice on the telephone (presumably the 'Mothman' of the title) to tell him what he is holding in his hand. 'CHAPSTICK' the scary voice growls.... Chapstick? So dumb. I wonder what kind of kick back Chapstick got for -that- product placement. Anyway, beloved AQ customer John Botz recommended we check out the soundtrack, and then less than a week later, AQ list faves Barry and Tim who run UK fucked-electronica label Fflint Central emailed with another thumbs up. So we figured, what the heck. And whadda ya know? It's pretty darn great. And we were quite surprised to discover 2 new Low songs! Both collaborations with a group called tomandandy who are responsible for incidental music. And we were also surprised to discover that the legendary Glenn Branca played guitar on the score! Double disc set, and while the first disc does have the Low songs, it's the second disc that is the real winner. Huge rumbling drones, ominous creaks and moans, washes of ambient creep and soine tingling grit. Like Lustmord or Brighter Death Now or those of a similarly dronological bent. Wonder how the movie stacks up to the soundtrack. We'll see.
Andee (on the phone): Who is this?
Mothman: -silence-
Andee: What am I holding in my hand?
-pause-
Mothman: A HO-HO!!!!!!!!!
RealAudio clip: LOW AND TOMANDANDY "Half Flight"
RealAudio clip: TOMANDANDY "Movement 1"
RealAudio clip: TOMANDANDY "Movement 2"

MUGSTAR Ad Marginem OST (Agitated) lp + dvd 16.98
The latest from aQ beloved psychedelic space rockers Mugstar is not a proper new album, but is instead a soundtrack to a film called Ad Marginem, Mugstar providing a brooding and moody score, their usual space-prog heaviness dialed back a bit, the group weaving lush landscapes of tribal drumming, and low slung riffage, a perfect match for the film, shot mostly in black and white, with dramatic burst of abstract color in the beginning, and at certain points throughout, Mugstar spend much of the record/film locked into a sort of hypnorock mesmer, that most fans of Circle will find immediately appealing, a single riff, looped and layered and repeated, while the group wreathes that main groove in subtle sonic colorations, the vibe is definitely post rock, or very minimal psych rock, the guitar slipping from jangle to muted chug, the drums driving and propulsive, but the whole thing tense and dramatic, a very slow build, swirling organs drifting in and out, Slint like minor key melodies, quite effective and intense, it's not until near the end of the first side, and obviously at an appropriate place in the film, that the band lets loose, exploding into a stretch of rollicking psych rock, laced with soaring leads, pounding drums, the sound fierce and heavy, before slipping right back into the more pensive sonic brooding.
The B side follows a similar pattern, spending most of its time in loping cyclical dirge mode, still minor key and moody, this time, near the films end, slipping into a long stretch of slow, hushed, near ambience, a drifty bit of psychedelic shimmer, brooding and ominous, until finally, the drums slowly creep in, the guitars build to a roar, the sound explodes into something more heavy and hypnotic, super intense and dramatic, a sort of space psych Godspeed moment, a noisy super intense sonic coda, as the film fades to black.
The film might be something you watch only once or twice, but like the best scores/soundtracks, Mugstar's music for Ad Marginem, even separated from the visuals, still sounds amazing, and essentially plays like a Mugstar record proper, albeit a slightly more mellow one, but fantastic nonetheless!

MULHOLLAND DRIVE (OST) (Milan / BMG) cd 16.98
Have you seen this film yet? It's so amazing! Worth the price of this disc alone is Rebekah del Rio's version of Roy Orbison's "Crying", sung in Spanish and totally spine-chillingly good. You also get several tracks of Angelo Badalamenti's score, creepy and atmospheric, plus Sonny Boy Williamson doing a Willie Dixon track, Linda Scott performing a Hammerstein / Kern tune (the '50s pop number the actresses audition for in the film), and 3 tracks written and performed by Lynch himself. Bravo.
RealAudio clip: "Llorando (Crying)"

MUPPET SHOW Music, Mayhem, and More! (Rhino) cd 16.98
Who isn't happy to see / hear / be in the presence of this compilation? Really, it has something for everyone. The diva, the sensitive singer, the corny comic, the drumming maniac. You know who we're talkin' about! Speaking of which, whoever is responsible for Animal's playing is an absolutely kickass drummer. Seriously, check that shit out! And who doesn't get a lil' lump in the throat when they hear "Rainbow Connection"?

MYERS, STANLEY Sitting Target (Finders Keepers) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Also on vinyl, not cheap, but it is a cool soundtrack...
Here's a lost classic "psycho-symphonic film score" brought to you by the same rare psych vinyl obsessed treasure-hunters (Finders Keepers and Delay 68) that brought us such gems as the Yamasuki Singers and Jean-Claude Vannier reissues, and the Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word and Welsh Rare Beat comps! This previously unreleased soundtrack to a UK thriller from 1972 starring Oliver Reed, Edward Woodward and Jill St. John was written, composed, arranged and produced by the late Stanley Myers, already an accomplished film composer in '72 though his breakthrough success came in 1978 with his score for The Deer Hunter. For years people have been trying to get their hands on a copy of the music he recorded for Sitting Target but try as they might they found nothing because there was no copy ever in print...until now. Finders Keepers got ahold of the original quarter inch reels to make this forward-thinking, sometimes fuzzed out, eclectic orchestral soundtrack available in stores for the first time. With ominous strings, spacey guitar, and groovy chase-scene tension, this is simply great stuff, the kind of sounds you know lots of good hip-hop/electronic producers would love to get their hands all over to sample. DJ Shadow may or may not have ever heard this before, but it sure sounds like something he'd have happily woven into Endtroducing someplaceÉ we also keep thinking of the similarities in sound and style to the great David Axelrod retrospective we listed recently. Sitting Target was apparently the first British movie to be rated "R" and Myers was just the right man to make the seductive and suspense-inducing sounds to accompany it. Andy Votel's typically well-written and researched liner notes speak of how, in the musical career of Stanley Myers, the "Swinging Sixites" gave way to the "Sinister Seventies"É definitely exemplified by this moody, broody, but action-packed soundtrack! At only a little over twenty minutes we just wish there was more!
MPEG Stream: "Main Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Solitaire"
MPEG Stream: "A Sitting Target"

MYERS, STANLEY Sitting Target (OST) (Finders Keepers) cd 21.00
Here's a lost classic "psycho-symphonic film score" brought to you by the same rare psych vinyl obsessed treasure-hunters (Finders Keepers and Delay 68) that brought us such gems as the Yamasuki Singers and Jean-Claude Vannier reissues, and the Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word and Welsh Rare Beat comps! This previously unreleased soundtrack to a UK thriller from 1972 starring Oliver Reed, Edward Woodward and Jill St. John was written, composed, arranged and produced by the late Stanley Myers, already an accomplished film composer in '72 though his breakthrough success came in 1978 with his score for The Deer Hunter. For years people have been trying to get their hands on a copy of the music he recorded for Sitting Target but try as they might they found nothing because there was no copy ever in print...until now. Finders Keepers got ahold of the original quarter inch reels to make this forward-thinking, sometimes fuzzed out, eclectic orchestral soundtrack available in stores for the first time. With ominous strings, spacey guitar, and groovy chase-scene tension, this is simply great stuff, the kind of sounds you know lots of good hip-hop/electronic producers would love to get their hands all over to sample. DJ Shadow may or may not have ever heard this before, but it sure sounds like something he'd have happily woven into Endtroducing someplaceÉ we also keep thinking of the similarities in sound and style to the great David Axelrod retrospective we listed recently. Sitting Target was apparently the first British movie to be rated "R" and Myers was just the right man to make the seductive and suspense-inducing sounds to accompany it. Andy Votel's typically well-written and researched liner notes speak of how, in the musical career of Stanley Myers, the "Swinging Sixites" gave way to the "Sinister Seventies"É definitely exemplified by this moody, broody, but action-packed soundtrack! At only a little over twenty minutes we just wish there was more!
MPEG Stream: "Main Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Solitaire"
MPEG Stream: "A Sitting Target"

NAKED PREY, THE (OST) (Latitude) cd 14.98
Soundtrack to Cornel Wilde's 1966 film. Shot on location in Africa (Rhodesia, South Africa, Bechuanaland & Mozambique) -- often hundreds of miles from the nearest village -- with a cast composed almost entirely of non-professional actors (most had never acted before in their lives), a minimal budget and a whole lot of blood, sweat & tears (literally), The Naked Prey brought method acting to new levels. The music chosen to be the score for the film is every bit as authentic as the shooting locations, for it is all composed and played by the N'guni clans amongst whom the crew worked and filmed. While Wilde of course selected the tracks from what the N'guni played for him during the filming, the music is just as they performed it. The entire score is merely recordings of drums, chants, strange animal imitations, and the natural ambience of the bush, ie: field recordings. Thank god this preceeded the medling interference of the world beat puveyors Peter Gabriel et. al. And actually, the score in and of itself was a bit of cutting edge concept. As is pointed out in the liner notes, this was released the same year as Nonesuch began their Explorer series and long before any kind of major world music industry. Another fine release from Latitude.
MPEG Stream: "Puberty Song"
MPEG Stream: "Animal Imitations"

NEKROMANTIK I & II (Mauerstadtmusik) lp 24.00

NICO FIDENCO Black Emanuelle's Groove (Dagored) cd 14.98
More of that classic porn-funk soundtrack music people just can't get enough of. Pictures, too.

NICO FIDENCO Black Emanuelle's Groove (Abraxas) cd 14.98
Music from the soundtracks of the Emanuelle movies, mostly Emanuelle Nera. Liner notes and nudie pix.

NICO FIDENCO Black Emanuelle's Groove (Abraxas) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Music from the soundtracks of the Emanuelle movies, mostly Emanuelle Nera. Liner notes and nudie pix.

NICOLAI, BRUNO 100,000 Dollari Per Ringo cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We all love Morricone's western soundtracks. Fistful Of Dollars, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, For A Few Dollars More. They are all so evocative and gorgeous, able to stand comfortably on their own removed from the films they are so inexorably linked to, which can't be said for most soundtracks. Don't know a whole lot about Bruno Nicolai, but either he owes a huge debt to Morricone, or Morricone has a secret influence....100,000 Dollari Per Ringo has all the sights and sounds and smells (well the sounds at least) we've come to expect from an Italian western soundtrack, soaring strings, lonely harmonica, whistles and gently strummed guitars, bellowing almost-operatic male vocals. But there's just something about this particular collection that moves me in a way no other Italian soundtrack has, Morricone or otherwise. I don't know about you, but I rarely listen to a whole soundtrack all the way through there are usually specific parts or songs that I want to hear. But with 100,00 Dollari, it flows so perfectly I end up listening to the whole thing all the time, sometimes forgetting what I'm listening to, and having to check, because it doesn't always sound like an 'Italian Western'. Which is part of what makes it so great. Vocal tracks, sleepy, dusky instrumentals, and roaring, bombastic epics all balanced and sequenced perfectly. It helps that the opening track, Ringo Come To Fight, is one of the greatest 'cowboy vocal songs' EVER with gorgeous sorrowful vocals and a gorgeous arrangement. And track two, Sfida Eroica, is THE most kick ass song ever. Seriously. Makes me want to leap out the window and join the shootout in progress across the street in the saloon, rescue my lady from the jail, leap on my horse and ride into the desert, not before I retrieve the sack of gold, my trusty sidekick and my dog Ringo. It's like the soundtrack equivalent of a song that makes you HAVE TO air guitar or air drum. And the rest of the soundtrack kicks holy ass as well. Morricone fans obviously need this, but there's stuff on here that would appeal to fans of Godspeed, Calexico, Lanterna and dreamy, twangy rock in general. Give it a try.
RealAudio clip: "Sfida Eroica"
RealAudio clip: "Ringo Come To Fight"
RealAudio clip: "Repressione Violenta"
RealAudio clip: "Tumulti"

NOTWIST, THE Music For Storm (OST) (Alien Transistor) lp+cd+book 24.00
The Notwist have displayed quite a range of sounds and styles over their lengthy career, morphing from a more experimental outfit into a powerhouse band crafting some of the most scrumptious and infectious songs that have been in heavy rotation around these parts going on years now.
In so many ways their range and breadth of sound position them as true kindred spirits to Radiohead. The same sort of pop / experimental music hybrid. While they have definitely demonstrated that they can really get to the heart of melodic avant-pop, we're sure this opportunity to score a film by Hans-Christian Schmid was an exciting prospect, allowing the band to once again zero in more on ambience and texture. Their score for Music For Storm is moody and brooding and could easily sound right at home on a record by The Necks, Sylvain Chaveau, Arve Henriksen, or any of our favorite hypnotic mood peddlers on labels like Miasma, Root Strata, Rune Grammofon and Type. Utilizing bowed xylophone, effects laden glockenspiel, minimal electronics and accordion, The Notwist have proven once again they are group who understand how to evoke and create strong moods and suspenseful sounds. This LP comes in a striking silk-screen print cover, with a 24-page photo booklet and a cd version to boot!
MPEG Stream: "Sarajevo 1"
MPEG Stream: "Storm 1"
MPEG Stream: "Prayer"

OMEN, THE (OST) (Varese Sarabande) cd 17.98
This soundtrack won an academy award in 1976 for best score and we can see why. It is so fantastic. Jerry Goldsmith also scored the original Planet of the Apes, Chinatown, Poltergeist, and the first Star Trek movie, among others. The Omen is full of maniacal chanting in latin and slow, super creepy instrumentals. Listening to this record made me feel like you feel as a child, when you're left alone and you're afraid to walk down the darkened hallway to the bathroom. It almost made me afraid to walk out back, behind Aquarius to get my bike where it was parked in one of the 'slaughterhouses'. Do you remember when Gregory Peck finds out his child's mother was a wolf and then shaves the patch of hair off his head to reveal the triple 6's? Ohhh... and do you remember in Omen Two when the black bird pecks the womans eyes out on the foggy road. The Omen one and two are irrefutably two of the most amazing 80's horror movies! But this soundtrack functions just as well by itself, a haunting and beautiful epic slice of evil!
RealAudio clip: "Ave Satani"
RealAudio clip: "Where Is He?"
RealAudio clip: "A Doctor, Please"

ONDAR, KONGAR-OL & PAUL EARTHQUAKE PENA Genghis Blues (TuvaMuch) cd 14.98
Soundtrack to the fabulous documentary movie, which hopefully you were lucky enough to see. Blind blues musician Paul Pena travels to Tuva (Central Asia) to compete in their national throat-singing competition, a skill in which he is entirely self-taught. A funny, touching movie, and of course blessed with some great music! So, here's the hard-to-find soundtrack album.

ORCHESTRA PETER THOMAS Orion 2000 (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
Groovy, baby! Are you a filmmaker making a movie about sex kittens on the moon? A crime drama with rocket ships and ray guns? A documentary about swinging space aliens building the pyramids? Or just daydreaming about such subjects? Well, have we (and Omni) got the totally fab, pre-fab soundtrack for you!! Swank futuric funky jazz loungey freakbeat electronic grooves perfect for any kitschy exploito-flick you could imagine, pounded out by a band led by composer Peter Thomas, whom perhaps you know already as the man responsible for scoring Raumpatrouille (Space Patrol), a classic German '60s sci-fi TV show. His "in-kraut" stylings on many, many other soundtracks have earned him a cult following.
This exuberant disc consists of prime Peter Thomas stuff, material recorded in 1970, released as an obscure library music lp in 1975, and never before released on cd, until now! Remastered, from the original master tapes, and expanded with 4 rare bonus tracks, this features 16 tracks in total, most about 2-3 minutes in length, each categorized variously as either "Beat", "Electric Beat", "Strong Beat", "Rock Beat", or "Fast Beat", for what it's worth. They've ALL got bombastic beats, along with brassy horns, sizzling synths, fluttering flutes, and occasional wordless vocals... Any TV commercial or film project that was wild enough to made use of this library music would sound pretty hip, considering that the players in the Orchestra Peter Thomas included close associates and/or members of krautrockers Amon Duul II and Brainticket... Oh, and on lead guitar, Vampyros Lesbos co-composer Siggi Schwab!
Definitely another awesome Omni find. Packaged with informative, photo-illustrated liner notes, where you can read about PT's one of a kind "Tho-Wi-Phon" synthesizer, among other interesting things.
MPEG Stream: "Mars Close Up"
MPEG Stream: "Power Boost"
MPEG Stream: "Flash Point"
MPEG Stream: "Rockin' Computer"

ORTOLANI, RIZ Cannibal Holocaust (OST) (Red Stream) cd 11.98
Probably some of you have seen this movie. I (Allan) have not (Andee has, and LOVES it)... but I do have an idea of what it's about. Don't think I'll be seeing it anytime soon, although by all accounts Italian director Roggero Deodato's horrific 1979 'mockumentary' (or 'shockumentary' perhaps) Cannibal Holocaust is a classic of '70s Italian horror films, said to be super intense, ultra-violent, and gorily realistic (so much so that it was falsely rumored to be an actual snuff film). But I am enjoying the soundtrack by Riz Ortolani, which by itself is unlikely to give anyone any nightmares, unless kitschy '70s film scores somehow frighten you, mixing (as this one does) maudlin string orchestration for lush romantic themes, wakka-wakka funk vamps, and eerie synths a la Goblin. Check out the porno-groove of "Cameramen's Recreation" or the jazz/disco numbers like the one called "Drinking Coco" that also boasts a pretty wild distorto-guitar solo. Meanwhile, one of the loveliest tracks is entitled "Crucified Woman"! Titles like that (which Andee says is indeed appropriate), and the raw, menacing electronic creep-out soundscapes that filter into the disc amidst the brighter and more melodic material, will remind you that this is music for a horror movie after all. Plus the cover picture of course.
We're pretty sure this soundtrack is on a lot of fans' wish lists, so it's nice that this has finally been properly released on cd, remastered and complete with bonus cd-rom video material including the theatrical trailer and an interview with Ortolani.
MPEG Stream: "Cannibal Holocaust (Main Theme)"
MPEG Stream: "Cameramen's Recreation"
MPEG Stream: "Massacre Of The Troupe"

ORTOLANI, RIZ Nella Stretta Morsa Del Ragno / Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino (Hexacord) cd 16.98

ORTOLANI, RIZ Una Sull'altra (OST) (Dagored) cd 14.98
Jazzy, groovy Italian soundtrack reissue (for a 1969 Lucio Fulci flick, the US title of which was One On Top Of The Other, or alternatively, Perversion Story!) that should bring out the inner Austin Powers in you...

OSANNA Milano Calibro 9 (Vinyl Magic / Warner Fonit) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A few years ago, we were all excited to review the first and best three albums (reissued on cd) by "possibly Allan and Andee's all time favorite prog band" Osanna. As we said then, even limiting our discussion to the realm of Italian prog, it would be difficult to claim that Osanna are objectively better than the also amazing likes of Il Balleto, Le Orme, Area, New Trolls, Franco Battiato, Goblin, I Teoremi, RDM, Museo Rosenbach, etc. But, Osanna do somehow combine the key elements of what we like about those bands and prog in general into their first three crazy, colorful records, and thus deserve our hype. Ripping flute and sax solos, heavy psych guitar, powerful vocal choruses, hard rockin' prog drumming, weird musical changes and juxtapositions, electronic synth experimentation... Catchy, fun, fucked up prog from five nutty Italians, who want to rock out as much as be arty and display their adept musicianship. We went on to say that self-proclaimed "prog" dedication is not necessary for enjoyment of Osanna, as we think that these discs are good and weird and silly enough for AQ-customers into whatever sort of musical extremity (experimental, krautrock, psych, metal, classic rock) to dig.
Anyway, those cd reissues eventually went out of print, sadly enough, and we haven't had any Osanna for a while... until now, when one of our distributors happened to track down some copies of this different cd edition of Osanna's second album from 1972, which comes packaged not in a jewel case like the ones we had previously, but in a slightly oversized, miniature gatefold LP styled sleeve, complete with a Japanese obi. Very nice. So of course we want to list it again for those who missed out... and hopefully someday we'll also be able to relist the other two Osanna albums we recommend as well!
This record was a soundtrack to a film called "Milano Calibro 9". Working in collaboration with arranger Luis Bacalov, who is also known for his work with the New Trolls' symphonic efforts, on this album Osanna incorporates strings, piano, and classical motifs. And, as befits a film soundtrack, many moods are touched upon... We don't know what the movie was all about, but it must have featured a fair amount of action, and trippy scenes. Osanna come up with super bombastic themes, high-energy instrumental freak-outs, suspenseful bits of jazziness, pretty vocal interludes, bleepy-bloopy synth fx, heavy electronic organ riff-drone, and the most heavy metal flute soloing you've ever heard. Totally kick ass. Osanna, you rock. Goblin was never this heavy.
MPEG Stream: "Preludio"
MPEG Stream: "Tema"

OTOMO, YOSHIHIDE Blue (Weather / Headz) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is Otomo's second soundtrack for a Hiroshi Ando film. Blue, the film, is a live action version of a Japanese comic about two budding lesbian high schoolers destined for heartbreak. So it makes sense that Blue, the soundtrack, is correspondingly wistful and melancholy. Simple in its spare use of recorder, trumpet, acoustic guitar, pump organ, etc, and very, very pretty. Nothing like Otomo's other sampling/noise/jazz/whathaveyou outfits like Ground Zero, New Jazz Quintet, MC Hellshit... this is meditative, melodic, organic, warm, and quiet. Very nice, but not groundbreaking. There also appears to be a track from another soundtrack he did, this time for Tian ZhuangZhuang's The Blue Kite.
MPEG Stream: "Blue 3"

OTOMO, YOSHIHIDE Shabondama Elegy (Eyewill) cd 20.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Otomo Yoshihide's new group, the accurately named New Jazz Quintet, debuts on this disc, which includes both the soundtrack to Ian Kerkhof's film "Shadondama Elegy" (sorry, we don't know anything more about the film) and additional material recorded by more or less the same musicians. Japanese turntablist and guitarist Otomo of course is best known for his seminal jazz/sampling group Ground Zero, as well as for his equally exciting recent work in electronic minimalism with ISO. Plus his numerous collaborations and solo performances! Anyway, his new group (featuring members of ISO, Altered States, Ground Zero, Rovo, etc.) certainly live up to the "jazz" part of their name on this disc, playing mostly music composed by Otomo, plus a Victor Jara tune.

OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE OST (Crippled Dick Hot Wax!) cd 17.98
We've never really been that into Canadian director Bruce LaBruce, but if any movie was gonna change our mind, it just might be Otto; Or, Up With Dead People. It looks pretty awesome just based on the pictures in the booklet. A super stylish gay punk zombie called Otto wanders the streets of Berlin, eventually finding himself cast in a low budget film. And then there's the soundtrack, brought to us by the ever awesome, always eclectic Crippled Dick Hot Wax!, a super varied collection, of almost entirely unknown to us groups, whose disparate sounds are somehow woven into a surprisingly cohesive collection. The names probably won't mean much to must folks, but the sounds, that's a different story. Haunting dramatic strings, cinematic (obviously) and ominous, gives way to some creepy chamber folk, all thumps and rumbles and deep dark guitar strum, dreamy, but mysterious. After some crackle encrusted strings, sounding a bit like a snippet of William Basinski, in come some skittery downtempo beats and some deep crooned vox, which transitions into some almost sunshiney psychedelic jangle, playful and poppy, you can almost envision Otto wandering through town, not a care in the world. OK, maybe not. But then up next is the awesomely titled Pandas Of Black Metal, with a sort of metal / electro hybrid, all frantic techno beats, grinding chugging guitars, warped 808's, bursts of static, strange samples, cool stuff, which eventually fades out, introducing some syrupy Scott Walker style balladry.
The other awesome proper band is up next, The Living Dead Boys, with some crunchy metallic guitars, wrapped around more techno beats and some super dramatic vocals, sounding a bit like a metallic Interpol, or a way more electronic Deadsy. After a bit of lilting twee music box pop, comes the sprawling 13 minute "On The Cusp Of Infinity" from Brittle Stars, which totally sounds like a band we would freak out over here, a blackened blown out, slow motion shoegazey doom sludge, Nadja, Tim Hecker, SUNNO))), massive metallic slowcore, dreamlike and glacial, and definitely worth further investigation. The rest of the record plays out as a dizzying assemblage of sample laced dream pop shimmer, skittery electronic weirdness, dramatic neo-classical, almost operatic black ambience, twisted free jazz 20th century soundscapes, Oval-like skip and glitch shimmer, finishing off with some cute playful folk pop, acoustic guitars and chiming bells, a brief little ditty, appropriately titled "Everyone's Dead".
Still can't say if we're sold on the movie, but we've been digging the soundtrack like crazy, and like we said, hard to resist a low budget gay punk zombie flick, especially with such a badass soundtrack...
MPEG Stream: BRITTLE STARS "On The Cusp Of Infinity"
MPEG Stream: PANDAS OF DEATH METAL "Kill Your Gods"
MPEG Stream: JEAN-LOUIS HUHTA "Halfway Between The World And Death"
MPEG Stream: THE LIVING DEAD BOYS "Discohell"

PARTY MONSTER Original Soundtrack (TVT) cd 17.98

PATTON, MIKE A Perfect Place (Ipecac) cd 16.98

PATTON, MIKE Crank High Voltage OST (Lakeshore) cd 17.98
We could go on and on and on about our undying love for the first Crank movie, easily THE most deliriously over the top action movie EVER. Filmed super stylistically as well, so the high (low) concept is reflected by the film stock and speed and angles. For those living under a rock, the movie revolves around a hitman, who is drugged and left for dead, the drug slows down his heart, eventually causing his death, but hellbent on revenge, our 'hero' manages to finds unique and inventive ways of keeping his adrenaline up and thus stay alive, in order to exact his revenge. He does lots of drugs, risks life and limb, fucks with cops, picks fights with gangs, fucks his girlfriend in the middle of Chinatown, but eventually SPOILER WARNING! He falls from a helicopter calling his girlfriend on the way down.
Fast forward to Crank High Voltage, only to discover, somehow he did not die, instead, he was spirited off by Asian gangsters, who remove his heart, replacing it with an artificial heart hooked up to a battery, with an hour's worth of charge. The hook this time around is, he needs to continually charge himself up, while he tries to track down his heart and have it put back in. Far fetched? For sure. But that's the joy of these movies. And who better to score a movie like this than Mr. Mike Patton. But instead of doing crazy voices, and wild shrieking weirdness, Patton has crafted a super weird, ultra varied, practically perfect soundtrack, alternately heavy, freaky, skittery, metallic, jazzy, it is a soundtrack after all, so removed from the images, a little is lost, but this soundtrack stands up pretty well. In fact, besides being blown away by the movie, the first thing we all thought afterwards was "we need to get this soundtrack". So here it is.
The best part is our hero's theme, a simple 6 note melody, that resurfaces throughout the movie in different forms, it's catchy as all get out, appropriately ominous and minor key, and definitely suits the spirit of the character. Beyond that, Patton has cooked up a wild imaginative hodge podge of sonic cues, mini jams, micro epics, dark mood music, and everything in between. Which is important since in the film, the action is all over the place, flitting from extreme violence, to dying-heart stupor, beaten to a pulp wooziness, to recently recharged hyperactivity, and Patton comes whips up the perfect killer jams to accompany the various moods and scenes.
Skittery industrial weirdness wrapped around that main theme, and peppered with circusy synths and spacey effects giving way to pounding punk rock, a creeping moody crawl, chugging muted guitar, chiming melodies, interrupted by bursts of pounding drums, string swells, and thick metallic guitars, groovy sunshine-y almost jungle beneath twangy Summertime guitar and crooned female vox and handclaps, moody Morricone-ish twang and drift, funky retro porno grooves, mysterious Old West style flute flecked accordion weirdness that transforms into a creepy polka, grinding digital metal, with lots of stops and starts, warped and warbly sound effects draped over super haunting vocals whirs and whoops, Jew's harp jams and glitchy electronics, plenty of glitchy stuttery abstract hip hop, tolling bells over distant rumbles and on and on and on. Fans of Fantomas, especially the soundtrackier stuff will probably dig, and folks who are sometimes put off by Patton's wild vocalizing, might just dig this big time.
Needless to say, you should definitely buy this, but you should also see both movies, they're puerile, over the top, hyper violent, and funny as fuck. And they look AMAZING. Be warned though, the first film is much more 'cute', it definitely has a heart of (tarnished) gold, while the second one is much more meanspirited and harsh, but hell, as far as outrageous super stylized ridiculously impossible and hilariously brutal action movies go, you can't beat Crank. And Patton's soundtrack is pretty much the aural equivalent. Which means, ABSOLUTELY recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Chelios"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Cream (Redux)"
MPEG Stream: "Organ Donor"
MPEG Stream: "Juice Me"
MPEG Stream: "Surgery"
MPEG Stream: "Car Park Throwdown"

PENDERECKI, KRYSZTOF The Saragossa Manuscript (OST) (OBUH) lp 39.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow. This has got to be the thickest heftiest gatefold lp sleeve we've EVER seen. Not just the kind that cracks and creaks when you open, no, it's the sort of lp that when you do finally crack it open, it's like in the movies when the main character is finally opening the long lost crypt, muscles bulging, tendons straining, sweating and grunting, as it slowly opens with the grinding scrape of metal on concrete... Okay, so maybe it's not quite -that- intense, but heck, EVERY single person who picks it up does a sort of double take and utters something like "Woah, wow... WOW!" Plus the cover images are gorgeous, the front is a stark black and white landscape of gnarled dead trees, the back is a makeshift gallows, occupied by two unlucky souls, with an ominous pile of human skulls in the foreground. Crack it open and inside the gatefold you'll see a acid drenched burnt out kaleidoscopic photo of Krysztof Penderecki behind a huge pile of analog studio gear. Penderecki? Yep, Pendercki! This is the long lost soundtrack to the 1965 classic The Sargassa Manuscript, AKA Rekopis znaleziony w Sarogossie, AKA The Manuscript Found In Saragossa, one of the greatest Polish films ever made, and most definitely one of the strangest, most fucked up visual trips EVER. Think Bunuel, Lynch, Jodorowsky, Tarkovsky, Gilliam and then realize you'd most definitely need to include Sargasso director Wojciech Has. But the sounds are as strange and wondrous as the sights, due in no small part to Penderecki's lovely, haunting and downright bizarre score. Dark delicate piano filigree hovers in wide expanses of barely there ambience, grunts and groans and mumbled vocalisations drift in and out, western steel string guitars play tiny boleros before being overtaken by majestic church organs, snatches of refined chamber music are interrupted by strange soundscapes of what sounds like thunder or trees being felled, hypnotic stretches of No Neck Blues Band-like rattle and clatter, mysterious percussive interludes, woodblocks and rattles and shakers, and surrounding it all, little bits and pieces, scraps of sound, all manner of strange audio delights. A completely intense and intensely strange musical trip, even without the equally bizarre visuals of the film. In fact the images these sounds conjure up in your head, in the dark, with headphones on, might just be even stranger than the movie itself. If that were even possible...
Pressed on INCREDIBLY thick vinyl, and oh, did we mention the sleeve?!?!
And as you might imagine, this vinyl-only Polish import is EXTREMELY LIMITED!!!!

PICCIONI, PIERO The Seduction Of Piero Piccioni (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

PINA: DANCE, DANCE OTHERWISE WE ARE LOST OST (Wenders Music / Rough Trade) cd 16.98

PINA: DANCE, DANCE OTHERWISE WE ARE LOST OST (Wenders Music / Rough Trade) lp 17.98

POPOL VUH Aguirre (SPV) cd 16.98
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Popol Vuh's 1975 soundtrack to Herzog's Aguirre The Wrath Of God is a prime example of Fricke's multi-faceted musical aesthetic. At times the score is suitably bleak for the film's content. Most notably the main theme "Aguirre", which weaves in and out through the disc, is about as lonesome sounding as a tune -- which almost completely lacks melody -- can get. Around a slowly pulsing, sustained two notes played on guitar is a grainy mixed chorus. This is the music that's played during the long shot of people snaking their way down a mountain side and later on with the camera fixed on a turgid brown river. In striking contrast to this bleak theme are several pretty & mellow hippy guitar jams, a la Grateful Dead meets Mike Oldfield. As a bonus for this remastered edition SPV has included another mix of the theme "Aguirre" with additional throbbing ethnic percussion by Fricke and Co.
MPEG Stream: "Aguirre I (L'acrime di rei)"
MPEG Stream: "Vergegenwartigung"

POPOL VUH Fitzcarraldo (Spalax) cd 14.98

POPOL VUH In Den Garten Pharaos (SPV) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Recorded in 1971, In Den Garten Pharaos is Popol Vuh's second album. Like Affenstunde, it contains minimal arrangements -- in contrast to the film works Nosferatu and Aguirre -- and the compositions within are more centered around texture and timbre than melody. The album begins with creepy moog and organ drones, some of which would turn up on Aguirre the Wrath of God, evolving into semi-improvised chords and melodies played on rhodes piano along with hand drums. The second track features super heavy and dark church organ drones with cymbals and howling voices and more hand drums. Along with the original album tracks, this reissue comes with two previously unreleased ten minute tracks "Kha-White Structures" parts one and two which are solo moog improvisations by Fricke. All tracks are quite beautiful and haunting. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Vuh"
MPEG Stream: "Kha-White Structures 1"

POPOL VUH Nosferatu (OST) (SPV) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Certainly Popol Vuh's most popular recording and certainly one of the greatest film scores by any measure, Nosferatu is a brilliant soundtrack. Bringing together elements from plainsong and renaissance music, with Indian sitar and tabla, piano, synth drones, mellow psychedelic rock jams, and folky acoustic guitar. As well, much of the music is suitably lonely and dark enough to accompany the movements of a 500 year old vampire. Like his theme for Aguirre, the opening tune here -- Bruder des Schattens -- features a pulsing two note drone, here sung by a male chorus that sounds distinctly Eastern European, that steadily builds to include wind instruments before inexplicably fading into a pleasant guitar tune. The killer though, has to be the recurring theme "Mantra", a beautiful and haunting piece that references the Dies Irae played on sitar and electric guitar, with progressing versions on the disc adding chorus. Spooky. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Bruder des Schattens"
MPEG Stream: "Mantra 1"