Back catalogue: Soundtracks

Review: It's not long now until the much-delayed new James Bond film gets released, so to mark the occasion - and Record Store Day - the good folks at Silva Screen have decided to offer up this seven-inch containing cover versions of theme tunes from the iconic spy series. On the A-side, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra joins forces with guitarist Vic Flick on a fittingly excitement-packed take on Monty Norman's original 'James Bond Theme'. Flick reprises his 1960s spy-funk guitar licks from the original version, while the orchestra hits all the right notes on a familiar favourite. Arguably even better is London Sound Works' similarly authentic and luscious cover of 'Goldfinger', with Louise Dearman doing a rather good impression of Dame Shirley Bassey.

Review: Le Matos' all new Ninja Eliminator Trilogy captures the band's early years across four fantastic cuts. Fans will recognise 'Rage Of Honor' which has already been put out as part of the 5 Years compilation while the other tracks here have never before been released. Musically this is high sheen, retro-future synth work of the highest order. The keys are sugar sweet and crystalline, the rhythms sleek and expansive and the moods nicely cosmic. It makes for a perfectly escapist, high energy trip to another dimension.

Review: Spanish deep house label Troubled Kids celebrate their 10th release with a various artist EP featuring music from Rush Hour and Neroli act Ricardo Miranda, French producer Life Recorder, Delsin house head Trevor Deep Jr. and label reps Jesus Gonsev & The Troubled Kids Gang. Waves of synths, Chicago bass and snappy snares control Miranda's busy "Polysynthetic Jungle", while The Troubled Kids Gang opt for looped Rhodes and a streamlined arrangement in "Neon Nights". Life Recorder stays deep and piano driven with "Winter Feeling", which transitions into Trevor Deep Jr.'s "T To Da P"; something moodier with a percussive skip. Four solid cuts of deeper, Chicago inspired house.

Review: GRAMMY-nominated and Emmy Award-winning multihyphenate Labrinth builds on the success of scoring the first season of Euphoria with another high octane score for the second series. The HBO series was a huge hit and that's in part because of the music. Labrinth himself has said this one is more than just soundtrack music and he's right. It is a visceral listening experience in its own right and one with 22 well crafted tracks including the fan favourite version of 'I'm Tired.' Whether or not you have seen this series, this album is well worth hearing.

Review: Reissued and remastered for the first time, with its original tracklist and cover, Francis Lai's eerie-romantic soundtrack for A Man And A Woman, directed by Claude Lelouch, matches the film's subject. That is, two widowers meet for the first time at their children's school, and find themselves plagued by haunting visions and flashbacks of their former spouses. Netting the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1966, the film has gone on to set the benchmark for French romantic soundtracks, a mark set by the score's rose-tinted sonic scenery, diegesis-breaking narrations, and almost automatic singing.

Review: Claude Lelouch's 1966 romantic drama, translated into English as A Man and A Woman, is simultaneously filled with hope and tragedy. It's a passionate story but not one without warnings and lessons about the challenges of getting over loss and learning to trust again. It was also a huge success at the time of its release, grossing $14million at the US box office, which was big bucks back then for a foreign language movie. As the title suggests, the plot follows two single parents - he and she - who lost their spouses in horrible circumstances, namely suicide and an accident, and set about building new lives for themselves, which then cross paths. To complement this, French composer Francis Albert Lai created a sexy, playful, but highly emotional score, which ranges from heartfelt songs to jazz cool and laidback rock 'n' roll.

Review: Ah, simpler times - both in terms of animation and the world itself. For those who missed the original Mr Benn books and TV show (the former, published first In 1967, the latter aired between 1971 and 1972 before making several returns via reruns on the BBC), then the plot is also straight forward. Black suit and bowler hat-clad London professional Mr Benn leaves his house each episode, walks to a local fancy-dress shop, and chooses an outfit. An adventure then ensues, set in a world that reflects his outfit. Harking back to a glorious time in children's television - one that has latterly been remembered for its psychedelic edges and surrealist tendencies - Duncan Lamont's score was a perfect accompaniment to those mini odysseys. It's woozy, blissful and dreamy at times, then jaunty and upbeat the next moment, taking the form of brief but beautiful accidentals to set those senes.

Review: 1937's Way Out West, a typically goofy 'wild west' comedy, is one of Laurel and Hardy's most celebrated films. The soundtrack, too, has long been admired, with composer Marvin Hatley scooping an Academy Award for the best original musical score. As this surprise CD reissue proves, it remains a strong an entertaining affair, with well-known songs (most notably 'Trail of the Lonesome Pine' and 'At The Ball, That's All') being joined by dynamic and evocative instrumental numbers full of sonic joviality, hummable melodies and cheeky comedic twists. Fantastically, the soundtrack recording also includes snippets of dialogue from Laurel, Hardy and the other actors, making it even more memorable.

Review: In 2018, Laurel Halo recorded her first soundtrack score, a ghostly and intoxicating suite of tracks created for an experimental Dutch documentary about surveillance and social media called "Possessed". Here that music gets a deserved vinyl release courtesy of Vinyl Factory. It's an alluring set of tracks that sees Halo cannily combine radio static and distance electronics with ambient tones, beautiful piano meditations, folksy compositions, found sound and superb violin and cello parts provided by guest musicians Galya Bisengalieva and Oliver Coates. Throughout, Halo's superb compositions sit somewhere between breathtaking beauty, soundscape paranoia and bittersweet escapism.

Review: If you've followed Mica Levi's work over the years as part of avant pop act Micachu & The Shapes, you'll know the London-based musician is a unique talent. It was apparent on their debut album Jewellery and has been demonstrated again and again (see the 2011 live LP Chopped & Screwed recorded with the London Sinfonietta for the most compelling example) Levi's work on the soundtrack for Under The Skin has rightly been praised, with her original score a crucial element of Jonathan Glazer's critically acclaimed Scarlett Johansson vehicle. Removed of the film and pressed on vinyl here, Levi's compositions sound all the more captivating in isolation and they should hopefully open all manner of interesting doors for the musician.

Review: If you've ever watched Under The Skin, in which Scarlett Johansson plays a ruthless alien parasite, you'll be all too aware how vital sound is. The whole film is incredibly minimal and moody, with the soundtrack doing some of the heavy lifting in many of the scenes. It's one of the many achievements which switched a lot of listeners on to Mica Levi's incredible skills as an experimental composer, and it rightly won them a European Film Award in 2014. As such, it's always worthy of a repress, and this time around it's coming in red vinyl.

Review: There's no denying that Under The Skin was a cinematic triumph, and cemented Scarlett Johansson's status as a screen powerhouse capable of dynamic and highly varied performances of consistently high standards. The story of a young woman making her way through Scotland, seducing men and then doing horrific things to their bodies. An allegorical tale wherein the on-screen alien portrays the experience of immigrants and females trapped in a world of toxic masculinity, director Jonathan Glazer's long-awaited return to feature filmmaking is a bonafide classic.

Part of the reason behind its power is Mica Levi's incredible score. Taking inspiration from the work of Gyorgy Ligeti, a master of horror scores whose fleeting sounds and moments of near-silent tension can be heard on landmark such as The Shining and Lontano (both renowned for the effectiveness of their soundtrack), this isn't so much music as we know it, but aural motifs and movements designed to create a feeling of relentless unease.

Review: Released as a companion to Shawn Lee's superb documentary on the pioneers of Library Music - the simply titled 'The Library Music Film' - this killer compilation draws together pieces selected by some of the many DJs and producers who contributed to the movie. With lots of decidedly obscure tracks plucked from the catalogue of such legendary music libraries as KPM, Music De Wolffe, Bosworth and Tele Music. Highlights are plentiful, from the "Taxi" theme style slow burning jazz-funk of Tonio Rubio's "Bass In Action No. 1" and the skittish Blaxploitation-goes-easy listening bustle of Nick Ingman's "Tense Preparation", to the Moog-laden space funk insanity of Peter Thomas' "Coordinates Meeting".

Review: High-kicking, nunchaking, pizza-eating, wise-cracking green dudes incoming. The barnstorming success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge isn't hard to surmise. The original cartoon itself is a joyous, goofy, good time slice of late 80s / early 90s pop culture, and the modern video game knew exactly how to capture that energy and port it into a highly addictive beat 'em up. The soundtrack is pitched bang on for the occasion as well, running the gamut from electro and funk to jazz, all rendered with that classic chip tune finish. But that's not all - the team also invited a dizzying cast of guests to lend their voices to this project, from Raekwon and Ghostface Killah to Mike Patton and more. To put it another way, it's totally far out.

Review: If you've seen the TV series The Last Kingdom chances are you're pretty hyped about the idea of a feature length movie. Before that, though, we get Destiny Is All, an album made up of sounds from the super-popular Viking drama that stands out for many reasons. Whether you consider this dinner party music is a question of taste, but in the grand scheme of tunes made to score historical shows this is a cut above so much.
Forsaking tradition in favour of innovation, the arrangements here seem to transcend the period in which the narrative was set, and yet are so evocative of that age. A time of heroes, myths, legends, thunderstorms, rituals, runes, and an overwhelming sense of adventure, all those things are captured here but through the combination of orchestral bombast, choral voices, chants and electronic equipment.

Review: Let's face it, Hollywood director Christopher Nolan broke the mould with his re-envisioning of Batman. Taking things closer to the original comic books, themselves forced to 'go soft' by censors in the early-1950s, his films payed direct tribute to the saga's direction from the mid-1970s onwards. A trilogy of movies that were visually arresting, tonally dystopian, and viciously unhinged. It's not clear if we'll ever get a superhero (or anti-hero) film series of that class and calibre again, the world on screen so immersive you quickly feel like a Gotham native. A big part of that universe-building comes through the music, which enlists two of the greatest names in the history of soundtracks to help weave the tales. Hans Zimmer has composed for more than 150 films, James Newton Howard in excess of 100. This compilation of their shared caped crusader efforts proves why they're so well respected.