An excellent cut, with wailing big band brass and cool vibes. The song is quite familiar - musically it is an early draft of the standard 'Black coffee', sounding similar, but slightly sped-up. The percussion is also excellent - lots of bongos. Overall, the sound recalls some of Mancini's best 50s work, but somehow sounds even more vital and brilliant to me. Milt's work on the vibes also seems to have influenced Angelo Badalamenti (his David Lynch soundtrack work, anyway), and the solo work of Barry Adamson.

Delicate instrumental by Dave Grusin, that grows with each listen and has all the charachteristics of late 60s arrangements i love so much. The instrumentation is diverse, rich, yet subtle with piano, organ, horns, flutes and wonderfully arrangened, smooth strings and some harp embellishments thrown in. The mood is mellow, romantic with a dose of melancholia. Another great instrumental from the soundtrack, "California Montage", has recently appeared on "The Get Easy! Sunshine Pop Collection", while this one unfortunately is only available on vinyl.

This is a great song from the Godzilla soundtrack, that me as a 'longtime' Foo Fighters fan still can't believe more people don't know about. The sound has one of my favorite unique sounding solos in it. Great underrated song!

My personal favorite version of this song. Cilla Black has a very rich and powerful voice that is just right! She sings it with much more feeling than Dionne Warwick's more popular version a year later. Burt Bacharach originally wanted to use this recording on the soundtrack to the film 'Alfie', but Ms. Black declined.

a catchy organ riff and some duh duh wailing...it's just one of those fun obscure mid sixties soundtrack songs. sounds like a cheesy party sequence, although i've never seen the film it originates from.
good clean fun. Actually i was surprised when i found out morricone originally wrote this, because some cheap dance/pop bill (can't remember who right now)had a hit wich borrowed heavily from this sometime during the mid-to late nineties... why is it that every time something catchy pops in top 40-music, it turns out to be borrowed from one of the old masters?

The song I have been eager to get since I saw a movie "Barbarella" about 6 years ago. Finally I got the soundtrack CD. I do love the theme tune, Barbarella, too, but this somehow makes me feel "America", the place I have been longing for.
What mekes me feel so? Bob Crewe's sexy and gorgeous vocal? Cool horn and brass arrangements? widely spreading atomosphere? Everything is attracting reminding me of the scene where Pygar is flying after getting his new wings!

Pure cinematic pop genius.This song was the flip for their single "Don't You Care?" which was a big hit for them lasting 14 weeks in the top 10.And even though I love that song, the B side has always captivated me more.The orchestration is just breath taking. It sounds more like a soundtrack theme than an album track.Like a lost Bond theme or something, really stunning!!

The LP uses the same style for another great one called"You Are Gone"as well. Vinyl copies are almost everywhere in the US for like 5$, Well worth it!

This is from "Flying Saucer", which for me is the record of the decade. It's electronic synth-pop w/ 2 female vocalists. There's an youthfulness and innocence about the music that makes me think it'd be a good soundtrack for a manga. There's some grown up melancholy there, too, on some of the songs.

Isobel Campbell was, of course, a member of Belle & Sebastian as well as the lead singer in The Gentle Waves, a disguised solo project backed by members of Belle & Sebastian. Her first "real" solo record "Amorino" was finally released in 2003. This wonderful cover version was only released on her 2004 EP "Time Is Just The Same". And while it's already great to see a Morricone cover version these days, this one is really amazing too. It just suits Mrs. Campbells airy, fairy-like voice perfectly. Compared to the Astrud Gilberto from 1971 this version feels even lighter, calmer, more stripped down since it's not orchestrated with strings.

The film "Candy" was recently released on DVD, and as soon as I saw it, I had to get the soundtrack. The reason is this track, which plays over the final scene in the movie. There are great elements of late-60s film music all over the place here...sitars, wordless vocals, terrific rock breakbeats, you name it. A fantastic song, and one that I can listen to several times through, in spite of it's five-minute length (I usually have the attention span of a meth-addled fruit fly).

A really nice cinema-pop gem from the team that brought us The Windmills of your Mind. Sung by Sally Stevens, one of Hollywoods great voices. Such a charming little song. It's one of those things you instantly play again after the first time you hear it. It's more or less a song about freedom, with lyrics that still sound fresh today:"...Bullets fly like popcorn on the screen, recommended wholesome nice & clean, making love's the thing that can't be seen... Why?"

Found it on this sort of cash-in LP for LeGrand's UA soundtrack work from 1970. Originally from the soundtrack for "La Piscine", which is harder than hell to find on it's own. The LP is awsome for fans of LeGrand for it has 3 tunes from "The Thomas Crown Affair" , "La Piscine" , "The Young Girls Of Rochefort" & the jazz theme from "Play Dirty".

Great track. Entirely scat-sung, steady midtempo funky groove, with that distinctive Odeon Studios sound, and the bridge breaks into a waltz-time section, with Claudia's high-pitched vocal effects strongly reminiscent of something off the Vampyros Lesbos soundtrack album. Claudia's a big collector's favorite among Brazilian femme singers, since her stuff's consistently strong, she's got this great strong expressive voice, cool material choices including a number of exclusive Marcos Valle songs, and NONE of her early 70s Odeon sides have been issued on CD.

An addictive and perfect track, which fuses several of my obsessions (vocal groups, Ennio Morricone-style chord sequences, Brazilian pop) with incredible power. The song is a Brazilian standard, written by Baden Powell, but this version is very different to any other I've heard. This recording opens feverishly with brass and strings, maintaining a doomy and very serious mood throughout. All the same, it manages to be extremely groovy, with rock drums and a twangy guitar accompanying the strings and harmonizing vocals. The arrangement is quite brilliant and never sounds crowded, with a stark feel produced by the different parts dropping in and out. The part of the track which to me is pure genius is the instrumental break in the middle, which sounds like it's excerpted from one of the coolest of Morricone's late 60s B-movie soundtracks - honey smooth strings, blended with some excellent drums and a cool trumpet part. The vocals are also rather gripping - always very serious sounding, and often wordlessly chanting the melody.

When I heard this album by the Brazilian organist Ed Lincoln, I really wasn't expecting a tune like this. It's a beautiful, tender vocal, sounding like something from a Francis Lai soundtrack, with lovely male-female alternating vocals and an exquisite Morricone style trumpet blending well with the guitar/organ/percussion instrumentation. An absolutely stunning track - playful but slightly sad at the same time, with some spooky laughter/sighing from the female singer towards the end.

a couple of great spy jazz tracks from the movie "si j'etais un espion" by my favourite old pervert..funky guitar/strings combination followed by a morricone-like piano part. (this entire soundtrack seems to be quite inspired by some of morricone�s work...) there's a really nice repetetive bass line that pops up a couple of times during the track.

Sunshine Pop in the same vein as "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension of "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things" by The Cowsills...but Bubbles has a smidgen of funk in the drums and bassline. This track was also covered recently on the 'Powerpuff Girls' soundtrack.

This is one of the rare italian soundtracks from the era in which I would recommend you see the movie. Camille 2000 is a stylish gem of aristocratic sex and fantasy in the late sixties. The score is has a sweeping beauty, lush sounds which match the eroticism of the film.

I originally came across this recording on the soundtrack to the film 'the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' and I have been thanking my lucky stars since! Taken from the rare and out of print LP 'Crazy In Love' (which you should purchase on sight if you ever come across it!) Ms. Richards throws a good swing into this exquisite torch song and brings down the house with the help of Billy May and his orchestra! I am forever indebted to the person or persons who compiled the 'Priscilla' soundtrack and led me to this great song and the original LP from which it was taken!

"Captain Future" was an end-70s Toei Animation science fiction series directed by Leiji Matsumoto (The same team who did all the clips for Daft Punk's singles from the "Discovery" album). For the german release of the series a whole new soundtrack was recorded by Christian Bruhn. The title track is an incredible mixture of funk and disco with sequencers and analogue keyboards galore and very Edda Dell'Orso sounding vocals providing the lead melody (the similarity is striking, but the vocals were performed by Bruhn's wife Erika).

My favorite cut from this amazing soundtrack. A mix of Alpert, Glockenspiel, and jazz scat... Unlike anything else recorded really.

"Change Your Mind" is heavy in vocals, with just a little bit of country style thrown in. This has nothing to do with why I like the song, however. Listen to the LYRICS! This song is on my personal "soundtrack to life", and I love to listen to it when I'd like a little inspiration. Give it a listen, and actually *listen* to what the song has to say.

You might be familiar with Francoise's incredible 1971 album La Question, a track from which was recommended by another user almost four years ago (Oui, je dis adieu). I managed to get a friend to copy the album for me at the time, and I recall being very taken by 'Viens', the first song. I put this track on a compilation but somehow never really savoured the album as a whole.

Recently I found I could get the album on CD, so picked it up (along with another interesting Francoise album, 'If you listen').

The difference for me now I have the CD is vast, and I'm now able to appreciate the album in all its glory. The clincher for me is the blend of percussive Brazilian guitar, beautiful strings, and the Melody Nelson-style sparseness of the arrangements.

I chose this track to recommend because of the bizarre extra dimension brought by the fact that Francoise is just scatting - there are no words - and the intermittent moments of complete silence, which are surprising and really hold the attention. Parts of the chord sequence remind me of Henry Mancini (in particular, a track called 'Softly' from the Mr Lucky soundtrack), while the overall effect of the sexy echoey vocal naturally brings to mind Ennio Morricone's work with Edda Dell'Orso.

I didn't know anything about 'The Lion In Winter' from 1968 until a few days ago. I had the TV on in the background when my attention was grabbed by one particular song in the movie. "That must be John Barry's work", I thought to my self. His use of strings and trumpets are unmisstakable -- and surely I was correct!

'Chinon / Eleanor's Arrival' has the same type of sound as Barry's later soundtracks such as 'Moonraker', 'High Road to China' and 'Out of Africa'. In fact, I first thought I was listening to a passage from 'Moonraker' when I heard this song the first time. The arrangement is brilliant, the lush rich strings, trumpet and female- male choir really makes this song stand out. It has a very majestic, grand feeling to it and it really fits the scene it is used for in the movie.

This song comes from the stellar soundtrack to 1968 film "The Lion in Winter," my first outing w/J. Barry. Wow. The whole album edged out all rock music at parties. This song has a lovely rocking boat-on-water undercurrent to it (Queen Eleanor is being rowed upriver in a barge), with soaring turns-taking female /male voices singing in Latin. It has a little, quiet horn bridge to it, but then the waves of sound come back and die out. Gorgeous. Defintely a winter-feel album (the story takes place at Christmas, too).

The one bright spot among the dismal stain on Mowai's career, the album known as Come On, Die Young. A web of brooding guitars initially mesmerizes you, before throwing you into an ominous and chaotic crescendo. It's the ideal soundtrack for driving alone on an open straightaway at night, going faster than you should be, and not at all caring...

Although this track is not my favorite from Berlin's Jazzanova, I think it best represents the best bits of of their own work and their remixes for others. This track is a few years old but has been newly remixed by Japan's Fukutomi. Jazzanova are at the forefront of the nu jazz scene in the dance world. Beginning with a soulful piano introduction, the tune breaks into a heavy bass driven uptempo beat, sprinkled with a bit of a jazz scat, and a sample of a very haunting and seductive flute solo that sounds as if it has been lifted from an old soundtrack. The song however is not as simple as this review and must be listened to carefully to appreciate all that it offers.

An exquisite and much-sampled version of this nice tune from the Valley of the Dolls soundtrack. The slow, funky beat is simply one of the sweetest you will ever hear, and the harp melody is ethereal and beautiful.

Fantastic electro-rock, perfect soundtrack to start a heavy clubbing week-end.

Off the brillaint soundtrack for 'Timecode' by Mike Figgis and Anthony Marinelli, not sure who actually wrote this song but the whole album is really good. The film's pretty good as well. Skin has a great voice and this is a really moody, atmospheric song that makes me feel both warm and lonely at the same time. The Main Title track is great as well.

Beautiful vocal song from a little known italian soundtrack. The italians just couldn't do no wrong in the late 60s/early 70s, this just floats gently along with a flutes, harpsicord, sweeping strings and chorus. Nice, light vocals on top of it, can't identify the female vocalist though.

Italian singer Edda dell'Orso is the voice backing many soundtrack scores and lounge-beat tracks by Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Alessandroni, Armando Trovajoli (and his 'Mark 4'). This is a Cinecitta-composer Romolo Grano composition for the cult fantasy-drama TV-series 'La Montagna della Luce'. A very deeply and sensually voiced Edda accompanies the slightly latin-flavoured, percussive funky-jazz piece; the haunting funky bassline and a very gentle tenor present throughout the track complete this exotic, obscure jazzy soundtrack.

The kind of overlooked track that makes Frank Jastfelder and Stefan Kassel's soundtrack series so great. I find this a very refreshing take on the familiar James Bond theme. Ivor Raymonde's arrangment really sells the composition in the context of the Lettermen-styled vocal harmonies of the Bachelors without losing any of the energy of the John Barry/Shirley Bassey original. I particularly like the way Raymonde implements the steel guitar here.

A swingin' 60's soundtrack gem for the 1967 movie of the same name. Mizzy is probably most famous for his theme for the Addam's Family (snap, snap). "Waves" just cooks from start to finish! A freakbeat bass and blaring horn section do a wild frug while swirling strings hover above. I can't sit still when I hear this song!

man i do like rock'n'roll. never thought about it. well what we have here is a supreme live band from sweden. sprung out of the super rockers union carbide productions. they had one hit in 96 ('instant repeater 99'), this one's the best they've done since then.

This song is a great trancy piece of work! It opens with dialogue lifted from the soundtrack of the cult classic 1980 film 'Flash Gordon. "Klytus, I'm booooored.... what plaything can you offer me today?" "... the inhabtants refer to it as the planet... earth..." "how peaceful it looks"... The song then goes to a great drum break and a voice not unlike Alexander Scorby reading cryptic Bible-like phrases, "the mountains shall drop sweet wine and the hills shall melt"

A nice change from watching Wizard of Oz with the Dark Side of the Moon soundtrack, if you know what I mean...

A wild ride down the Nile. If anyone ever accuses the girl group sound of being all innocent or only about boys then just shove this riot in their ears.

Resplendent with one of the greatest nonsense refrains in popular music ("shimmy-shimmy-shimmy-shi-mi-mis-pe-dis") and screams aplenty, this track is a winner on every conceivable level. The instrumentation is clearly designed to sound Egyptian, but instead resembles the soundtrack to a campy exploitation flick about girl gangs among the pyramids (or something).

A highly unusual platter, and deservedly enjoying a greater cult reputation as the years go by.

Might just well be the most dreamy, seductive, sexy song imaginable. Too bad it's only a bit over two
minutes long. From one of the million Italian thriller soundtracks that are, thank God, now available.

Taken from his exquisite Latin American Suite, this is an unusual sounding track to me. Mid-tempo, with an unrelenting bossa nova style beat, the action is shared between the piano and various horns and saxophones. I guess it's the strange discordant tones that take this track higher for me. They remind me of some chords I've heard in the more adventurous Brazilian pop music of the late 1960s - basically taking what is fundamentally a sweet sounding, warm chord, and overlaying notes that provide a darker, more forboding feel.

Adding to this, the punctuating horns and reeds give the whole thing a gently groovy feel that's reminiscent of quirky 60s soundtrack music. Really cool stuff, and I recommend the whole album.

Most of the soundtrack to this comedy-caper flick is pretty standard '60s soundtrack material. This track, however, is moody, top-notch crime jazz... The arrangement is chaotic but stirring with some really heavy bass-piano, wailing brass, and organ (used more as an atmospheric sound effect than to deliver any melody). Special thanks to Darrell Brogdon for playing this on his Retro Cocktail Hour.

The prolific and always entertaining Ramsey Lewis.This track is one of my favorite from his collaborations with the legendary fusionist,Charles Stepney.It has all the best elements from their work,lush orchestral textures,rock steady soul jazz,and the siren calls of Miss Minnie Riperton.It sounds like this recording was done during the same sessions as Minnie's incredible solo album,Come To My Garden.In fact,the record contains a version of "Les Fluer" that has the same istrumentation, except Ramsey plays the lead vocal melody in his typical style.

This piece is almost like some kind of lost soundtrack work,impressionistic in a spiritual way,like a cosmic gospel.Travelling the silver thread of consciousness back to the source...An Eternal Journey indeed,and a must for fans of spooky jazz and 60's soundtracks.

The soundtrack to november. This or any other year. Brazilian Jose Mauro only made one album before the brazilian military or drugs (info anyone ?)pulled him in but me oh my how beautful that record is.
If there could be such a thing as bossanova-blues than Jose Mauros "obnoxius" is the blueprint. Joses songs which comes along like a blend of early milton nascimento with doses of Marcos Valle and Edu Lobo. The album was arranged by gaya and is filled with wonderful string arrangements. One modern reference would be another Jose,namely,the swedish indietroubadour Jose Gonzales. The highlight of the album comes at the end, Excaltacao e lamento..,which sends shivers down my spine everytime i hear it.

This is the title track from Fiona Apple's unreleased album, "Extraordinary Machine." This song does not sound like anything I have heard from her before. To best describe the music, I would say that it sounds like a soundtrack to a children's bed time story. The lyrics are creative and the melody is very catchy. Sadly, since Sony won't release this album, pick up this track (and the rest of the album) from the net. Sorry that I could not describe this song better (I don't know the names of the exact instruments used in the song), but trust me, this is a very interesting listen and a really good song.

This is one of these sensationally sensual, wonderful instrumental tracks only the italians could pull off in late sixties/early seventies. This is the title theme to "La morte cammina con i tacchi alti/Death walks on High Heels", one of the numerous gialli (thriller movies with that special italian touch) to come out of italy in heavy doses from the late sixties up to the mid seventies. Wonderful scores have been one of the constitutive elements of these films and while the scores that Ennio Morricone did for these movies (e.g. "L'ucello dalle piume di cristallo/Bird with the crystal plumage, "Cosa avete fatto a Solange/What have they done to Solange", Una lucertola con la pelle di donna/Lizard on a womans skin" or "Le foto proibite di una signora per bene/ Forbidden fotos of a lady above suspicion") have been long released, a lot of excellent music is still locked up in the vaults of CAM, Cinevox and other italian soundtrack labels. Thanks to the hard work of the guys at DigitMovies a lot of these scores now successively get a proper, remastered release (often for the first time ever), music otherwise would have been lost in oblivion forever. Stelvio Cipriani may not be remotely as well known as Morricone (who, naturally, overshines just every other italian composer), but he was very prolific in the heyday of italian cinema, scoring an equally wide range of different genres from westerns to gialli and from romantic movies to italain police (so called "poliziotteschi") and crime movies. This title track of "La morte cammina con i tacchi alti" doesn't have to hide behind the best of themes Morricone did, in fact the orchestration does sound very Morricone itself with an uptempo-ish bossa nova beat, lush strings, wonderful harpsicord and a female voice carrying the main melody with a bitterweet tone. The voice is delivered by Nora Orlandi, one of the very few female soundtrack composers and she could easily be mixed up with Edda Dell'Orso here. Wonderful stuff, recommended for anyone who enjoys the "Mondo Morricone" comps.

Here's Mancini at his moodiest, really digging deep for an eastern-meets-baroque vibe. With banks of silky brass, dreamy flute, harpsichord and marimba! Such a master of color and image, right down to the gong strike at the end, fabulous! Part of an often overlooked LP that details sides he recorded during some of his famous soundtrack sessions, utilizing the talents of his many players at the time. A must for the Man-fan!

Goldfrapp borrows heavily from Ennio Morricone's "Invezione Per John" (from the "Gui La Testa" soundtrack) for this track and pulls it off perfectly I think. Terrific wordless vocals.

I can just imagine people sitting in a seedy New York movie theatre on 42nd Street back in 1961 watching a b-movie called "Satan in High Heels". The film is in its last reel and suddenly the main female character comes out on the nightclub stage wearing a leather outfit complete with 6-inch dominitrix boots and a riding crop! The music swells and she starts to sing:
---
i'm the kind of woman, not hard to understand,
i'm the one who cracks the whip and holds the upper hand
I'll beat you, mistreat you, til you quiver and quail,
the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
---
This little film isn't likely to have ever had a soundtrack album which in a way is sad because in addition to this camply little gem there are a couple of other cute vocals by Meg Myles and the other actresses in the film and some great jazz instrumentals sprinkled throughout as well. The fine folks at Something Weird Video have kindly put this little film out on DVD. You can also catch the scene containing this song on their compilation of movie trailers (where I first discovered this film) released to inform people of their DVD catalog.

deceptivly simple, eerie melancholic electronic piece from the soundtrack to the (frankly disappointing) soderbergh remake of "solaris".
half clinical, half emotional. pretty good stuff.
sounds a bit like something off radiohead's kid a, only more reflective and less pretentious.

apparently the delta rythm boys were quite big in sweden in the late fifties, something wich eventually led to them recording this quirky little song. it's a jazzy take on an old swedish folk song, including the swedish lyrics. however, the vocalists didn't speak the language at the time of the recording, so the result turned out to be remarkably strange. still, it�s a fantastic song, and even if you don't understand swedish (well, most people don't) i think you'll appreciate this. it's pretty tough to come by unless you happen live next to a swedish thrift store, but it�s well worth hunting down. i first heard it on the in-film soundtrack to the film "kitchen stories"(salmer fra kj�kkenet) by bent hamer.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0323872/
i don�t think there's a soundtrack cd out, but the complete song plays during the end credits, and can easily be ripped. (the film is well worth seeing too, if you can stand subtitles, i recommend ordering it)

This track also comes from "The Very Best Of John Barry" and is the main titles from the soundtrack of the film "Follow Me" starring Mia Farrow, Topol and Michael Jayston and directed by Carol Reed in 1971. The soundtrack has only been offically released in Japan for some reason but a version can be found on the Polydor CD "The Very Best of John Barry" which in itself is a compilation of two John Barry Polydor albums released in the 70s (one of which is the fantastic "The Concert John Barry"). The track is a lush string led theme in a minor key with the Polydor version including a mandolin leading the main melody along. The film I saw many years ago and my memory of it is very vague, but I do remember enjoying it and the music really stuck with me (being directed by Carol Reed who gave us "The Third Man" means it must have had something going for it!). The soundtrack is also available as a 500 limited edition bootleg (Dark Son Records DSRJB71-01A) and includes the vocal version heard at the end credits. Like a lot of Barry's 60s output the soundtrack consists of the main theme repeated in various different styles with the exception of one or two tracks (like "The Knack" and "The Ipcress File").

A beautifully lilting modern waltz. Bittersweet fingerpicked guitar in the background and a wonderful haunting voice, I'm assuming Inara George herself. I'd love to learn more about the artist. A beautiful song of the bitter side of love, "fools in love they think they're heroes, because they get to feel no pain, i say fools are lovers' heroes, i should know, i should know because this fool's in love again." I just love songs like this. I first heard it watching Grey's Anatomy. So I looked on Amazon at the playlist for the soundtrack and found it. Definitely a great song in my book.
She has a website: www.inarageorge.com and unfortunately she just finished a tour.

actually, this is a german advertising-song from 1973. i wonder how advertising was in those days, since this track lasts 2:56min.
found on popshopping, a compilation with old funky german advertising-songs issued by the lable crippled hot dick wax, where you can find many of those obscure old recordings. for example shake sauvage. a compilation with old french film soundtracks. great catchy tunes in there, too!
anyway, christian bruhn is rather known here in germany. he wrote a lot of hits and a great soundtrack for the 70s/80s cartoon/anime series captain future.
this one is funky and catchy, with female "aaaaah" singings and great brass hits (which i like more and more....)

Always one of my favourites from Hair for its cutie-pie quality. I think it encapsulates a certain kind of teenage girl, forward but fickle, scared but full of bravado. And that's very unusual for a song to do; the complexity of pubescent girls is very rarely explored without titillation and / or simplicity.

Sandie, hardly a teen herself at 23, nevertheless gives this a very beautiful interpretation in French. Her accent to me sounds good but what do I know, I can barely manage "la plume de ma tante".

Good accompaniment arranged by her long-time collaborator Ken Woodman.

The soundtrack to my life.
With standard rock setup, bass, drums and guitar as well as an additional pedal steel ogh makes truly beautiful music. Don�t be fooled by the pedal steel...this is far from all the Wilco wannabes. Logh creates feelings.

When I first started actively listening to Mancini, I guess it was in '94 or '95, I was put off by his work from the late '60s/early '70s. I guess my impression was that he wrote these brilliant pop scores until the mid-'60s and then just starting doing mediocre orchestral Beatles medleys and stuff like that. Well, lately I've been realizing how misinformed my first impression was. In fact, it seems i've been enjoying Mancini's work from this era even more than much of his older stuff. "Giovanna" is a great, jaunty little instrumental from Vittorio De Sica's 1970 film "Sunflower." The very Italian-sounding arrangement is carried by the organ and accordion. I think the "Sunflower" soundtrack is too often compared to Morricone. While I can maybe hear the influence, the sound is distinctly Mancini. Another good track from the album is "Love In The Sand" which features, uh, some very nice harpsichord work.

This track by british session musician and library composer Alan Hawkshaw is the just the perfect soundtrack to cruise along a coast highway and, as the title suggests, you might want to do this in a sportscar (if available) for maximum enjoyment. Featuring incredibly lush strings and an Alpert-esque trumpet playing the melody it's not unlike "Pacific Coast Highway" by Burt Bacharach in mood and feel.

A blend of Mexican, a sprinkling of country and a dose of Southern soul "Goodnight Moon" is a track off the album "I Ought to Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump" : classy!

When a song hits me - I will play it like it's going out of fashion, or in this case, coming into fashion!

Until four days ago I knew nothing about this band - I happened to be surfing around looking for inspiration and accidently came upon this song, the singer whom I now know as Ambrosia Paisley has a sultry, quirky voice and given to this song makes it feel like It should be played acoustic in some smoky bar with swing doors, and a bar man called Hank offering neat JD's.

Although that's probably not too far from reality it is being played world wide thanks to Mr Tarrantino who has used this track in his movie soundtrack - Kill Bill 2 - which kind of makes sense to me granted that my original search on Google four days ago started with Nancy Sinatra, which I also found out "Bang Bang my baby shot me down" (another recommendation should I add!) was lent to the Kill Bill 1 soundtrack.

Regressing, I do not know if any other tunes on this album are worthy but Goodnight Moon now firmly has a place in the soundtrack to my life.

this song makes me loopy with goodness.
motion soundtrack rocks.

Wainwright's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is a match made in heaven. The fact that this was born out of the Shrek soundtrack blows my mind.

This is a beautiful bossa-tinged theme with a great blend of strings and brass. The flute/trombone melody is accompanied by an incredibly rich and airy string sound, which swells as the melody builds. The strings alone compel me to listen to this track repeatedly – their remarkably thick, drenched sound recalls some of my favorite Ennio Morricone pieces (particularly those on the fantastic ‘Mondo Morricone’ compilation). Musically, the entire ‘Hammerhead’ score seems to have been influenced by John Barry's Bond scores, and by the less goofy parts of Burt Bacharach's ‘Casino Royale’ score. As well as being a haunting movie theme, this track has elements of that classic loungey film score sound from the mid-sixties.

Hard Times comes from the Elizabethtown soundtrack, which is a great cd by the way. This song is beautiful, everyone in the world should hear. I'm not exagerating. "Let us pause in lifes pleasures and count it's many tears."

A rock-y love song. Shane in good voice - maybe the last time he has been in such good voice, I dunno. The voices go together brilliantly.

Its a nice contrast with 'Fairytale of New York'. Sample lyric 'you were so cool you could have put out Vietnam'

It was originally recorded with original Pogues bass player Cait O'Riordan (forgive the spelling - I'm crap at Irish names) which I heard at the time but not since - it was on the soundtrack to Sid and Nancy

There are many memorable cuts on this soundtrack, and I essentially picked this because it's the longest. Anyway, Komeda's score is perfect for the film -- humorous maybe but definetly very, very creepy.

A gem from the classic '60s television soundtrack to "Secret Agent Man"/"Danger Man". Driving rhthym with harpsichord and brass.

Jessica has really matured since her 'teengirl on movie soundtrack days' and this song shows it. Her voice is so honest, I keep playing it over and over.

Another Axelrod mini masterpiece on display here. Big twangy guitars and a wonderfully modernistic haze of modal horns strings and flutes snake around rock solid bass and drums. Whoooo-heee

The lady may have left the stage, but her spirit lives on in her recordings, and this is among her finest!! Sadly unreleased in the US for 28 years, this gloriously somber song was included in the 1995 anthology box set. Dusty sings with a sadness in her voice as she vocally paints a picture of a dreary day. While the overcast sky fails to crush her spirit, it does provide an opportunity for introspection and reflection. She is accompanied only by piano and orchestral strings which give this song a beautifully sad sound that make it perfect for playing on a rainy day.

This is another great, great pop song from the 1966-68 era, that made it to the top of the charts and has since been more or less forgotten.

Absolutely superb arrangement by Mike Leander.

Tremendous and mighty orchestral backing creating a great wall of sound.

It was Paul Jones second (& last) big hit after leaving Manfred Mann in 1966.

It was also part of the soundtrack to the film 'Privilege' (1967).

This is another great British pop song that never made it in the USA.

I never get bored of it & I've known it all my life.

Great, great pop music.

first of all: great soundtrack!
this track begins slowly with some percussions. and then the almighty horn section starts. i love them loud and dramatic. the way they are here. the rest of the track is also nice but looping 0:58 to 1:36 the whole day would do it for me...

This song is from my favorite musicals, Guys and Dolls. Blossom Dearie's version of this song is, in my opinion, the best. It's because of her voice. She's a musical marvel.

from the crash soundtrack

My track of choice in the excellent Silver Morning 1975 LP of this distinguished singer/songwriter. To the best of my knowledge, this is not a cover version, but a shining original. It comes in swinging 3/4 time, it's the most jazzy of the LP's tracks, it has a kinda dramatic soundtrack feel, it's simply great!

Small song. Written by E.G. from Madreoceano, very personal lyrics. Just electric guitar, voice & crystal glasses. It feels like a soundtrack of an indie.

An unusual-sounding instrumental that mixes a 3/4 time signature with a light breakbeat. The song (incorrectly cited as 'the name of the game' on the record I have) is a spooky and groovy instrumental, with a continuous organ riff, great strings, and a big beat. A different interpretation of this song by another British arranger, John Gregory, appears on the excellent German compilation 'the mad mad world of soundtracks'.

I'm always suprised by this group. The freshness of this song is hardly questionable, mainly because the soundtrack is a hidden gem recently unearthed. And for Cyrkle fans like me, it's a dream come true. The song is a spare bossa-tinged affair, done as sort of a stripped down folky interlude. But the track stands on it's own amongst their better known tracks like "The Visit", of which it bears a resemblance. It sounds like Tom Dawes took the reigns on this project, arranging and producing the whole thing to make one of the more memorable and interesting soundtracks I have.

Fans of Elliot Smith should check this one.

This lost Jorge Ben stormer has a rawer sound and harder rock edge to it than usual during this, his greatest period. Relegated to an obscure soundtrack LP, it stomps all over the place at a slower, heavier and more menacing tempo than anything on "Ben" or "A Tabua De Esmeralda." The beat is anchored by that famous acoustic guitar sound, heavy bass and a loud cowbell, as Jorge yells out improvised nonsense in a hilarious mix of Spanish and English! "Rock Steady-O!!" Must be heard to be believed.

Superb Mike Curb production of a Schifrin theme to an absolutely terrible WW2 action-comedy. Militaristic drumming and a very cool whistling chorus (reminiscent of Quincy Jones' theme to "The Italian Job", which came out the previous year) make this a piece of extremely groovy soundtrack work. The same album also yields a horribly sappy Hank Williams, Jr. song and the much-sampled "Burning Bridges" by the Mike Curb Congregation.

Uppish tempo, clap-your-hands Brit pop/alt rock song that makes you want to drive and drive and push the speed limit. Lead singer (Chad Horton) has an in-tune yet rasping tone remeniscent of John Lennon. Instrumentation includes tamborine and congas, and a delay pedal. Excellent musicianship. Killer basslines. Dance, dance, dance.

Ever wonder what a collaboration between Kate Bush and Gary Numan in, say, 1982 might have sounded like? Well, now you know.... Pure organic/synthetic sex pop, kids. Submit to Allison's tubeway army - resistance is futile!

This is an absolutely impossible rarity, as it has never been released out of the original master-tape (until 1 year ago)! Part of the soundtrack of a 1973 Greek psychedelic underground film with the international title 'She Knew No Other Way' (local title: Children of the Flowers). However, this is not a mad freak-beat groovy tune (which is the case for most of the rest of the tunes in the soundtrack score); instead, it's a warm, classy, mid-tempo, funky jam with wah-wah guitar & sax solos and a very discreet piano backing. As a Greek, I was astounded by the discovery of this 70s funky gem from a totally unknown composer (Mike Rozakis). A true obscurity masterpiece, seek the proper vinyl release from Greek label 'Potfleur'.

Although I'm very interested in the batch of cool Italian soundtracks from the 60s and 70s which have recently been reissued, I often feel pretty overwhelmed by the volume of stuff out there. So I was pleased to find a used copy of Piero Umiliani's 'Angeli Bianchi...Angeli Neri'. It really is an intoxicatingly brilliant record, and this track is one of the highlights. The musical setting moves around a lot over four minutes - the opening sounds almost like fairy tale music; this then fades out, and some spooky and very cool sounding wordless vocals come in, accompanied by a slick, hip easy listening-style sequence with strings, bass and drums. As this builds, the wordless vocals continue, backed by increasingly beautiful and unexpected chord changes. I'm not doing a great job of describing this record, but happily in this case you can hear the whole song (streamed, real audio) at the excellent 'atrecordings.com' site. Anyway, it's a wonderful track, up there with my absolute favorite soundtrack pieces.

This is an extremely atmospheric soundtrack piece, with a wordless vocal melody from Edda Del Orso. Strings, electric harpsichord and some subtle electronic effects set the scene. There are also some beautiful Bacharach-style twists with brass. Overall it's a deadly serious and delicate number, incredibly intense, while still sounding very 'cool' (whatever that means...).

this entire soundtrack to the film la planete sauvage comes highly recommended. never seen the film, but it can�t possibly be as good as the soundtrack suggests.
chilly, funky instrumental orchestral music. there�s a really haunting recurring theme through the album, nice use of choirs and twangy guitar too.

This song is a vocal version of the intrumental song of the same name on the Amelie soundtrack.

As most of his songs it has a neat title and I find the hard driving beat great to drive to.

A classic, congenial, groundbreaking electronica score to Ridley Scott's movie "Blade Runner". While the most significant cues like "Love Theme" and "Memories of Green" were included on numerous compilations before, it took 12 years for the soundtrack to get released officially. Since Vangelis "recompiled" the music for the soundtrack, adding new music, reworked cues and left out parts of it, it's the best sounding but far from complete version of the soundtrack. Due to this fact there have been a huge amount of unofficial bootleg releases over the years, mostly private releases put out in small quantities. Even after over 20 years since the soundtrack has been recorded it still sounds fresh and highly evocative as ever before. The feeling throughout the soundtrack is a neo-retro, future-noir mood with grand soundscapes created with a mass array of various analogue synths. Especially the wonderful use of the Yamaha CS-80, with it's somewhat organic, sweeping, harmonica-style polyphonic sound gives the music such a remarkable feel. On "Love Theme" though Vangelis prominently features pretty much the only "real" instrument on the whole soundtrack, a saxophone played by Dick Morrisey.

'Love Will Take Its Time' is from the soundtrack to the film 'Apartment Hunting'.

O'Hara devotees like myself have been waiting for 15 years for a follow-up to 'Miss America' and we got a fine one in 'Apartment Hunting'.

'Love Will Take Its Time' is a jump blues/jazz number with few of the vocal tics/tricks that make O'Hara a singers singer.

Those who love creative vocals must check it out!

It is not being distributed widely so you may have to go here: http://www.apartmenthunting.com/ if you want it.

This is a great cover of the Tears for Fears song. I don't think the original holds a candle to this version. Simple and soulful, you can find it on the Donnie Darko soundtrack or take a listen at garyjules.com on the Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets CD.

A 60's Italian soundtrack tune that magically combines Pop and Renaissance. Harpsichord and wordless vocals (here, by I Marc 4) were not uncommon in the 60's, but here they are together: if only church music really sounded like this! From a killer sountrack album that has several treatments of about three or four excellent base melodies - all of them excellent. Worth every penny.

In a Morricone mood today...just a quickie.
From the soundtrack of The Exorcist 2, this insane little ditty sounds like a fifty-fifty mix of the Batman theme and library music "black metal", with added harpsichord and italian-style wordless screaming. There's also a middle eastern thing going on in there, and the whole ting is just madly energetic.
This song makes me happy in ways it probably wasn't supposed to.

This Neo-Swing Song from the American Pie soundtrack. Kinda blues, kinda rock... Pretty cool. And John Bunkley's voice!! Wow it's really something. This song cheers me up a lot.

A very cool sunshine pop style number from the soundtrack to the Brazilian soap opera 'selva de pedra'. This two-minute track has an irresistable groove and some nice harmonized group vocals. The vocals are mostly gentle and smooth, like strings, but there are also some jazzier scat phrases thrown in. The entire soundtrack is highly recommended.

An instrumental with a fascinating fusion of styles, this track starts out quietly and then explodes delightfully. Hemmingson plays what sounds like a church organ (alongside various other keyboard instruments), but mixes it in with wah-wah guitar, funky beats and percussion, strings, and a dirty, blaxploitation soundtrack-style flute, to produce a compelling sound. Sabu Martinez plays the congas.

I can't offer a great deal of background information here, since I picked this up on a third-hand recommendation, but there are a few great tracks on the album

One of my favorite soundtracks, with several reoccuring motifs utilizing different instrumentation in each incarnation. My selection of one track was based as much on the cool title as anything else. If you find this vinyl in good shape for less than thirty dollars, it would be worth considering.

This song really seems like it should be on the soundtrack of some movie that would be a cross between Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix and... I don't know, something about samurai. If you don't like electronic music, you won't like it. But one good thing about Aphex Twin is that he establishes a clear sense of movement without vocals. Most of his songs (this one included) tell a story really well.

Stunning, Italian, auburn chanteuse Milva sings a set of Ennio Morricone, produced and arranged by the maestro himself in 1972.
Need I "say" anything else?
Utterly brilliant, and this song is a highlight amongst highlights!
La diva Milva sings the daylights out of this swooning ballad - soaked in a downpour of strings, acoustic guitars and sci-fi background vocals.
I guarantee your heart will break in twenty-nine places as you listen.
(But I do have to ask - does anybody out there know from what soundtrack this songs originates?)

Carlo coup� es un nov�simo compositor espa�ol que cuenta en su haber con 3 discos repletos de un estilo exquisito y sibarita, recreando ambientes selectos llenos de largos cigarrillos, trajes de corte impoluto y vestidos op art, acompa�ado por supuesto por el toque m�gico de su hammond.
la canci�n que presento pertenece a su �ltimo disco, en el que pinta toques m�s funk y numerosos gui�os de ye ye espa�ol. pero lo m�s divertido es que el disco parece ser la soundtrack de una pel�cula italo-espa�ola de 1965 "mis balas llevan tu nombre" de la cual no se encuentra ninguna copia. cada cancion va precedida de un track con dialogo de tal pel�cula. todo ello es tan real que seguro caeras en la trampa de su mentira... o no? get it!!!!!!!!!!!

The soundtrack to Bedazzled is remarkably good, one of a few much-hyped records floating around in my head that has actually lived up to my expectations. This instrumental is notable for its haunting mood and astonishingly beautiful chord sequence. The flute melody, lush strings and gentle latin percussion combine beautifully. Musically, it's one of those pieces that's so good you want to cry.

Released in 1969; peaked in the US in 1970. I always thought it was by Stevie Wonder, but as it turns out, it's by a white California group. You've probably heard it: "I love you more today than yesterday / but not as much as tomorrow..."

A great combination of upbeat lyrics and music with a slight tinge of melancholy, as if the singer is recognizing that tomorrow isn't quite here yet and there's always the chance that his plans will be derailed...

Great horns on this and several of their other singles (e.g., "No One For Me To Turn To"), but I read somewhere that the band's lack of a concert horn section led to their demise... apparently Pat Upton (writer of this track and lead singer) has also blamed poor management or record-comany politics. Too bad.

Also check out a cool Ska version by Goldfinger on the WATERBOY (late 90s) soundtrack.

Wow. This is just...wow. I've just gotta say that I have an absolutely unnatural attraction to this group. Imagine if you will, a chorus of super-square middle-aged white folks, swinging it's way through the rockin' hits of the day, only performing them all with absolutely perfect diction & grammar. The mastermind behind this way one Mr. Ray Bloch, who, according to the back cover to every one of the LPs that I own, was the musical director for the Ed Sullivan Show. All I know is that anything the man touched was gold! Check out his versions of "Penny Lane" and "Light My Fire" on the "Hits of '67" LP, or his absolutely quizzical take on the ENTIRE soundtrack from "Hair".

How best to describe such a tableau as this? Another Indian gem imprinted into my brain from my recent holiday.

Parts of this song are so much like the Grease 2 soundtrack in spirit it's untrue. Mix that with the kind of Hindi film beats that have become close to my heart over the last couple of months and you're talking about the kind of song which will keep me awake thinking of its greatness.

The female backing vocals are the cherry on the crumble. You can just picture the wide eyed lovely saying "An-thony GONSALVES!!"

This track, heck, make that soundtrack, is fast becoming an all-time Morricone favourite for me (that's saying a lot-I would hate to have to count the # of soundtracks I have collected by him). It describes, quite evocatively and soulfully, exactly what it feels like to be in a dream. No synthesizers, either (well, obvious synthesizers), just celeste, strings and Edda doing this descending scale thing. And the drums and rhythm pick up and we are off to the races in some kind of cosmic heaven. It's a jangly melody that keeps spiralling higher and higher. I don't think Edda has ever hit any higher notes! The whole "Vergogna Schifosi" soundtrack is glorious, really. I know that sounds stupid, but it's so short and sweet and filled with beautiful, mysterious and lush instrumentation. Worth seeking out the CD. I found mine thru Lionel, the fello at Hillside in the UK. Thanks Lionel!

Really good song not a genre i usually listen to found it on the soundtrack for a game called "borderlands"

This summer marks the 20th year of the release of 'Strangeways Here We Come' and the disintegration of the Smiths. *sigh* I was compelled to grab a stack of Morrissey CD singles as the soundtrack to my work day today and ended up playing this track several times over while stuck in the cube farm.

A beautiful song by a rare artist. I would never have heard this gorgeous song if it weren't for filmmaker John Waters. It is about a man who is completely devoted to his faithless love. He will sit and wait for eternity in the hope that the woman he loves will return. The vocal was recorded inside a small closet and the acoustics provide a haunting sound in Mr. McCall's voice. He is accompanied by piano, a soulful organ, and percussion. This song alone is worth the purchase price of the Hairspray soundtrack!! Pick it up today!

beautiful
-yes-
beautiful acoustic cover of the campy iron maiden song. nice driving beat. great melancholy vibe going on, it manages to give the �berstupid lyrics some sense of metaphorical meaning.. I first heard it on the soundtrack to the film "spun" by jonas �kerlund, where it plays during the opening credits. however, i don't think there's an official soundtrack out there, but it's pretty easy to find on various file-sharing networks.

Here's a really cool one. This is Lesley Gore doing a cover of the Mindbenders' stomping mod classic "Off and Running", which originally appeared on the "To Sir, With Love" soundtrack. This version completely outpaces the original, in my opinion.

Terrific downbeat with a very sparse feel. Great soundtrack-inspired piece of moody Bristol trip-hop, with nods to Barry Adamson and Jimmy Webb.

A perfectly distilled instrumental which seems to capture everything poignant and affecting about Badalamenti's soundtrack work. 'Perdita' opens with a faint piano, being played seemingly with one finger, which gets louder and is joined gradually by a rich string section. Rather like some of Ennio Morricone's best themes, this is very simple, but so beautiful that it doesn't end up sounding obvious or clich�d. On the other hand, perhaps I'm just being nostalgic about being 16 again.

This unique song, unique to the whole body of work by the obscure Asylum Party, unique in every sense... If anybody ever wanted to create the sound of pure nostalgia in itself, this is the closest anyone ever got. I wonder what other people feel when listening to this song. I get utterly and hopelessly nostalgic, even though I don't know what for. It's not that I'm particularly old and know many times and eras, it's not that I have to dig particularly deep into my memory to get to that one dark part that's so irrevocably gone it makes one's heart ache and break. I don't know what it reminds me of, if of anything at all. It seems to be simply the soundtrack of some good times, times much better than the one you're stuck in right now, the soundtrack of reverie and the painful awareness that nothing will be the same again. I sometimes think it reminds me of beautiful summers I've known, the heat and sun that burnt my eyes, but then it seems just as fitting for a summer night at an open fire or an autumn window blurred with falling rain. The initial beats sound as if they could lead to anything, they even sound deceptively cheerful until the first melancholic screech of a guitar... "Feeling that hole that is just my soul..." Yeah, that must be it!

This sultry ballad from 1984 is the perfect showcase for Tina's great voice. A nice chill out song and good soundtrack for a romantic evening.

Alessandroni is probably best known for his characterstic whistling on Ennio Morricone's spaghetti soundtracks. Apart from that he was also one of the few sitar players at the time, guitar player, composer, arranger and the founder of the chorus group "I Cantori Moderni" that was featured on a lot of italian soundtracks of the 60s. In the early 70s he had the opportunity to record a "solo" album, not a score, with a big orchestra without any restrictions (which means it didn't had to fit the mood of a film). The result was "Prisma Sonoro" and it's very Morricone-esque stylewise and regarding the texture of the music with lush strings, horns, wordless vocals,harpsicords etc. Unfortunately it's scarcely available on vinyl, but the track "Punti di vista" was issued as "A spanish village" as a bonus track on the Hexacord release "Di Tresette Ce N'E' Uno Tutti Gli Altri Son Nessuno & Other Western Themes".

A week ago I was in India, the holiday of a lifetime. As well as all the tourist stuff, like temples and museums, I always make sure that I get a slice of pop culture when I'm in a foreign country. So the night tended to conclude in the hotel with a bit of Indian TV.

Watched a fair bit of MTV India which, if anything, is even heavier on ads and blatent self-promotion that its British and American equivalents. I was cheered to see that most of the music they played was in Hindi and there was a limit on the American and European bands that got airplay (seemingly, strangely, limited to The Rasmus and Britney Spears).

But MTV is only watchable for a limited amount of time. Jet lag and excitement dictates that one spends more time awake than asleep and so I got to see a few late 70's Bollywood classics, among them 'Shaan' (translation: 'Pride'). This Asha Bhosle gem is from this movie. The film itself struk me as a fairly banal James Bond rip off although, not speaking Hindi, I grant that I'll have missed the more subtle aspects of plot construction.

This song stopped me in my tracks. I knew that Bollywood was an area that I enjoyed but was in a grand state of ignorance of, and I was looking forward to rectifying this. Pyar Karne Wale takes the prize for best Donna Summer rip off EVER. Stealing its barely-adjusted backing from 'I Feel Love', Bhosle wails and moans over the top, transforming Moroder's disco classic into something that simultanously establishes common ground between Indian and European disco while evoking its more subtle differences.

Myself and boyfriend came back with what seems like every Bollywood soundtrack produced between 1972 and 1980 including, of course, Shaan. I look forward to educating myself in this genre and finding more similar gems.

unbelievably cool track, one of my top ten gainsbourg compositions. great jazzy sex beat, smooth vocals.
it's one of his more agressive songs, similar to the also recommended "un poison violent c'est l'amour".
there seems to be a bit of a bit of a prog vibe going on (in lack of better words, i'm not exactly an expert in the technicalities of music).
nice guitar hook. though the track is pretty repetitive, it's by no means boring. the repetition only helps to make it more intense and interesting.
taken from the film le pacha. i think a lot of gainsbourg's soundtrack work is pretty interesting stuff, though some of it often seems a bit rushed or too similar to other cool compositions from the same era (hey, i'm a sucker for plagiarism...)
the soundtrack to cannabis comes especially recommended.

Soaring choral evocation of a cold bright day on a busy river. From Piero Piccioni�s soundtrack to a Swinging London exploitation film in which an Italian eccentric encounters bikers, fox hunters and a haunted castle.

French girlie pop of the sort that only Serge was capable of! This is taken from the soundtrack to a television comedy special starring Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Brialy & Anna Karina, who prior to this had of course been Jean-Luc Godard's primary actress and wife (reportedly, her dalliances with Mssr. Gainsbourg played a pivotal role in the dissolution of their marriage). Rah-rah-rah-roller gairl!

A beautiful Mancini piece from one of his best-known soundtracks that I had somehow managed to neglect completely. The Pink Panther was never at the top of my wish-list, but after picking up the CD last week for a mere 50p, I was very impressed. The score utilizes the accordian slightly more than I would have liked, but has some fantastic textured tracks, such as this one.

The track opens with a 'Blues in the night' style riff on the piano. The lead is then taken by a blistering muted trumpet sound. I've always thought of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks work as being heavily Mancini-influenced, but that link has never been more clear to me than on this track, which has a similar moody tone to some of the best tracks on the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack. The classic Mancini string sound is also in evidence, as well as a gentle wordless chorus. About half-way through, legendary tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson takes up the melody. The dreaded accordian gets a brief look-in before the track concludes with some more riffing on the trumpet. Fantastic stuff; Mancini really was an inspirational arranger.

Lord knows that I would never recommend a McKuen vocal, but this tight, jazzy little soundtrack instrumental is quite another matter. This cut moves along rather nicely, with a cool taut rhythm. The arrangement was written by Arthur Greenslade, a longtime collaborator of both Serge Gainsbourg and Alan Hawkshaw.

Mandy Moore does a cover of this on the "Mona Lisa Smile" soundtrack.

This is my first recommendation, so I will go easy on all of you. The following description is from my website. (it is the only way to do the song justice):

This can only be compared to something like "Retro-60's Upside-down Elevator Muzak".
(although it certainly draws from 20's/ 30's Big Band escapism)
The thing is, if this actually were playing in an elevator, the people there would certainly perform an odd ritual of alternately:
a. Merrily tapping their foot, and then
b. Looking up at the speaker, frowning and befuddled.
This is a song, which back in my partying days, we would use as a soundtrack for the following activity:
We would put our tiny baby Alligator Lizard, Festus
(who was an inch long, head to tail, and smaller around than a pencil)
...we would put him on this cheap little multi-colored fiber-optic "fountain" and put the clear cube back over it.
We would then watch as this "fountain" would very slowly spin around, Festus aboard, with this completely absurd (but oddly beautiful) music playing.
This produced near-catastrophic laughter because he would be looking up at you with this little tiny frown, as if to say;
"what the hell is wrong with you people?"
To this day, I cannot properly answer that question.
R.I.P., Festus.

Additional info:
The sax is not my favorite instrument, but it is perfectly utilized here. It wavers between slightly obnoxious and smooth as silk.
What really make the track sweet, however are the unique guitar stylings of Snakefinger.

Great soundtrack to a sun-drenched sunday afternoon. Birdie members Paul Kelly and Deborah Wykes met as tour musicians for Saint Etienne, and in fact they sound similar with Deborah Wykes sounding like a somewhat subdued, toned down Sarah Cracknell. But you can hear more influences, with all the warm instrumentation in the song (acoustic guitar, flutes, muted trumpet, various analogue keyboards) it's close to late 60s easy listening pop, Bacharach and The Carpenters.

soundtrack for "Spirited Away", a beautiful Japanese animated film for all ages.
I love this song as a piano piece as well as in full orchestra form.
Joe Hisaishi is my hero.

I've been in love with this tune since I heard the superb instrumental version of it on 1990's 'Wild at Heart' soundtrack. I'm a big fan of Les Paul and Mary Ford's records - the combination of immaculate multitracked guitars and spooky, clear vocals is a real winner for me. I only found out about this recording quite recently. It really is stunning. It's slow, plodding along while Les's intricate but very cool guitar lines twinkle around over the top. This song makes me feel very nostalgic, although I'm not sure exactly what for. The lyrics really add something to the atmosphere - 'tell me where do they go/those smoke rings that blow each night'. Anyway, please ignore my inadequate description and listen to this exquisite, perfect recording.

This theme is taken from the 1960s hit TV-series 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. Although I don't recall ever hearing this version of the theme I know I've heard variations of it in the series. I particually remember a vibraphones only theme that was played in a store in one of the episodes from the first season.

This version is a laidback bossa song with trumpets, trombones, organs and vibraphones. I'm not sure if this theme was especially written for Vaughn's characher Napoleon Solo, but I guess you could call it his theme since it was often played during his scenes. This is a great song!

I think this is likely to be one of those songs you might accidentally come across on the radio or in a movie soundtrack, you don't know who performs it and you don't care because it just takes you in when you listen to it. You can't use words like "amazing" or "breathtaking" to describe it. It's just simple and beautiful and you'll love it if you like slow-paced songs with a acoustic guitar melody that sound really dreamy and wonderful.

This plays during a very creepy/hot sex scene, go figure, from David Lynch's "Lost Highway". The song isn't on the soundtrack and I had to hunt it down seperately.

The mixture of the female singer's flowing voice with the slow guitar, following a step behind, is soothing and gorgeous.

It is a love song but one of sitting lost and alone "at the breakers" waiting for either love to return or to "lie with death, my bride"

One of two astounding percussive cuts on the soundtrack 'No way to Treat a Lady'. The film is apparently a light-hearted look at murder. This cut has a solid beat, which sits behind a church organ sound. This is soon joined by a dirty-sounding guitar. The effect is trashy, but very cool. This track reminds me of the John Schroeder cut 'Soul Trek' (aka 'Astra Nova Orchestra's 'Soul Sleeper'), with a feel that is slightly 'rock'.

I grew up listening to Joe Jackson and i still find his venturing into all sorts of musical styles and the eclecticism surrounding his musical work very interesting. Starting as a post-punk, new wave singer/songwriter he released three great albums from 79-81 with his "Joe Jackson Band" before going solo with a string of fine albums in the 80s (musically ranging from jazz, R&B, rock to latin-tinged sophisticated pop) and later writing and arranging soundtracks and even doing classical music. He recently regrouped with his band, produced another album and toured with the original line-up consisting of Gary Sanford, Graham Maby and Dave Houghton and surprisingly it worked as good as in the beginning of his career. "Steppin' Out" was released on probably his best solo offering "Night & Day" in 1982, a highly evocative, melancholic, catchy pop song skillfully mixing a synth sequencer beat and keyboards with piano jazz harmonies and xylophones.

originally written for marianne faithfull, but i prefer tom waits`s own rendition of this song.
a slow tango-esque piece with a sublime lounge band backing(if you can call a something featuring a banjo player a lounge band)and half-whispered, half sung vocals. i really appreciate the sound of the "big time"-album.
the backing music in the chorus of this song never fails to conjure up images of the tango band from "a nightmare before christmas" in my head, due to the similarity of the sound. did danny elfman fall in love with this song during the composition of the soundtrack, or does he and waits share a common, different source of inspiration? if so, i`d love to hear that song..

waits revisited the musical ideas of this song for "it`s over" (an outstanding song in it`s own right)from the "liberty heights" soundtrack, by the way. it`s always interesting to hear him experiment with and explore his own compositions, but then again i`m a sucker for variatons on musical themes..

An incredibly light and gentle bossa nova track with an impeccable, delicate arrangement. Originally released on the "Stiletto"-Soundtrack, it's due to compiler Toru Hashimoto's excellent work on the "Cafe Apres-Midi" series that this gem didn't fade into obscurity.

This story-song uses an imposing repeating piano riff, 12 string guitar, a little tasteful organ, and dramatic wistful strings as it recounts someone's first, well, lay. On a hot June day/night the singer loses his virginity with a older Southern belle. The version on the Honey CD though isn't as good as the original Bobby Goldsboro vinyl- it seems too lavishly produced, and is from the Summer of '42 soundtrack.

Taken from the film soundtrack 'Requiem for a dream'

I don't care much for the rest of the soundtrack, but the title theme for this dario Argento horror film is top rate. Underpinnig the whole thing is a continuous ominous rhythm played on what sounds like a hammered dulcimer, on top of this there doesn't appear to be much actually going on. Apart from the sound effects. Screams, bells. All very, very intense. I have a vinyl version of teh OST (plus a 7 of the theme from Il Giaguaro magazine [quick brag]), but the cd looks good with a couple of extra versions.

Don't know much about neither the artist nor the origin of this track, but it�s, despite being a bit repetitive, flawlessly arranged. Female la-la-la lyricless voice singing the melody, italian soundtrack kind of mood (misleading title that is) with lush strings and good overall arrangement.

You probably wouldn't expect an amazing easy listening track by Morricone on a western soundtrack i guess, but that's what you get here. Except for the harmonica intro this is pure Morricone lounge and it features the most delicate use of a muted, toned down trumpet sound one can imagine. The way it's gently built up is just fantastic and it surely can make your hair raise, it's so subtly but overwhelmingly performed. After the harmonica there's piano chords fading in, then the song kicks off with subtle strings in the background and with a midtempo drumbeat. Wonderful melody, after a while the strings start to crescend leading into a swirl and a harpsicord is added in the right places. This track just melts in your ears like italian ice cream in the sun. Another gem by Ennio, the song was even issued as a single in Italy in 1972, together with "Sonny", recommended elsewhere on musicaltaste.

somewhat of a classic. great little easy listening track..her voice sounds very sexy, and the lyrics are so unbelievably kitchy/catchy i just keep returning to it.

Enormous, gorgeous, hard-rocking (what a silly phrase) song about hedonism/surrender/desperation/"goin' for a ride." Like "Born To Run," "Baba O'Riley," and "Let's Go Crazy" thrown in a blender and soundtracking a black-and-white indie film.

Aaah, the eighties. Everyone´s got their memories, i do and you do too. One who soundtracked my youth was haircut one hundreds singer/songwriter Nick Heyward who went onto a not as succesful solocareer but who yielded many pearls of popsongs for those who cared to look. Tell me why from 88s "I love you avenue" has to be my favorite nick track since it encapsules all his qualties best. Regret, melancholia and longing for the mrs and a piano midtempo verse that leads up to a killer chorus. Avalaible in a bargain bin near you.

Although far less well known than the 12" version and the 1987 'substance' rerecording, I'm utterly in love with this 7" version. I think perhaps the band hate it, since it doesn't seem ever to have appeared on CD, and was not even on the recent 'Retro' box set. At a little over 5 minutes long, it just seems much more focused and affecting to me than the overlong 12" version and the scrappy 1987 version.

It opens with that hypnotic beat/synth sound that has become famous since the song was used in various film soundtracks (most famously, Trainspotting, and most recently, 24 hour party people. Both used the later, rubbish version though). On this version, there's a twangy guitar sound added over the top of the introduction. The other main difference from other versions is vastly improved vocals (particularly over the 1987 version), and that wonderful early New Order guitar sound, as witnessed on other classic tracks like 'Ceremony' and 'Procession'. Like a handful of other tracks I've recommended, it's hard for me to be completely objective about this one, because I've adored it since my mid-teens. But having just bought an extra copy of the single, I'm happy to report that it sounds as brilliant as ever.

This recording showcases a raw and under-appreciated New Order/Joy Division sound that mixes early synth sounds and beats with punky guitars in a really beautiful and affecting way. I still enjoy their later stuff, but it's tracks like this that really attract me to the band.

Great bubblegum-pop theme to the Dean Martin spy flick done by Boyce & Hart, best known as one of the songwriting teams behind the Monkees. This track features some terrifically dated, non-P.C. lyrics like "blonde hair, brunette, redheads/lying like injuns in the grass/they're comin' through the pass/and buster/you're General Custer". It also features a great Tijuana Brass-esque horn arrangement, and since this came out on A&M, it may actually be Alpert and the boys themselves. The single is pretty easy to find, but it's also available on the fantastic "Mad, Mad World of Soundtracks" comp from Germany, with its accompanying book of soundtrack cover art.

Morricone seems to have taken quite a few pages from Komeda's score for "Rosemary's Baby" here for the soundtrack to this Dario Argento serial killer movie. This track features some creepy heavy breathing, cascading dissonant piano notes, and some of the scariest "la-la-la"-ing ever committed to wax. I've never seen the movie, but based on the record, I'm pretty certain that it would scare the hell out of me.

An atmospheric soundtrack instrumental, with a superb blend of strings harpsichord, brass and woodwind. Everything is underpinned by a gently funky beat that delights me, and is typical of early 70s mood instrumentals.

Otto Preminger's "Skidoo," starring Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, and Groucho Marx, among others, is best described as a psychedelic gangster film. While the film itself is mostly forgotten, Harry Nilsson gave it a memorable soundtrack, including "The Cast and Crew," which was played over the credits.

Wait. Did I say "played over?" This song IS the credits. The COMPLETE credits. Yes, going as far as mentioning the copyright line ("Copyright MCMLXVIII/By Sigma Productions Incorporated/Your seat's on fire") and people such as negative cutters, set directors, etc. And he puts in every little detail:

--"Photographed in Panavision and Technicolor/Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy, A.S.C. Hmph."

--"It's a Paramount (TM) release, a Gulf + Western company." (Yes, he sings "TM" and "plus.")

So, it's the movie credits. But he sings them, and he sings them in an interesting and humorous way. You have to pity the poor guy: he had to take all these names and occupations, fit them into a song, and make it interesting. And he even performed it live on television once, on "Playboy After Dark" in 1968.

I happened across this LP in a friends shop. I went to listen to it and this song blew me away. It's almost like a tune from a lost Jimmy Webb opus, or a Galt McDermott musical.... Like "HAIR".

The group sings in a loose ensemble with a very gospel-like arrangement that jumps from a driving, fuzzy, Motown like groove to waltz-y 3/4 skip. It represents the two impressionistic counterpoints in the songs drama :

" We see the phonies, you and I.... Their faded posies make us cry...." to " I smell the flowers... I smell the roses, and buttercups...."

It also reminds me of the Rotary Connection stuff that was around the same time.

The arranger is what turned me on to it, Ralph Carmichael. His label, Light, released stuff by the Oral Roberts kids, which is worth checking out for novelty's sake.

50% of this record is preach-y, but the rest of the songs, like this one, are well done with a lot of personality.RC is well known in sample circles for his famous cut "Addict's Psalm",from the Xian film soundtrack "The Cross & The Switchblade".

Use caution!

Sarmila Roy the end song from the play not really indian a western take...

Cyrkle recorded the soundtrack to this X-rated adult film in 1967 -- only shortly after after their biggest hit, the Paul Simon-penned "Red Rubber Ball." The film didn't screen until 1969. Judging from the title track, it is a pretty cool score and maybe not what I would expect. Soft, almost bossa acoustic guitar and wordless ba-dum-dum vocals that could of come off of a Gary McFarland record. Supposedly, Cyrkle appear in the film as well.

Of the thriller/cop/detective/crime soundtracks, this is maybe my tops. Slow, plodding, and sparse, with beautiful and short dalliances of sound.

A stunning soundtrack piece, 'the shark' opens with a catchy bass riff. Montenegro then uses an Ennio Morricone-style instrumentation with harpsichord and strings to build the theme. The tempo changes unsettlingly as the theme continues through an incredibly atmospheric three minutes.

This whole album is a masterpiece, but "Blow Up" is a track that should definitely be better known. It's a vibes-piano-bass-drums quartet session with Herbie on piano that inexplicably was never released at the time, only in Japan over a decade later. It was available on CD for a while in the early 90s, but has since been deleted. The track builds on a steady, understated 4/4 groove anchored heavy bass and creative drumming courtesy of Joe Chambers. Eight minutes of relaxed heaven, with messrs. Hutcherson and Hancock engaging in sublime vibes/piano dialogue over a very catchy theme. Seek out this album any way you can!

my fav song on the vampyros lesbos ost. the whole soundtrack is fantastic but this song is really cool, with sitarlike sounds (which i've been heavily into the last 18 months) and great atmosphere.

I always thought Nico was kinda ridiculous. But when I saw the Royal Tennenbaums a few months ago and they dropped this tune, I was sold. This whole album is a great mixture of strings and Nico's barren, exact vocals. The soundtrack is great, no doubt, but get "Chelsea Girl" for the full impact.

i'm really starting to get into the sandpipers nowadays because of their amazingly clear, fluid sound. great 60s vocal pop song, this. flute, soft strings and some sweet understated harpsichord (or some electronic instrument) playing in the background. the bassline and percussion gives it a slight italian 60's soundtrack vibe. i love how it seems to constantly change its mood, epecially when it returns to form after the first flute part. there's even a bit in there that sounds like syd barret...

I love John Barry. Actually he doesn't seem like such a great guy personally, but I love a lot of his music. This track was originally composed for the soundtrack of the 1971 film 'Mary, Queen of Scots'. However, the sound is very modern. The track is built around a recurring piano riff (which incidentally was sampled by the group Chapterhouse on their 1991 indie/shoegazing single 'mesmerize'), and the tune is played by a synthesized, echoey harpsichord. It's a delightfully simple but very catchy track which stands up to repeated listening.

Great soundtrack to a great film and composed by Dave Gruisin that some of you might know from the excellent the get easy! sunshine pop compilation from last year (2003). I think this was the one record who got me into the soundtrack genre. It�s got that typical 70�s funky soundtrack sound. Dig it.

When mentioning Swing Out Sister casual listeners often dismiss them as forgettable, mere 80s martini pop kitsch. Or worse, one hit wonders due to the fact that their 1987 offering Breakout is still, by far, their biggest single hit. But this is completely wrong. In fact, they're enjoying an ongoing career for almost 20 years, recording 8 studio albums. Nowadays they�re fitting a niche no other group fits in so comfortably: escapist, late 60s oriented sophisticated glamorous easy listening pop music with all the right influences that spring to mind of that era: Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, John Barry, late 60s european soundtracks in general, Ennio Morricone specifically and sunshine pop. Since these guys aren't necessarily household names in mainstream pop culture today, Swing Out Sister were practically invisible from the mid 90s on in Europe and the USA, releasing their records primarily in Japan, where easy listening music still gets the biggest exposure. The Sisters� 2001 album �Somewhere deep in the night� is their most cinematic, most elegant and visually evocative album to date, where the Bacharach/Barry/Morricone spirit is prevailing the most: 60s arrangements with Bacharach-oriented songwriting, Barry-esque lush strings, Morricone-style harpsicord, saxophone, harps, jazzy guitars, muted trumpets, fluegelhorn, wordless vocals, blending vocal songs with atmospheric instrumentals, creating an imaginary soundtrack. The whole album is a truly underrated gem.

A heavenly pop vocal track, one of the last tracks ever recorded by Dino, Desi and Billy. The production (by Stu Phillips, who did the Hollyridge Strings and some cool soundtracks) is dreamy and soft, perfectly matching the idealized lyrics (the world seems so wonderful...etc).

A colorful "crime jazz" soundtrack piece that is considerably different from the "Schoolgirl Report" scores for which Wilden is better known. Wilden makes great use of the Harpsichord here pitting against electric guitar.

To me this is one of the best pop songs of the last 10 years or so where just everything falls perfectly into place and couldn't be bettered in any way. It's insanely catchy without ever getting annoying, it's immaculately produced with the whole instrumentation blending together perfectly (including extremely lush synths all over the place provided by Daft Punks Thomas Bangalter) and it doesn't wear off even after listening to it for ages. I was glad to see this track finally getting some exposure on the "Lost In Translation" soundtrack recently. If only they would write more songs of that caliber, but instead both albums they released to date are rather patchy.

This track that also appears on the Midnight Run soundtrack is one of Danny Elfman's finest songs.

A great (neglected?) Bacharach & David song. There are three other versions by Rick Nelson & Joannie Sommers from the "On The Flipside" ABC TV special soundtrack. Though i like how it plays as a duet between Nelson and Sommers, Peggy March's vocals are ultimately the strongest. Hence, this is my favorite version. Hey, does anybody know of any other recordings of this song?

Listening again to a compilation I made almost four years ago, I heard this magical track, which really had a big effect on me. It's probably not for everyone. Meandering and rather wistful, it's not at all funky like some of their later work, but I find it utterly compelling.

As you might have heard, Novi Singers were an incredibly talented quartet of vocal singers recording in Poland in the late 60s and 70s. They did several amazing records. This is taken from what I think was their first, Bossa Nova. But rather than renderings of songs like 'One note samba' and 'Desafinado', the album consists of a delightful and varied collection of originals in a related mood. The result is like bossa nova from a parallel, slightly more melancholic universe.

The accompaniment is a slow, gentle bossa played by a small jazz group, with some rich strings dropping in and out, and the vocals (all wordless/scat) take centre stage. The chord sequence is staggeringly beautiful, and at times the vocalists take slightly extravagant scat solos.

It sounds strange to say it, but this is really one of those tracks that seems to tell an enormous, emotional story, in spite of the fact that it doesn't contain one word! It would make a fantastic soundtrack to a silent movie.

Well, the song was written for the Spider-man 2 soundtrack...but it's such an excellent song...

From the Soundtrack to the movie, "Svegliati e Uccidi," which I think means wake and kill, this has a typical spy thriller sound. That's something taht I couldn't really tell you, having not grown up in the era, but when I was showing my dad a lot of the music that I've searched out, he certainly laughed a quite a few of the tracks. Still, I find the melody haunting and cool, especially that highly distorted yet delicate guitar work.

The film this if from -- Sonny & Jed -- is a spaghetti western circa 1972. The soundtrack has some really nice moments like the beautiful track "Sonny" and this one which is an energetic sort of dance number. On spaghetti soundtracks, including Morricone's, it seems there is often an annoying dance number thrown in that sort of breaks the mood for me. Not so in this case. I particularly like the way uses the chorus and banjo here. For a while last spring, this track was more important than my morning cup of coffee.

An American tale with references to Brando, Dean and Natalie Wood, and characters like "Johnny the King". A series of melancholy snapshots of hope set to a jazz inflected soundtrack. Top-notch, both musically and lyrically.

With the companion piece (in my eyes, anyway) "Living It Up" (introducing us to "Eddie", "C***-finger Louie" & "Zero") which directly follows it on the album, it represents the pinnacle of Rickie Lee Jones career.

The rest of the "Pirates" album has its moments, such as the title track, as well as some less successful songs, and is well worth a listen if you get a chance.

I�ve listened to quite a lot of other stuff by Rickie Lee Jones and sadly it seems she has never come close to reaching the heights achieved by these two fine tracks, IMO.