Musical Selections

I have this thing for '70s soundtracks that I've been indulging in recently.

I checked out Alan Tew's Drama Suite parts 1 and 2. This really obscure but it's got really nice '70s vibe going -- the wah wah rythmn guitar that is usually associated with porn soundtracks does feature quite prominently. I thought I heard the theme to the People's Court on this or the original sample of what became would become the theme.

Another little obscure thing I took a liking to was Michel Colombier's soundtrack to the L'Heritier. Again a big '70s sound to it: the wah wah guitar, the Fender Rhodes piano and the heavy bass. It's really short, something like 12 minutes; and it has this little theme that keeps reappearing -- it kind of sounds like the opening to Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun. Even though its really short there's a pretty good balance between the uptempo and slower stuff.

Why is that the Japanese so frequently take things to the next level? Well add this one to the list: Toshiaki Tsushima's soundtrack for Cops vs Thugs. This little gem, its only about 14 minutes long, sounds like a blaxplotation soundtrack -- except that its better. Its got heavy doses of wah wah guitar, flutes, a horn section, james bond theme style guitar runs, etc. The wah wah guitar holds the whole thing together, it runs through the whole soundtrack. Most of it is pretty fast paced, but there are some slower bits that seem to have a more reflective quality to them.

I checked out the second part of Radiohead's In Rainbows. I had this one for a while, but only just got around to listening to it. The audio quality is a lot better than the first instalment. The whole sound is also similar to the instalment. Also like the first part, it's really well done.

I also managed to get my hands on Freeway's Free At Last. I really like this. Its kind of got a harder edge to it, and its really refreshing change of pace from most big label releases. It's sound is distinctly unsouthern. When you listen to this you can tell that Freeway is not going through the motions. Take a listen to When They Remember, and you'll know exactly what I mean. I doubt that this has been played much on the radio, but I like it.