Paul Mille et Son Orchestre - Organaboe

Various Artists - Special Club (1969)

Paul Mille et Son Orchestre - Organaboe (France, 1969)



Here's a little treat. It took me a while to find, but it was well worth the wait. Enjoy.

Andre Brasseur - Funky

Andre Brasseur - This Is Andre Brasseur (1968)

Andre Brasseur - Funky (Belgium, 1968)



A nice big beat plodder with funky organ and enthusiastic shouting/clapping, sure to fill a dancefloor in any discerning club.

I would have put 'The Duck' up instead, but the version I have skips - unfortunately. It's essentially in a similar vein to 'Funky' and should have really been called 'Funky Part 2', although it does have a lot more strange noise making throughout.


 

Jacques Dutronc - Proverbes

Jacques Dutronc - À Tout Berzinque / Proverbes (1969)

Jacques Dutronc - Proverbes (France, 1969)



I'm very partial to Jacques Dutronc. In my humble opinion he's not quite in the same league as Polnareff, but 'Proverbes' I feel puts him up there temporarily.

Toshiaki Tsushima - M-22

Delinquent Girl Boss : Worthless To Confess (1971)

Toshiaki Tsushima - M-22 (Japan, 1971)



I've decided to change the pace a little and put some Japanese soundtrack music up for your listening pleasure. I've recently been getting some excellent 60's- 70's, mostly Nikkatsu New Action / Pinky Violence soundtracks which vary between Japanese garage/psyche with bands like The Mops and The Spiders, but also some really funky library style soundtrack music with big brass, meandering guitars and some big beats (Sukeban Guerrilla being a great example for instance).

This one is more of a grandiose theme rather than a funky segue and has moments where it really should have ended up on a Tarantino soundtrack (in fact I think he used a Toshiaki Tsushima track in Kill Bill 1)

And yes, I suspect that M-22 is the title. It's very hard to find titles for this stuff.

Anyway. Enjoy.

Japanese record labels have been issuing Italian soundtracks and compilations for several years. But, until recently, the availability of Japanese cult soundtracks has been scant at best. Thankfully, the Hotwax Trax compilations from Ultra Vybe subsidiary Solid Records are making a serious dent in the demand for Japsloitation movie music.
With home video companies like Criterion and Panikhouse releasing DVDs of Japanese cult flicks of the '60s and '70s it only makes sense that a record label would come forward with a series of soundtrack comps. Hotwax Trax accounts for some of the most notorious yakusa crime and "pinky" sexploitation films of the era. With music ranging from early rock to jazz to lounge to folk to psychedelia and funk, these discs offer a full gamut of listening pleasure.
That's the good news.
About half of the tracks have Japanese vocals, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing the complete lack of song title and lyric translations are likely to leave some listeners humming along but also scratching their heads. Sure the melodies are usually catchy, but wouldn't it be great to know what they're singing about? One can assume that the lyrics reflect the seedy subject matter of the films, but without the proof it's difficult to appreciate their celebration or lamentation of life in the underworld. That said, if you can listen to Bollywood songs without getting held up by the language these Japsloitation tunes shouldn't pose a problem.
For some listeners the instrumentals will be more enjoyable. Hearing the Japanese take on rock 'n' roll and crime jazz can be a giddy pleasure. Still, it would be a stretch to say that they do anything innovative with the forms. We're not talking about hybrid cars or lean manufacturing processes — areas where the Japanese are famously innovative. Clearly, when it comes to popular music forms, they're copying what they've heard in American and European films, and merely doing a competent job of it. There's novelty in it to be sure, but repeated listens may leave more descerning listeners wanting something more inventive — like Bollywood's often kaleidoscopic take on the same western genres.
Just as the listening experience is a mixed pleasure, so is the packaging. Most of the CDs come with surprisingly large, luridly colorful movie poster reproductions. And the CD inserts contain numerous provocative movie images. The problem is all of the text on these inserts is in Japanese with no translation. So, artist names, tracklists and movie info generally are a mystery. Unless one reads Japanese or knows someone who can, the only way one can learn anything about these releases is to use Google's automatic translator when visiting the Web pages associated with them. But even then, the translations are approximate at best — often laughably so. With so many European soundtrack releases having English-translated liner notes it's frustrating that Solid Records didn't consider it a priority — especially considering the vast number of Japsloitation movie fans in America and Europe.
While the Hotwax Trax CDs are exciting additions to any cult soundtrack collection, ScoreBaby can only give a cautious recommendation to non-Japanese listeners, especially in light of their import prices.

The above text was taken from the Score, Baby! website

Bernard Estardy & Alain Poinsot - Implacable Ring

Bernard Estardy & Alain Poinsot - Electronics [Telemusic - TM 3052] (1975)

Bernard Estardy & Alain Poinsot - Implacable Ring (France, 1975)



A great atmospheric track from the late Baron, Bernard Estardy. Over the last few months I've come to love his work over a lot of other French library artists, that's not to say that Pierre Dutour, Jack Arel, Jean-Claude Petit, Paul Piot and a host of other major talents didn't hit it out of the ballpark consistently - but I think just on the basis of 'La Formule du Baron' alone Bernard Estardy deserves to be admired and remembered fondly.

Arif Sag - Osman Pehlivan

Arif Sag - Osman Pehlivan (1973)

Arif Sag - Osman Pehlivan (Turkey, 1973)



There's nothing quite like a bit of Turkish psyche to brighten up your day, there was just a wealth of great music came out of Turkey in the late 60's to early 70's. Enjoy this frenetic and entertainingly wah wah driven example of the genre.

September 70 In Space

September 70 In Space (2011)

September 70 In Space by September 70

My newest creation - enjoy the sounds of trumpets in zero gravity !

1. Pierre Henry – Prologue
2. Barry Gray - Space 1999 Theme
3. Jack Arel & Pierre Dutour - Leaving for Cosmos
4. Brian Fahey – Countdown
5. Sven Libaek – Lift Off
6. Libra – Apollo 11
7. The Sydney Dale Orchestra - Apollo 15
8. Paddy Kingsland – The Earthmen
9. Kai Rauntenberg & Orchester Jurgen Ehlers  - Moon Mission
10. Mr Waldy & Greenlight - Neptune
11. The Merry Dragons – Universal Vagrant
12. Jean Jacques Perrey – Minuet of the Robots
13. Hardy’s Jet Band - Lady in space
14. Janko Nilovik – Xenos Cosmos
15. Markley, A Group – Roger the Rocket Ship
16. The Johnny Harris Orchestra – Footprints on the Moon
17. Tam White – Future Thoughts

Stormy - The Devastator

Stormy - The Devastator (1968)

Stormy - The Devastator (US, 1968)

Excellent break beat at the beginning.

Pop Instrumental De France - Mr Green Genes

Laurent Petitgirard - Pop Instrumental De France (1971)

Pop Instrumental De France - Mr. Green Genes (France, 1971)

Another French classic, this album is well worth a listen. A lot of nice stuff on here including the very danceable 'Soho'. I've chosen this track purely because I'm a sucker for a harpsichord.

Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations

Dorothy Ashby - Afro-Harping (1968)

Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations (US, 1968)

Yes ! Funky harp, can't be done you say? Think again.

Just noticed that this is on the The Amorphous Androgynous Monsterous Psychedelic Bubble Vol 3 (the first 2 are great).

Still, had to share this, it's brilliant.

Evel Knievel / Medieval Knievel



Evel Knievel



Medievel Knievel Pt II (Resident Evel) by pixel_face

I really don't know what to say, mere words can't express this album, it transcends both sanity and language.

I remember being so excited when I found this on vinyl at some trashy market. It stayed the pride of my record collection for a long time to come. Eventually we used samples for a track called Medieval Knievel as a tribute to the heroic stupidity of the age.

All that remains to be said is : only in the 70's could you get some jumpsuited maniac who strapped themselves on a semi regular basis to an explosively dangerous machine in an attempt to jump something that most people would probably just build a bridge across. Evel Knievel, I take my hat off to you.

H. Caiage - Violence

Gerardo Iacoucci & H. Caiage - L'aventure (1971)

H. Caiage - Violence (France, 1971)



Another funky little gem from the library. Brooding bass and drums with a little piano accompaniment, subtly done but maximum impact. Love it.  

Jack Arel - Something Happen

Jack Arel - Je Fus Cet Enfant La (1972)

Jack Arel - Something Happen (France, 1972)

Another classy track by Jack Arel, and there will probably be a few. I love how this track just simmers away, and never really reaches a boil. Very nice electric piano and slide guitar work.

I'm beginning to become a big fan of the French side of library, but it's so hard to find obscure stuff to put up - especially since Kid Loco has released the 'French Funk Experience'  which is filled with a fine selection of French Library music. Oh well, I'd better just keep on hunting.

Booker T Averheart - Maxi Midi

Booker T Averheart - Maxi Midi (1969)

Booker T Averheart - Maxi Midi (US, 1969)