Pierre Bachelet & Hervé Roy - "Emmanuelle" OST, CD, Japan, 1974/1990 (Warner Brothers Music)

I bought my CD copy of the OST "Emmanuelle" some years ago in Tokyo.  For whatever reason, it seems to be the perfect city to buy the ultimate Euro soft-porn soundtrack.   The score is by Pierre Bachelet and Hervé Roy, and it reeks of 1970's swingers' scent.   The album is a favorite of mine because it's basically the same melody played in various styles and settings.  Luckily, the melody is pretty and of course, flexible for the needs of the producer(s) of the film "Emmanuelle."  With song titles like "Emmanuelle Song," Emmanuelle in Thailand, "Emmanuelle Swims, " and the controversial "Rape Sequence," mostly due that the composers borrowed from a King Crimson composition. 

An album like this I feel can't be made in the 21st-century, not only for its eros but the focus on one theme as it is played out throughout the album and movie.  One of my (guilty) faves, and a trip back to a world that's different then from now. 

Walter (Wendy) Carlos - "Stanley Kurbrick's A Clockwork Orange" OST, Vinyl, LP, 1972 (Warner Brothers)

A beautiful icy cruel album for our brutal times at the moment (Trump Virus). Wendy Carlos, who made most of the music on this album, adopts Beethoven and Sir Edward Elgar, as well as a memorable version of Rossini's "William Tell Overture." The thing about Kubrick is that he was always two steps ahead of a lot of other mainstream artists.  Stanley's approach to using music, such as classical, is unique and bold. Kenneth Anger comes to mind as a fellow genius in using music/songs to convey the mood of the images. The soundtrack to "A Clockwork Orange" is very much not only fits the images of the film exceptionally well but also expresses the rot that is the 20th and 21st-century. This is music that reminds you of a rich past but in a bleak present. Mostly due to the skill and vision of Carlos in making something new out of old material. As I look at images of the virus and how it has affected various parts of the world, I hear this soundtrack in my head. This is the music that announces that we are fucked. 

Kimley and I have a podcast called Book Musik, and we did an episode focusing on Wendy Carlos. You can hear it here:  BOOK MUSIK: Wendy Carlos

Philip Glass - "Mishima" Vinyl, LP, OST, 1985 (Nonesuch)

One can argue that there are better Philip Glass albums out there, but I'm very fond of his soundtrack to the film "Mishima" directed by Paul Schrader. I think "Einstein on the Beach" is one of the great pieces in classical 20th-century music, but Glass can do different types of music. "Mishima" is full of beautiful melodies, and the way he builds up the tempo as if adding one pick-up stick on to another, you're waiting for it to collapse. Alas, that doesn't happen. 

The film itself is one of my favorites as well. Ever since I was a teenager, I had a fascination with Yukio Mishima, not only for his writing but for his crazed life as well. On the surface, his whole lifestyle devoted to a mixture of literature, politics, gay life, and his need to be a performer — one thing for sure he didn't hold anything back. The film captures his character, but it is also the best work on a writer creating his (or her) world. Most movies about writers are dull. Still, Mishima is unique because, due to family overtures, Schrader had to rely on Mishima's writings, and that made this film a stronger piece of art.  The Glass compositions add a sense of melancholy as well as grandness. There is even a surf guitar part in the score that is a mystery to me — one of the unusual aspects in a Glass composition ever. There are classic OST albums that stay with me beyond the film. "A Clockwork Orange, "8 1/2," and "Mishima" is right up there with my other faves. 

Ennio Morricone - "Le Clan des Siciliens" Vinyl, LP, Album, OST, Reissue, 2010 (Vadim Music)

Listing a favorite Ennio Morricone original soundtrack album is impossible.  His burp is a symphony of brilliance, so to choose the various sounds he made, as the best, is like commenting that a sunny day is sunny.   On the other hand, "Le Clan des Siciliens" is my favorite Morricone, and on a good clear day for my thinking and feelings, the best album of them all.   It's basically one melody that lasts for an album-length, and it's a piece of music that I never tire of. 

For those who love melodies over Morricone's more avant-garde music awakenings will appreciate "Le Clan des Siciliens" for its lushness and very sad, yet distantly romantic yearning.  Which comes to mind is that I actually met Morricone.  I was working in a bookstore in West Hollywood, and he came in to shop before his appearance at the Academy Awards later that evening.  He was going to be rewarded for a lifetime Oscar for his music.   For one, I couldn't believe I was in the same room as Morricone.  One of the fellow employees, knowing that I was a huge fan, came up to me and dragged me to meet him.  Knowing that he spoke very little English, I decided to say something grand but true to my feelings. I told him that when I die, I want the music at my funeral to be the main melody of "Le Clan des Siciliens."  He looked at me slowly and with no expression on his face said "You don't have to die."  He then whistled the entire theme of "Le Clan des Siciliens" which took about a minute or so, I think, because time stood still.  After he finished, he reached out to my hand to shake it and said: "see you don't have to die."   I look at this brief meeting as fate.  

Ennio Morricone - "Danger: Diabolik" CD, Album, OST, Italy, 2001 (Sycodelic)

Not exactly an obscure soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, but a very difficult one to obtain.  Only available as a bootleg, and always on a CD.   Seeing "Danger: Diabolik" is not that difficult in the world of the format DVD.  Still, Diabolik was a master thief who operated outside the law to do justice.  There was or is something extremely fetish about his lifestyle as well as his love life. He was devoted to his girlfriend/wife, with a sexual passion that is almost heated as his body suits, just exposing his eyes.   Influenced by Fantomas, but very much part of the James Bond world, Diabolik was also an Italian comic book.  I do have some copies that were translated into English.  A guilty pleasure of sorts, but on the other hand, Morricone's score/incidental music for the film is fun. 

If there is a hit song off this, it would be "Deep Down" sung by Christy, who I suspect was sort of an Italian Yé-Yé singer, who worked with Morricone as well as with Piero Piccioni.  The story behind the soundtrack is that the master tapes were destroyed from a warehouse fire, and what we have here is the actual music and dialogue from the film itself.  So, the quality is not that hot, and there is a lot of dialogue added here as well.  Personally, I just want the music, but I can understand that there are people out there who insist on studying the Diabolik film. 

Morricone is a composer of many styles.  "Danger: Diabolik" is the easy listening side of Morricone, a jazz tinge existence with great sound effects.   For the record, it's not my favorite Morricone score, but for those who prefer the Bachelor Pad music era, it is a must and a high point in that world. 

Serge Gainsbourg & Michel Colombier - "Le Pacha" Vinyl, LP, Album, OST, 2018/1968 (Wewantsounds)

This newly released album is the original soundtrack of the film "Le Pacha," composed and made by Serge Gainsbourg and Michel Colombier.  The critical song here is Requiem Pour Un Con, which is one of the classic Gainsbourg pieces.  Easily my top three for four (or five) Serge recordings.  The relentless rhythm is brilliant, and the minimal guitars, with Gainsbourg's unique and unusual voice over the track, is essential listening.   One of the great dance pieces as well.  Nevertheless, the genius of Gainsbourg, besides his literary talents, is his ability to work with arrangers who contribute significantly to his recordings.  Michel Colombier is one of three significant arrangers who worked with Serge, to make fantastic music.  Colombier's talents were used for the late 1960s recordings. 

This release is the first time where all the music used in the film is on vinyl.  The theme of Requiem Pour Un Con runs through the album, and it's fascinating to see how they play with this remarkable melody.  Included in this package are two songs from "Mr. Freedom," a film by William Klein, which one can get through Criterion.   Funky soul, but French style.  Another win-win from the Gainsbourg/Colombier team.  Serge made numerous great OST albums or EP's and "La Pacha" is very much an essential Gainsbourg purchase and listen. 

Ennio Morricone - "Ecce Homo, I Sopravvissuti" Vinyl, LP, Album, OST, 2002 (Dagored)

Ennio Morricone's "Ecce Homo: I Sopravvissuti" is one of his more obscure works, but of course, it's excellent.  This is more of his small orchestration with strings, some vocals, but basically a chamber work.  There is also a thumb-piano mixed in with the strings, and flute.   The Chimes gives it a slight exotica feel, but it's music that is quietly intense.  

"Ecce Homo" is a film from 1968 and directed by Bruno Gaburro.  If the film is like the music, it has to be an intense viewing experience.  Although Morricone wrote for the screen, I feel his music works just as well as an independent music piece.  I have to imagine that the works here are incidental pieces - there is no major theme music, but just a series of music that's similar or plays with the major theme.  The great Edda Dell'Orso is the vocalist, and again, her operatic touches are magical and profoundly beautiful.  In sections, I think of John Cage's prepared piano music, but I think due that the piano (prepared piano?) and thumb-piano are used in a rhythmic manner.  Also noted is the conductor, the great Bruno Nicolai.  

Various - "Babylon Berlin" OST, 3 x Vinyl, 2 x CD, LP, Album, Germany, 2018 (BMG)

Only a few times in my old life have I been affected by a film/show where I needed to get the soundtrack of that work right away.  "Performance" and "A Clockwork Orange" comes to mind that I raced to the record store to get those OST albums after seeing those films in a theater.  "Babylon Berlin" is the third soundtrack album, where I was compelled due to the excellence of the show, and how important the recording was to the images that came on my TV set.  "Babylon Berlin is a German TV show based on a series of detective novels by Volker Kutscher that takes place in the Weimar Republic.  The program is a mixture of noir and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew.  The soundtrack is mostly composed by one of the show's directors Tom Tykwer and composer Johnny Kilmek.  This three disk set if you play from side one to the last,  is two hours long.   Along with the Tykwer/Kilmek music, you also get the Bryan Ferry Orchestra, with Ferry on vocals on two cuts, the Moka Efti Orchestra, one song by Tim Fischer, and blues performer/guitarist (& wonderfully named) Guitar Crusher.

Like the production of the show, this soundtrack is a form of perfection as well.   When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like electronic music, but as far as I can tell, this is real instruments in a large ensemble, playing very complexed pieces.  It sounds like music composed/made in Germany in the late 1920s, but in actuality, the work is very layered and contemporary, but with one foot in the past, and the other very much in present 21st-century music.    The album by its packaging and theme one would think it will be nostalgic music, but the work is very 'now,' and is very much music based on the past, but with overtures to that's post-modern in practice.  The Bryan Ferry Orchestra is a perfect example of re-thinking one's work (Ferry's songs for solo and Roxy Music)  and placing it in another era.  For Ferry, I think it was another way of bringing life to his melodies or framing it in a new position where one listens to the work in a new way.  Ironically it's remembrances are from the past, but it's old music presented in a new manner.  Tykwer and Kilmek use the same method, but it's modernism that is the engine that makes this music so appealing.  The key track is "Zu Asche, Zu Staub" which is one of the great end-of-credit songs ever.   Also music (video) showpiece for "Babylon Berlin," with a cross-dressing erotic presence of Severija.  The show looks like it cost Millions (and it did) but also the soundtrack sounds as expensive to produce as well. 

Some soundtracks bring up the images from the film/show when you play it, and the music does that when you listen to "Babylon Berlin," but the other aspect is that this is music that can exist by itself.  A vibrant soundtrack to a historically significant (and sad) culture is placed on the grooves of this work by Ferry, Tykwer, and Kilmek. 

V.A./Jean-Luc Godard - "Bandes Originales 1959-1980" 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Limited Edition (500 copies) (Wildcat Strikes Disques)

Being a long-time fan of Jean-Luc Godard's cinema, it's interesting how important the music or sound is to all his films.   I don't imagine Godard ever thought about the separation of sound and image, but more with the relationship between the two mediums.  Over the years I have collected both on vinyl and CD numerous soundtrack compilations or the original soundtrack to Godard's works, but this hand-made bootleg, with the images pasted on the record sleeve, is perhaps the best of the lot.  

This compilation on vinyl goes from 1959 (A Bout de Souffle) to 1980 (Sauve qui Peut La Vie), and what one would consider the iconic Godard years.  Due to avoiding the legal issue, this album is the best representation of Godard and sound/music of those years.   The one thing that struck me is the sadness in the music. Composed by various writers such as Martial Solal, Michel Legrand, Georges Delerue, Paul Misraki, Antoine Duhamel, Gabriel Yared, and singing by Chantal Goya (Masculin Feminin) which is superb French Yé-Yé and the ultra-rare (and the excellent) Claude Channes' "Mao Mao." The instrumental passages are very somber when you listen to it without the Godard images.  Not sure if Godard instructed the mood that is in the music for his film, but the above composers all wrote magnificent pieces for the Godard soundtrack. 

The album is not that easy to locate, but one can through by chance your local store, or more likely on the Internet.   If you are a fan of Godard, it's a must that you obtain this specific recording.  Beyond that the music here is gorgeous. 

Paul Jones / Mike Leander - "Privilege" OST, Album, Vinyl, 1967 (UNI Records)

Not a great film, but one that really impressed me as a 12-year old fan of Manfred Mann.  Paul Jones up to this time (1967) was the lead singer for the band Manfred Mann, and he left to go solo, but also starred in this odd film about a pop star being set-up by the Government to control youth.  It's an interesting commentary on pop stardom as well as the nature of marketing in the pop music world.  He and his management would wear 'almost-like' military formal wear and clearly, this is a projection of pop music in the 1970s.  

Mike Leander, record producer, hustler, and the genius behind future star Gary Glitter, wrote the soundtrack, with a handful of Paul Jones vocals.   The songs sung by Jones on the soundtrack are superb.  "Free Me," is so angst driven, that it could have been a Morrissey song from the 1990s.  Patti Smith did a cover of "Free Me," which is equally fantastic.  The other great song here is "I've Been A Bad, Bad Boy."  Paul Jones had the ability to sing gritty blues to light pop.  An underrated vocalist, who was once a friend of Brian Jones, and one time was the original singer for The Rolling Stones.  Paul could have done great in that band.  

V.A. - "James Bond Greatest Hits" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, 1982 (Liberty)

As our deeper pleasures are being taken away from us, James Bond is a treasure of passions that are buried deep into the cinema goers consciousness.  The appeal of Bond is a man who serves a common good for his culture, but also never eliminates the joys of the flesh and the alcohol.  In other words, he has a win-win situation.   Most of us customers only have a win-lose-win something in our lives, and Bond can express one who has it all.  The treatment of the world is not based on fact, but on desire, and therefore seeing a Bond film is like being on a vacation.  But one that only lasts for two hours or so.   Equally important to the entire Bond package, is the music.  John Barry served his master (Bond) as well as to the customer.  It's hard not to hum or whistle the Bond theme or whatever the main title song was of that time of that particular Bond film. 

The truth is, the best part of a James Bond film is the first 15 minutes.  Here you get the action sequence that is usually fantastic, and then the great montage that announces the title, and of course, the mixture of Monty Norman's Bond theme, mixed in with Barry's music.   To be honest, one can leave the theater after the opening and be pleased like after having a great meal.  The rest of the product is tourism, women, fight scenes, and the character (each different by various actors playing Bond).  The next best thing after seeing the film is having the soundtrack albums.  In 1982, Liberty Records put together a great compilation of Bond theme songs as well as some of its wonderful incidental music used in the films.   My personal favorites are "From Russia With Love" by Matt Monro, with lyrics by Lionel Bart (one of the more fascinating characters to come out of the 1960s music world) and John Barry.  And of course, "Goldfinger" sung by Shirley Bassey, written by Anthony Newley, Barry, and Leslie Bricusse.  Which by the way, I strongly recommend that you find Newley's recording of "Goldfinger," because it's incredible.

There are other in-depth Bond compilations out there, but this one is a favorite because it was the first for me, and second, Barry and others have done their best work, regarding serving the master, that is James Bond. 

Jean Ledrut - "The Trial" OST, Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, 2017/1962 (Doxy Music)

I know very little to nothing about the musician/composer Jean Ledrut.  Looking at his Discography, I can only find this album 'The Trial," as well as the original release of the same title but as a 7" EP and the full-length album as well.   This is the original soundtrack to Orson Welles' film of 1962, "The Trial" based on the novel by Franz Kafka.  It's a great film, and I think it's an Orson Welles masterpiece. Beyond that, I have a thing for Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor."  The music is used throughout the film, which gives it a slightly sad and depressed presence to "The Trial." The fact that the film/novel is very black humor in its practice, but seen as some as a 'heavy' statement of our culture, is an additional layer of pleasure for both the film and the soundtrack. 

Beside Ledrut, the other strong presence on the album is the great jazz pianist/film track composer Martial Solal.   He also wrote the score for Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless."  Here he does piano work for the jazzy score that is very much part of this project.   The main theme is Albinoni's music - arranged with strings, but also with solo organ (my favorite) and then various 'jazz' versions of the theme.  Ledrut I believe did the arrangements of the "Adagio in G Minor" but also wrote the Incidental music that's on the album as well.  

There's not a whole lot of information on the album, which is a real minus, especially since the composer/artist is an unknown figure in the English speaking world, but on the other hand, Doxy once again has made a work that wasn't available to the music market, and one has to appreciate their taste and expertise in getting this soundtrack out to the world.  I have written about Doxy (the label) in other posts/commentary, but I don't know anything about them. I suspect that they're from Italy, but even that is a mystery.  They do a lot of reissues of soundtrack albums and jazz/pop recordings. All good if not excellent taste in music and presentation.  Still, I suspect that they are a bootleg company that puts out music in between official labels, or works that become public domain.  Nevertheless, I never had a bad recording from this record label, and again, their taste is superb.  

Michel Legrand - "Eva" OST, Album, Limited Edition, Vinyl, 2016 (Doxy Cinematic)

Joseph Losey's first choice for a composer for his film "Eva" was Miles Davis.  That didn't happen, but his second choice, and a friend of Miles,  Michel Legrand, did a magnificent score to the film.  Legrand makes large gestures within his arrangements.  There are usually other melodies within the big melody, and it's very much like an overactive mind at work.   This 1962 film, starring Jeanne Moreau,  is a seductive tale of seduction and desire, which makes it a perfect canvas for Legrand to work his magic on. 

I first discovered the soundtrack through the medium of the CD, and it was issued and made in Japan.  I bought my copy at a Shibuya swanky pop-up shop within the Paco shopping complex in Tokyo.  Legrand and Tokyo is a good fit, as well as, of course, Paris.  There's two Billie Holiday cuts here as well.  "Loveless Love" and "Willow Weep For Me."  It fits the mood of the film, but also a nice little treat in the Legrand world.  

This release is a limited edition of 500.  Not impossible to find, but not the easiest as well.  Doxy Cinematic is a very interesting label, that focuses on soundtrack music that has fallen in the cracks of copyright issues.  Often being a limited release is a technique to get through any legal issues. Nevertheless, Doxy does great reissues or even albums that technically exist such as "Eva."  I believe the soundtrack came out in 1962 as a 7" EP release.   And as I mentioned before, Legrand is always a treat.  

Chantal Goya - "Masculin Féminin" CD, EP, French, OST, 1966/2006 (Magic Records)

It's funny that I can recall the day when I found a CD version of the OST EP of Jean-Luc Godard's "Masculin Feminin."  I was shopping in Tower Shinjuku Tokyo and was with a friend, and bingo, this came out of nowhere.  I bought a copy for a friend who was taking me around Tokyo that day, and one for myself.   As an artifact, it's priceless, as art, it's not bad.  What makes it great is that it's the soundtrack to Godard's great film.   In essence, one feels that they own something that is from ground zero on the planet French New Wave.  

Originally the "Masculin Feminin" was released as a 7" EP in 1966.   It has six songs on it, which is unusual because most French 7" EP's had only four songs.  Nevertheless, this is a compact pop history that is even hard for me to write about with respect if it's good or not.   The last three songs (on vinyl, side two) are superb and iconic Yé-Yé recordings.  The first three is good, but for me, it's side two that kicks butt.   

On the other hand, compared to artists like France Gall and of course Hardy, she doesn't come close to their greatness.  Still, this being connected to such a perfection that is Godard's work, it's a must for anyone who has the Jean-Luc bug.   Very difficult to find in any format at the moment.  The French label Sam Records has put out a lot of fascinating (CD) reissues from the 1960s, including British artists as well as French, of course.   They do great packaging as well as preserving essential music that may have fallen through the cracks of time. 

Giovanni Fusco - "L'Eclisse" Vinyl, LP, OST, Album, Limited Edition (500), 2016 (Doxy Cinematic)

"L'Eclisse" is an Italian film made in 1962, starring Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.  The soundtrack to the movie is by Giovanni Fusco, who also did the music for Alain Resnais'"Hiroshima, Mon Amour," as well for other Antonioni films.  About a week ago I saw "L'Eclisse, " and I loved the soundtrack.  I located a copy very recently, and I'm very impressed with Fusco's music.   The music is so much of the visuals, but here, I try to not think of the film, and just focus on the music. 

On this album, we get six versions of Mina's "Eclisse Twist."  One in Italian (of course), French, Spanish, English, an instrumental, and a slow-downed version.  That alone is worth the price of the album.   The additional greatness is Fusco's moody music that is minimal and dramatic.  While listening to Fusco's music, it reminded me of Angelo Badalamenti's work with David Lynch.  Perhaps due to the juxtaposition of a rock n' roll tune ("Eclisse Twist") with Fusco's borderline avant-garde composing.  In the same manner of a Roy Orbison song fitting into Badalamenti's score for "Blue Velvet," the same goes for the dynamic combination of Mina (an Italian 60s pop singer) and Fusco. 

The film "L'Eclisse" is slow-paced and takes its time to unveil its seductive relationship between Delon and Vitti, as well as presenting the world that is empty.  The music also conveys that unbalanced where things are not settled.  "Eclisse Twist" throws a wrench in the process, and it's very effective to go from one mood (celebrating) to the other (contemplating).   And back again.  The film and the soundtrack is a beautiful piece of work.  

Also, I want to give praise for the label Doxy or Doxy Cinematic.  I suspect that they operate in the gray area of bootlegging, but do a superb job concerning the sound of the vinyl, as well as the design work, and even more important, their ability to curate their series in a thoughtful and excellently manner.  

Scott Walker - "The Childhood Of A Leader" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2016 (4AD)

I never separate Scott Walker by decades or music or his various albums.  I see his work as one whole piece from the first Walker Brothers album to his last album: "The Childhood Of A Leader."   In other words, there is no old or new Scott, just Scott Walker music.  From the very beginning, one could hear him from then to here.   He's the most consistent music maker who has now been making music for over 50 years.  "The Childhood Of A Leader" is a soundtrack album, but to me, that doesn't even make that big of a difference from his previous albums.  This is his first fully orchestrational instrumental album - but Scott always has done instrumental albums, with his vocals as part of the instrumentation of his recordings.  I can imagine some of the instruments here on this album replacing his vocal line.  The album is dense, with short pieces of music, but classical in tone, and in style.   I think Webern more than Bachrach.  Speaking of the devil (angel?) I have been listening to Webern's music, and it reminds me of Scott Walker's take on orchestration and intensity.   There is a lineage from Schoenberg, Berg, Webern to Scott Walker.   Walker is not only a great poet (lyricist) but also a fantastic composer.  

AIR - "The Virgin Suicides OST"

AIR – The Virgin Suicides OST

CD Album, 2000

Virgin

Love the album, I think mostly because it reminds me of one of my favorite soundtrack albums Emmanuelle. Here you have one song and then the rest of the album is incidental music. Its very lush, minimal, tune-full, and very beautiful. There is no mistaking it for it not being a Soundtrack album. The leading song “Playground Love” is nice, but I much prefer the following songs that sort of play with the leading melody. The sounds are sensual and velvety, it is almost a record that you want to take your shoes off before entering its world. Outside it's too dirty, but in here, you're perfectly safe, clean and OK.