Unearthed! Now available till they are gone, ETC #3!!

Digging around in storage I found 10 copies of ETC #3. It sports a beautiful Stephen Bissette cover from DEEP RIVER SAVAGES and highlights the issue's interview with Umberto Lenzi. Not available on the website, this is the only place you can get one (at least till these are sold out) so don't delay! Price is $10 plus $5 shipping. (overseas  airmail is $10). Inside you'll find reviews of BLOOD LUST, CLICK YOU'RE DEAD, EYEBALL, THE ICEBOX MURDERS, LA MORTE VIVANTE, NIGHTMARE CONCERT, LE PASSAGE, SHARAZ, SMILE BEFORE DEATH, THE SUNDAY WOMAN, TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA, WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY, SWEET MOVIE and many more, a detailed Umberto Lenzi Filmography and interview with the man, an episode guide to the unreleased VALENTINA TV episodes (based on the comic strip by Guido Crepax), 2 reviews of Michele Soavi's THE SECT and an interview with Soavi himself! WHEW!! just click on the link below the cover repro.

SOLD OUT!

The Debut of ETC Soundtrack Round Up!

A big thank you to Rob Talbot for coming through with the debut (and hopefully many more) Eurotrash Soundtrack column. During the days of ETC Magazine I roped the legendary John Bender into contributing a soundtrack column...and then promptly had to cancel the magazine due to distributors screwing me over. Thanks agan Rob for reviving this idea.

Exciting times, folks.

Thanks to the resurgence of vinyl and the ease of procurement offered by the internet, there's really never been a better time for fans and collectors of this stuff. Sure, you could say that the “thrill of the hunt” of days of yore has been diminished, and that the current trendiness in various hipster circles is occasionally irksome when you can be pretty sure that most of them don't know jack (or really care) about the films themselves. But if it wasn't for these factors we simply wouldn't have anywhere near the breadth of amazing stuff that's being reissued on vinyl these days. That said, let's not forget that Italian companies like Beat and Dagored had already been churning out hundreds of these beauties on CD and vinyl for decades before any young beardy types had even heard of them. Or had beards.

Brit label Death Waltz have been causing quite a stir with their lavish reissues over the past couple of years, and are still doing good work. June saw the release of Carlo Maria Cordio's score for 1981's Grim Reaper pseudo-sequel Absurd in a gatefold double vinyl edition carrying some eye-popping new artwork – complete with embossed intestines! And, what's more, the double-LP is rounded out by the inclusion of all of Cordio's cues for Pieces. Last month brought with it vinyl reissues of Alexander Blonksteiner's fine Cannibal Apocalypse score and that good old Beat Records compilation Lucio Fulci's Horror & Thriller, both with the most gorgeous sleeve art that they've ever had.

Back in March, DW joined forces with newish kids on the block One Way Static Records for two editions of Riz Ortolani's legendary Cannibal Holocaust OST, one on red vinyl with new Graham Humphreys art and one on green and burgundy vinyl in a black gatefold sleeve bearing the film's distinctive logo. Belgian-based OWS have released far fewer Euro scores than Death Waltz (last year's Cannibal Ferox and Nekromantik being the only others so far), but mid-August will see them release Michael Holm's score for both Mark of the Devil movies on one LP, and, believe it or not, on cassette! The bad news is that they seem to be nearing sell-out on these before they've even been released, so I 'd advise against any procrastination if you want a piece of that action.

Okay, so there's the flashy, show-offy stuff from our newfound hipster-friendly chums, but what of the game's old stalwarts? Well, for Beat Records it's business as usual with recent CD releases of, amongst others, Franco Mussida & Franz Di Cioccio's OST for obscure 1982 historical comedy Attila flagello di Dio (Atilla, Scourge of God),  Francesco De Masi's 1971 spy score FBI operazione Pakistan, and Armando Travajoli's score for 1979's Edwige Fenech-starring Steno smutfest Dottor Jekyll e gentile signora (AKA Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot).

Beat's compadres at Digitmovies also continue to be prolific, with the score for 1975 sex comedy Peccati in famiglia (Scandal in the Family) by the brothers De Angelis becoming available on CD for the first time, along with Stelvio Cipriani's über-loungey work for 1971 Lorenzo Artale drama Edipeon - Il Sapore Della Pelle.

Old hands Dagored have also been busy, with a veritable rake of classics out over the past few months that includes Morricone's Spasmo (with three different sleeves to choose from), Cose avete fatto a Solange? (clear red vinyl – careful who you show the cover of that one to!), Escalation (yellow vinyl), Comandamenti per un gangster, and The Big Gundown. They've also re-unleashed Stelvio Cipriani's La Polizia Ringrazia (Execution Squad) into the world, and Claudio Gizzi's Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and Dracula OSTs, both on red vinyl, as is Nicolai's La dama rossa uccide sette volte (The Red Queen Kills... ahh, you know that already.)

Other newer players worthy of your attention are the Australian Omni Recording Corporation. They're responsible for one of my favourite acquisitions of the year thus far -  namely the first vinyl issue since 1972 of Gianfranco Plenizio's beautiful La gatta in calore, released back in April. 2015 has also seen them do the same for Morricone's II sorriso del grande tentator (The Devil is a Woman) and A Quiet Place in the Country, along with Berto Pisano's delirious Kill! And all with vintage sleeve art to die for.

So, exciting times indeed. Enough stuff out there for us to all to live like Euro soundtrack kings. Hey, who needs food, gas or electricity anyway?

by Rob Talbot

Soundtrack blog : http://italiansoundtrackodyssey.blogspot.co.uk/

Movie blog:  http://robtalbotcultandworld.blogspot.co.uk/