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/
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