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. 

Various - Jean-Luc Godard "Histoire(s) de Musique" CD, Compilation, 2007 (Universal Music)

I have a habit of picking up any collection of music that was used in Jean-Luc Godard's films.  There are lots of collections or compilations out there and it's impossible for me to choose the best one.  All are great!   So, reader, you have to take that in, that I'm just a super-fan with no critical judgment whatsoever on the subject matter of Godard's various soundtracks.  There is a Japanese CD compilation that is excellent and I wrote about it here:  http://toshberman.blogspot.com/2017/04/va-bandes-originales-des-films-de-jean.html

I bought "Histoire(s) de Musique" in Tokyo about ten years ago.  For some odd reason, it's not difficult to find French New Wave soundtracks on CD in Japan.  This collection put together by Universal Music is excellent.  The one unique cut that the other's don't have is the song "Mao Mao" sung by Claude Channes and from the film "La Chinoise."   This album covers all the Godard films from À bout de souffle ("Breathless") to Sauve Qui Peut (La Vie).  So the time frame is from 1959 to 1980.  The classic Godard years and the music are excellent.  Martial Solal, Michel Legrand, the great Georges Delerue score for "Contempt" as well as Paul Misraki, Antoine Duhamel and Gabriel Yared. All wonderful soundtrack composers doing their best iconic work. 

Also the CD has great text with nice photographs.  Do get it!

John Zorn - "Naked City" CD, Album, U.S., 1990 (Nonesuch)

When I was living in Japan in 1989/1990, it was impossible to go to a good music store and not run into a large John Zorn section.  Zorn at the time had a Japanese label and was living in Osaka.  Me, having a lot of time on my hands, started to investigate the world of Zorn, which is (and still) like jumping into Alice's rabbit hole.  One never knows what they will find at the end of that hole.  The one CD I purchased was Zorn's "Naked City," which is also the name of his all-star band.  Fred Frith on bass (mostly known as a guitarist), Bill Frisell on guitar, Wayne Horvitz on Keyboards, and Joey Baron on drums Zorn on sax, with the Boredoms' Yamatsuka Eye on vocals.   At the time, I thought this would be a good introduction to the world of John Zorn, and I still think it's a great starter to the Zorn aesthetic. 

"Naked City" is a mishmash of different music styles.  Listening to the album for the first time is like going from one neighborhood to another and not being able to distinguish the differences between the areas, due to the speed of the journey.   Ultra hyper, noisy, and extreme melodic beauty all at the same time.   I never really heard music like this before, and hearing it in a foreign (at the time) land added a unique sense of intensity for me.   The very first Zorn album I purchased was in the 1980s, and it was his tribute/take on Ennio Morricone's music.  This was my first introduction to the world of Morricone, so it's interesting to be introduced to the iconic Italian genius through the medium of another genius Zorn.  

All the pieces here are short, and a burst of energy.  Even Georges Delerue's "Contempt" theme which is a beauty of a melody is done at a faster pace.   I have seen the Godard film but was never aware of the music piece till I heard this recording.  Now, I'm obsessed with getting any version of this melody on vinyl.  That with the theme of "Batman," The James Bond Theme," Mancini's "A Shot in the Dark," and the great "The Sicilian Clan" by Morricone.   Zorn, without a doubt, introduced me to the world of soundtracks.   The Morricone tribute album opened the door, and "Naked City" nailed me down for life. 

The Zorn compositions on the album are soundtracked based, but with distinct experimental or free jazz traces, but still held consistently by the insanely tight playing by the band.  So here you have music of great beauty, punk rock, experimental, and free-form jazz, with a touch of noise, courtesy of Eye the vocalist.   A great album with fantastic graphics (normal with Zorn's recordings) and for me, a wonderful introduction to not only to Zorn's compositions and playing but to the deep-end world of soundtrack music.  

Morrissey & Siouxsie - "Interlude" CD single, 1994, (Parlophone)

When I heard this recording back in 1994, I didn't know the song.  I usually know all of Morrissey's cover songs, because I feel we have a common taste in music.  His obscurity is my front yard.  Nevertheless, "Interlude" was a total mystery.   Not only the source of the song, but the haunting melody and lyrics were dreamlike and didn't seem possible to exist in the waking world.  It was a decade later that I found the original recording by Timi Yuro, and once heard, I couldn't stop playing her recording.  It was the theme song to a film that I never saw, and tough for me to locate.  Yuro has numerous best of albums, but "Interlude" never seemed to be in these collections.  

I'm not a fan of Siouxsie Sioux's voice.  I just never warmed to her goth aesthetic or her band's music.  When I read in the music papers that Morrissey did a recording with her, I thought it was an odd choice for him to do such a recording.  "Interlude" is very goth in its sense of romantic misery and doom.  I immediately loved the record and Morrissey's right-handed musician (to this day) Boz Boorer did the arrangements and production. This was also the first record where I thought of Morrissey as a singer rather than a cultivated pop star.   Now, I think of him as an underrated singer.  Over the years he has gotten better and better as a vocalist.  As he aged, his voice became an instrument that can only be him.  

The original "Interlude" is a much better record, but it's also a  classic piece of song craft written by Georges Delerue.   Timi Yuro's interpretation cannot be made better, yet, Morrissey and Siouxsie do add their magic touch to the song. 

V.A. - "Bandes Originales des Films de Jean-Luc Godard" CD, Japan, 1994, (Hortensia)

Over the years there have been many great reissues or original vinyl that are connected to Jean-Luc Godard's film work.  As a Godard fanatic, I want them all!   But if push becomes a shove, and there is a fire in the house, and I have to reach out for that one Godard soundtrack collection, it would be Bandes Originales des Films de Jean-Luc Godard."

The reason is because it's an excellent package, the cover becomes a poster, but beyond the visual, the music on this CD is fantastic.   It covers "A Bout de Souffle" (Breathless), "Pierrot Le Fou, " "Alphaville," and the great soundtrack to "Le Mepris" (Contempt).  Very much a perfect compilation of the early Godard soundtracks, all on one disc.  Of course, the original soundtrack albums can be fitted on a 10" ep, when originally released - but to get all of it here is a fantastic buy.  The Japanese know how to put a music collection together.   The composers/performers are Martial Solal, Anna Karina (Godard's then-wife, and a brilliant actress), Antoine Duhamel, Paul Misraki, and the legendary Georges Delerue.  Find and buy!

Various - "La Musique dans Le Film D' Alain Resnais" Vinyl, LP, 2017 (Doxy)

Alain Resnais and Alain Robbe-Grillet's film La Valse De Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) is a masterpiece that is not to everyone's liking.  The ultimate chic arty film of all time.  The score to that movie is the hit off this album of Resnais' soundtrack music to his films made in the 1960s.   All of side one is devoted to Marienbad, and it's written and performed on organ by Francis Seyrig, whose sister is the star of the film, Delphine Seyrig.  It seems he did this score and he also made the music for Robert Bresson's "Procès De Jeanne D'Arc"  -  so his career may have been short, but was clearly talented and in the right place at the right time.  The Marienbad soundtrack is just an organ.  I'm presuming a large pipe organ.  Incredible sound.  And very dark goth sounding that I think would have made a great piece of music before the band Bauhaus came on the stage.   When you see the film, you can't imagine another score attach to it.  The music represents the imagery which is beautiful, sexual, and a sense of regret or at the very least, a bad mood.   A very precise and pointed music.  The music was originally released as a 7" EP single.   I can't imagine how great that must have sound - just having that powerful organ coming from a speaker in the early 1960s. 

"Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Suite)" is by Georges Delerue and famed Italian film composer Giovanni Fusco.   It reminds me of early Stravinsky.  The film "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" is a doomed romance between a French woman and a Japanese man.  Like Marienbad, it deals with memory or how one perceives things in contemporary life.  Another excellent package from the mysterious Doxy Records. 

Georges Delerue / Piero Piccioni - "Le Mépris, The Complete Original Soundtrack" 2 x Vinyl, LP, 2014 (Doxy)

The Georges Delerue score for "Contempt" (Le Mépris) is perfect. A haunting theme that expresses the down mood of the Jean-Luc Godard film.  I have so many versions of this particular soundtrack - mostly all on CD, except for this vinyl set.  The unusual aspect of this package is that it has the obscure and Italian soundtrack to the film by Piero Piccioni.  How did that happen?  That, I don't know.   I think the nature of the cinema movie world at the time of the 1960s were complicated, and for whatever reason, the Italian distributor decided on the Piccioni score for its Italian release. 

I prefer the Delerue music, just because it has been a consistent reminder of this cinematic masterpiece as well as being a great piece of music, with or without the images attached to the work.  The Piccioni score is a good listening experience, but nowhere near the genius French take on the soundtrack.  

Doxy is an excellent and a very mysterious label.  It's a borderline bootleg record company that seems to make use of the copyright laws in Europe.  Saying that I find the recordings themselves pretty great, and their packaging, although often vague, is superb.  The vagueness comes to solid information, for instance,  where did they get their sound resource?  From the original tapes, or is it from a digital resource?  I don't know.   On the other hand, they either take the original packing of albums or do their own take on whatever the album is.  I have at least a dozen titles from Doxy, and I'm happy with all of their albums in my collection.  Also, they are very much a curated company that they only release albums and artists that are truly great - and, or, very hard to find as an original (official) release.  So they're serving a purpose to the vinyl fan, and "Le Mépris" is a fantastic and fascinating double album.  To get both recordings in one package is pretty amazing.