M. Zalla (aka Piero Umiliani) - Problemi D'Oggi (Liuoto Records - LRS 0056) (1973 - 192kbps)

February 4, 2013 Update: For those who aren't aware, we here at Digital Meltd0wn are in the process of re-uploading a ton of albums that were removed when Megaupload was taken down last year, followed by the massive file purge that took place when Mediafire adopted a ridiculously strict new policy late last year. We weren't the only blog affected by these events. A truly massive amount of albums were lost, and nearly every music blog took a tough blow because of this. I consider it to be a true tragedy that hundreds of bloggers decided to call it quits following these two incidents. A blogger that many of you will hopefully be familiar with, øשlqæda, was kind enough to help me out by informing me of the source behind this particular rip. It pains me to see his name in the comments section, as he was the admin of a legendary blog, Holy Warbles, which was removed by Blogger last year. Fortunately, there are still hundreds of amazing blogs which managed to weather the storm, and new blogs popping up each day. This particular album was originally posted by Gianni almost four years ago on one of those amazing blogs that did manage to survive, The Growing Bin (http://thegrowingbin.blogspot.com). The download link has been inactive for a very long time though, and with this being so very rare, I feel obligated to ensure that it remains available to download for anyone who is curious enough to listen. Fortunately, there are plenty of new albums being regularly shared over at the Bin. If you haven't had a chance to stop by the The Growing Bin, do yourself a favor and get your ass over there.

Continuing with our library music marathon, I present to you an extremely rare and obscure album released on the Liuto library label in 1973. The artist credited on this release, M. Zalla, is actually one of the numerous aliases of another prolific composer of production music, Italian composer Piero Umiliani. I was surprised to discover that this was not posted on either The Library Hunt, or 36-15 Moog, two blogs ran by library music enthusiast Paul Durango, which both contained a massive amount of early electronic and library music albums. I plan to post a few more Umiliani albums either this month, or some time in January. I have two important research papers to work on for school tonight and tomorrow, so I don't have the time to write my own review. There isn't much information floating around about this album. This excerpt from Delirious Music contains some basic info about Umiliani, his M. Zaa alias, and the concept of the album.

"A rare and obscure concept Library on the problems of modern life, released on the Liuto label and produced by the master of Italian soundtracks himself, Piero Umiliani, here under his alias M. Zalla. 'Problemi D'Oggi' falls into Umiliani's highly experimental, psychedelic / electronic phase and was recorded in 1973 in the legendary Sound Workshop studio in Rome. the music presented here deeply reflects the pessimistic nature of the issues in charge (social problems, terrorism, world crisis, industrial production, conflicts, mafia), a dark and disturbing listening experience from start to finish with some tracks reproducing the same progressive type of vibe, which Umiliani's Braen project / collaboration with Alessandro Alessandroni got cult status for. while the B-Side is loaded with abstract, minimal electronic soundscapes, the highlights are concentrated on Side A: the weird opener 'Produzione' has a trance-like progressive ambient sound style, a futuristic groover way ahead of its time with a hyperfast bass driven beat, excessive conga percussion and really amazing synthisizer effects. 'Mondo In Crisi' respectively 'Non Mollare' reveal strong dramatic undertones produced by an impressive exchange between trippy Hammond waves and droning fuzz guitar chords over hard drums. very progressive and imaginative, this is delirious Italian Production Music and a feast for the sophisticated, openminded ear! - Delirious Music"

Year of Release: 1973
Label: Liuto
Catalog #: LRS 0056
Genres: Psychedelic, Electronic, Musique Concrète, Experimental
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:

A1. Produzione
A2. Mondo In Crisi
A3. Attivita'
A4. Attivita'
A5. Problemi Sociali
A6. Non Mollare
A7. Azione Sindacale
A8. Programmazione

B1. Conflitti
B2. Maffia Oggi
B3. Pendolo Ed Angoscia
B4. Cuore E Raffiche
B5. Metronomo E Cuore
B6. Marcia Ambigua
B7. Terrorista
B8. L'Ultima Raffica
B9. Sowersione
B10. Abbandono Dei Campi

Download: M. Zalla (aka Piero Ulimiani) - Problemi D'Oggi (1973 - 192kbps)
Download Size: 58MB

Egisto Macchi - Futurissimo (St Germain Des Prés - St GDP 117) (1971 - 256kbps)

To be honest I'm a little burnt out on writing at the moment, so this post is going to be a bit shorter than usual. I just finished five 500 word essays for school, along with a 5 page report, which I have been working on since I woke up this morning.

In case you're just now tuning in, I have been running with a dark and twisted library music series the last couple of weeks. One of the first I shared was Egisto Macchi's amazing 1976 library music album, Sei Composizioni, released on the Gemelli label as GG.ST 10.036 in 1976. Now I would like to share my personal favorite from Macchi, Futurrismo. Futurrismo was released on the French label, St Germain Des Prés in 1971. St Germain Des Prés was a sub-label of one of my favorite production music libraries, Montparnasse 2000.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Egisto Macchi was a legendary Italian composer of dark avant-garde and musique concrète library music. Macchi once again brilliantly combines dark, unnerving and broken electronic sounds with abstract traditional musical instrumentation. Foreboding violins, droning electric guitars, Disturbing sounds effects, such as knocking upon a wall, screeching metal, howling winds, shrieking animalistic sounds and strange voices are implemented to enhance the unnerving atmosphere. Macchi takes you on a trip, to a dark, hellish future, one which I will be returning to often.

Year of Release: 1971
Label: St Germain Des Prés
Catalog: St GDP 117
Genres: Library Music, Avant-garde, Experimental
Bitrate: 256kbps

Track List:
A1. Chambre Anachronique
A2. Nouvelles Planètes
A3. Appel Spatial
A4. Moduule Lunaire
B1. Capsule en Panne
B2. Forme Planétaire
B3. Gare Spatiale
B4. Extra-Terrestre
B5. Limite Extrême
B6. Nébuleuses
B7. Bande Radioactive

Download: Egisto Macchi - Futurissimo (St Germain Des Prés - St GDP 117)
Download Size: 61MB

Egisto Macchi - Voix (Gemelli - GG.ST.10.031) (1970 - 320kbps)

Here is yet another amazing dark avant-garde library music LP from Italian composer Egisto Macchi. Many people consider Voix to be his masterpiece. While it is an amazing record in its own right, I personally prefer both Futurissimo and Sei Composizioni, both of which I recently shared on the blog. You can find Futurissimo here and Sei Composizioni here.

Voix was released in 1970, and was the first library music album that Macchi composed. It was the first of many he composed for the amazing Italian library label, Gemelli. Gemelli released several avant-garde library music LPs. It was owned and operated by legendary Italian composer, Bruno Nicolai, up until his death in 1991. Unfortunately Gemelli releases are extremely difficult to come by. Only 500 copies of each release were pressed.

As with all of Macchi's work, Voix is an absolute masterpiece of dark avant-garde music. The majority of the tracks have an ominous tone, with a mechanical or industrial feel to them. The percussion work is absolutely amazing, with small handheld percussion instruments at the forefront, backed by powerful tribal rhythms. There is also plenty of hauntingly, beautiful piano work throughout. In contrast, there are also some more brutal moments, as Macchi relentlessly pounds upon the keys in a frantic manner. Vocals play a prominent role in the arrangements, with haunting choral vocals appearing on several tracks, as well as strange muffled voices, menacing hisses and disturbing laughter. Piano keys are frantically pounded upon. Ominous strings feature prominently throughout, often used in in a rhythmical, percussive manner. Ambient electronics provide a textured backdrop to several of the tracks.

The B-side marks a change in tone, with many of the tracks having a whimsical, dreamlike feel to them, while still retaining a a slightly sinister undertone. There is a distinct theme present on the B-side, featuring a common melody which can be heard on "La Memoire", "Chanson De La Nuit" and "Chanson Du Matin". This will be one of the last albums I share for my dark and twisted library music series. I plan to move out of the shadows soon, and showcase some of the more upbeat library music gems.

Year of Release: 1970
Label: Gemelli
Catalog #: GG.ST. 10.031
Genres: Library Music, Avant-Garde, Contemporary Classical,
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Pensée
A2. Phonèmes
A3. Diaphragme
A4. Voix
A5. Moonsong
A6. Timbres
A7. À Plein Gosier
B1. La Mémoire
B2. La Calme
B3. Le Cauchemar
B4. Chanson De La Nuit
B5. Chanson Du Matin
B6. Reflexions
B7. Gouttes
B8. Inquiètude

Download: Egisto Macchi - Voix (Gemelli - GG.ST. 10.031)
Download Size: 74MB

VA - Espace Et Actualité (Musique Pour L'Image - MPI 505) (1967 - 320kbps)

When January rolled around I had originally planned to offer up an eclection selection of library music, however, once I started going through my collection I couldn't resist continuing my dark and twisted library music series. As a visitor recently pointed out, the majority of people who collect and share library music often focus on the releases containing funky breaks, which have been sampled by DJs to create hip-hop beats since the genre first emerged. I wanted to focus on the dark corners of the library music world, and concentrate on a few masterpieces which are all too often passed over for the more upbeat library LPs featuring funky beats and cheerful moog synthesizers. Don't get me wrong, I love those type of library music LPs just as much as the next person, and they helped to introduce me to the amazing world of library music. However, as far as library music goes, those beat-heavy LPs make up the more mainstream side of production music, and I'm all about exploring the more obscure and unsung albums. For those interested, I fully intend to share some of my favorite upbeat library LPs once I finish with my series of dark & twisted library music. After that I plan to share a few releases from each of my favorite library labels.

"Espace Et Actualité" (MP 505) was released on the French label, Musique Pour L'Image" in 1967. The A side contains music from three different artists, while side B consists of music from Patrice Sciortino. Claude Vasori, Robert Hermel and François Bayle comprise the composers featured on side A. Of these three composers Claude Vasori is the only one I'm really familiar with. He released the majority of his music on the Musique Pour L'Image label. I have a few of these releases, including Energie - MPI 541 (1972), Musique Pop Pour Images En Mouvement - MPI 529 (1971), and Action, Charme, Espace - MPI 502 (1967) if anyone would be interested in seeing them posted in the future. The music on this side consists of mysterious and mildly ominous spaced-out ambient tunes. While the music isn't bad, it is overshadowed by the selection of music presented by Patrice Sciortino on the B side, which is much more engaging and unique.

Side B alone makes this library LP worth downloading in my opinion. French composer Patrice Sciortino is responsible for all of the tracks on the B-Side. Sciortino studied at Pierre Schaeffer's GRM (Groupe de Recherche Musicale), along with the aforementioned Claude Vasori. He went on to compose music for theatre and production libraries in the 1960s. Sciortino is often remembered among library music collectors for releasing several amazing percussion themed LPs, including Percupulsions (Neuilly - MC 8002) and Percussion Power (Mondiophone - 46.503). The majority of his work was released on the Neuilly label, and sublabels Crea Sound and Mondiophone.

Espace Et Actualité contains some of the earliest library music that Scioritini composed. It is a bit more constrained than some of his wilder efforts in subsequent years. Sciortino's avant-garde approach to library music, with an emphasis on percussion, brings to mind Camille Sauvage (aka Eric Framond), particularly Fantasmagories, albeit much more reserved in nature. Sciortino manages to strike a wonderful balance with his music. The music manages to be rather sparse, yet engaging at the same time. The inclusion of bells and harps gives the music a delicate sound, while powerful and discordant piano melodies bring some harshness to the compositions. The music is primarily dark in nature, yet light undertones emerge through the darkness, if only for brief moments.

I wouldn't say this release is as strong as some of the previously dark and twisted library LPs I have shared, as it is a bit more reserved in nature than my previous selections. However, this is a solid album in its own right, particulary the music found on the B-Side by Patrice Sciortino. Those of you who enjoyed the previous selections in my dark and twisted library series should find this one quite enjoyable as well.

Year of Release: 1967
Label: Musique Pour L'Image
Catalog #: MPI 505
Genres: Library Music, Ambient, Avant-Garde, Experimental
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Claude Vasori - De´part Fuse´e
A2. Robert Hermel - Industrie Spatiale
A3. François Bayle - Titan
A4. Claude Vasori - Espace Chromatique
A5. François Bayle - Andromede
A6. Robert Hermel - Apesanteur
B1. Patrice Sciortino - Alchimie Rythmique
B2. Patrice Sciortino - Ville Sanse Vie
B3. Patrice Sciortino - Abimes Souterrains
B4. Patrice Sciortino - Danger Sous Roche
B5. Patrice Sciortino - Approache Dramatique
B6. Patrice Sciortino - Hostilite´
B7. Patrice Sciortino - Tumulte

Download: VA - Espace Et Actualité (Musique Pour L'Image - MPI 505)
Download Size: 68MB

Howard Shore - Dead Ringers: Symphonic Suites From The Films of David Cronenberg (1992 - FLAC & 320kbps)

Canadian composer Howard Shore has enjoyed a long and successful career in music, seemingly snagging awards and accolades left and right. Long before the mega-success of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and aside from his stint as music director on Saturday Night Live, Shore was scoring less Oscar-friendly stuff. He got his start in film music working with body horror master, director David Cronenberg. They formed a working relationship that has lasted since the late 1970s, with Shore scoring all but one of Cronenberg's films. Nearly all of these films have explored the fear of corruption of the flesh, and Shore has consistently composed some of the most eerie music to match the nightmares on screen.

The music on this disc comes from the films Scanners (1981), The Brood (1979), and Dead Ringers (1988). It is clear at the start of the album that Shore has the horror genre in his blood. The Scanners main title is classic, and is followed up by nine tracks chock full of spooky electronic effects and jarring, nasty string sections. I am starting to wonder when Hollywood is going to try to make a quick buck with a crappy remake of this movie. The suite from The Brood is performed entirely by strings, imparting paranoia, dread, and everything in between. When the Dead Ringers tracks begin midway through the album, there is a noticeable shift. You can hear that he has matured a lot as a composer, relying on subtler devices to haunt you. I highly recommend this out-of-print album, that often goes for collector's prices, to all fans of Shore and Cronenberg.

Year of Release: 1992
Label: Silva Screen
Catalog Number: FILMCD 115
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Early Electronic
Format: 320kbps MP3 or FLAC

Tracklist:
Scanners
1. Main Title 1:35
2. Vale Captured 4:07
3. Ephemerol 1:18
4. The Ripe Program 2:49
5. The Injection 2:48
6. Dirge For The Assassins 2:35
7. Vale's Lonely Walk 1:01
8. The Dart 1:32
9. Scanner Duel 5:47

The Brood
10. The Shape of Rage
A Suite For 21 Strings 12:16

Dead Ringers
11. Main Title 2:14
12. Bondage 2:41
13. Twins 1:00
14. Growing Awareness 0:58
15. Dependence 2:10
16. Helpless 0:47
17. The Operating Room 1:48
18. In Delirium 2:39
19. Birthday Party 4:20
20. Suicide 5:27
21. Finale 3:16

Download: MP3 - Howard Shore - Dead Ringers: Symphonic Suites From The Films of David Cronenberg

FLAC - Howard Shore - Dead Ringers: Symphonic Suites From The Films of David Cronenberg
Download Size: MP3=144MB, FLAC=318MB

There is a link for an unrelated bonus album in the comments for this post.

Gino Marinuzzi Jr. - Terrore Nello Spazio: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1965 - 320kbps)

Terrore Nello Spazio, or Terror in Space (AKA Planet of the Vampires) is a 1965 sci-fi/horror movie directed by Italian master of supense and atmosphere Mario Bava. It is about some space explorers who answer a distress call and land on a planet only to find out that they were lured into a trap by evil incorporeal entities who want to steal and take over the explorers' bodies. This was a very low budget production that really does play like a comic strip come to life. The financial limits, of course, brought out the creativity from Bava and his crew, with inventive visual effects to attempt to obscure how cheap the sets are. The film is highly campy, but at the time of its release was considered quite gory and violent. Bava worked with so little on so many films, but always managed to entertain. While I can't call it a good film, I have to admit I enjoyed it for its building tension and dread throughout, its visual style, and its superbly sinister musical score by Gino Marinuzzi Jr. The sound quality is surprisingly good, and fans of early electronic and early sci-fi/horror should appreciate this excellent release.

Here is some background information about Marinuzzi Jr. from Answers.com:
Gino Marinuzzi Jr. is a major musical figure twice over, in movies as well as in composition and education, and he comes by that presence as his birthright. His father, Gino Marinuzzi (1882-1945), was a major Palermo-born conductor and composer, known around the world from the dawn of the 20th century, closely associated with the music of Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Donizetti, Bellini, and Richard Strauss. Gino Marinuzzi Jr. was born in New York in 1920, a period in which his father held posts in the United States, and graduated from the Milan Conservatory in 1942. He was closely associated with Teatro dell'Opera de Camera in Rome, and made his conducting debut with the opera's ballet company in 1947. Marinuzzi subsequently turned to composition, including writing music for movies and radio. He entered the Italian film industry in 1950 with All for Love, and over the ensuing decade wrote the scores to such diverse productions as Jean Renoir's The Golden Coach (1952) and Vittorio Cottafavi's Hercules and the Captive Women (1961). Marinuzzi also taught composition from the early '50s onward (among his most notable students is pianist Vittorio Bresciani) and later became fascinated with electronic music. In 1956, in collaboration with Federico Savina, Marinuzzi co-founded the Accademia Filarmonica Romana. His later achievements include the creation of the Fonosynth 2 elettronico, an instrument on which electronic music can be composed.

Marinuzzi's film assignments in the 1960s varied between reasonably traditional subjects, such as I Castrati (1964), Terrore Nello Spazio (aka Planet of the Vampires, 1965, directed by Mario Bava and utilizing Marinuzzi's electronic composing skills), and the offbeat espionage thriller Matchless (1967). He left the film industry for nearly 20 years after that to concentrate on teaching and serious composition, returning in 1984 to write the score for the television series La Piovra (aka The Octopus). His score for Planet of the Vampires, perhaps his most critically acclaimed film work, was lost from home-video versions of the movie from the early '80s until the start of the 21st century, thanks to a decision by its one-time distributor, Thorn-EMI, to replace Marinuzzi's score with one that they owned outright and on which no royalties would be due. The 2001 reissue of the movie on DVD, by way of MGM/UA, restored Marinuzzi's music, which was also released on a soundtrack CD for the first time in early 2004.

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Digitmovies
Catalog Number: CDDM007
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Science Fiction, Early Electronic
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320kbps
FLAC upgrade available upon request.

Tracklist:
1. Main Titles (01:14)
2. Ship landed on planet Aura/Crazy crew (02:33)
3. Astronaut lands on the surface (00:54)
4. A very strange planet (01:42)
5. Exploring Aura/Dead crewman found (04:54)
6. Another macabre discovery/Ship's abandoned bridge (01:27)
7. The living dead (01:15)
8. Inside the starship (01:06)
9. Evil spirits (00:46)
10. A new victim/Tiona attacked by the living dead (00:46)
11. The relic ship/Aboard the relic ship (02:01)
12. "Where are they?"/Tiona's nightmare (01:23)
13. "I know they're dead"/Empty grave (01:18)
14. Time bombs (00:39)
15. The living dead appears (01:04)
16. Battle on planet Aura (01:30)
17. "You are both of them!" (01:30)
18. "A young, primitive world..." Finale (00:38)
19. End titles (00:53)
20. Dead crewman found - Unused Alternate Take (01:59) Bonus Track
21. The 1965 Recording Session (03:05) Bonus Track

Download: Gino Marinuzzi Jr. - Terrore Nello Spazio (Original soundtrack)
Download Size: 77MB

Roger Roger - Sounds Industrial (L'Illustration Musicale - IM 25) (1976 - 320kbps)

Despite possessing a rather large library music collection, I have neglected to share many albums here for one reason or another. During the next two weeks I plan to share a few of my favorite library music albums, better known to some people as production music. If you are unfamiliar with library music then you should check out this Wikipedia article, which provides a decent overview of the genre. In the coming weeks you can expect to see a mixture of albums that any library music enthusiast will be familiar with, along with a few very rare and obscure albums, which hopefully haven't already been posted elsewhere.

First up we Roger Roger's Sounds Industrial (IM 25), which was released on vinyl in 1976 by the L'Illustration Musicale library label. Although Roger Roger happens to be one of my favorite library music composers, I had intended to share a more accessible album here first. The other album I was uploading canceled due to an error, so I just decided to run with it. Roger Roger was a French composer who was born in 1911 and died in 1995. As strange as it seems, his real name was actually Roger Roger. He also released several albums using the aliases Cecil Leuter, which he primarily used for his electronic output, and Eric Swan. Roger Roger was one of the most prolific of all the library music composers during his career, having composed music for dozens of production libraries, television shows and radio. He is well known among library music enthusiasts, although because he preferred to compose music for the more obscure library labels, he never achieved the recognition that many prolific film score composers do. He released albums on several different labels, although is best remembered for the work he did for the Mood Music series on the Chappell label. He was also one of the earliest composers to use the Moog synthesizer, releasing Pop Electronique in 1969, only five years after Bob Moog released his first synthesizer. While his early electronic output tends to be his most popular work, he dabbled in a diverse range of styles, including jazz, classical, psychedelic, experimental and exotica.

Sounds Industrial is one of Roger Roger's earliest albums of electronic music. One thing I love about many library music LPs is that you get the opportunity to hear classicaly trained musicians have fun and experiment, and I get the feeling that Roger Roger was doing just that with this album. At the core of this album is some excellent minimalistic synthesizer music. While each track is short, often averaging roughly a minute each, Roger Roger is able to create very dynamic pieces of music within a very short period of time. What I love about this album is the way each track progressively builds in complexity and atmosphere, yet manages to retain a certain level of simplicity. Most of tracks begin with a very sparse minimalist sound, usually just a simply synth melody, or perhaps a bleep here and a blip there. Then various instruments, sound effects and textured ambient sounds are incorporated one by one, and each track takes a life of its own as it becomes progressively more complex.

I can see this appealing to a variety of people,especially those of you who enjoy experimental, minimal synth, ambient, space-age pop, early electronic music, or just electronic music in general. Hopefully this will serve as an introduction to both library music, as well as Roger Roger, for a few of you. As I mentioned before, you can expect to see more of his albums here on DM in the near future, including those he released under his aliases.

Year of Release: 1976
Label: L'Illustration Musicale
Genres: Library Music, Early Electronic, Experimental
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
01. Sounds Industrial N°1
02. Sounds Industrial N°2
03. Sounds Industrial N°3
04. Sounds Industrial N°4
05. Sounds Industrial N°5
06. Sounds Industrial N°6
07. Sounds Industrial N°7
08. Sounds Industrial N°8
09. Sounds Industrial N°9
10. Sounds Industrial N°10
11. Sounds Industrial N°11
12. Sounds Industrial N°12
13. Sounds Industrial N°13
14. Sounds Industrial N°14
15. Sounds Industrial N°15
16. Sounds Industrial N°16

Download: Roger Roger - Sounds Industrial (L'Illustration Musicale - IM 25)
Download Size: 59MB

Nekromantik & Nekromantik 2 Original Soundtracks (320kbps)

Nekromantik 2 DVD Cover (2003)

We are about halfway through October, so there is still plenty of time for me to post material for "Halloween Countdown 2010". I recently posted a selection of soundtracks from some of my favorite Italian horror films. Now its time to focus on horror from a few other areas of the world. First up is Germany...

In 1987 one of the most revolting displays of horror since the Holocaust appeared in Germany in the form of the film Nekromantik. Yes, I'm exageratting a bit, but there is some truth to the statement. During the period when the Nazi party was in power, all artistic work that wasn't approved by the regime was labeled as "degenerate art", and subsequently banned, confiscated or destroyed. In the years following WWII Germany was under a massive amount of pressure to avoid repeating any of the mistakes that the Nazi regime made while in power. In an attempt to improve their image, and convince the world that their nation wasn't entirely comprised of sadistic maniacs, they were quick to ban films that were considered extremely violent, racist or offensive; however, they stopped short of physically confiscating the banned material in question to avoid reviving memories of the Nazi's harsh methods for dealing with controversial art. When Nekromantik was released, it was banned almost immediately, and physical copies of the film were confiscated nationwide shortly afterwards, making it the first time such a thing occurred in Germany since the Nazi era. The film was subsequently banned in a number of other countries also. When Nekromantik 2 was released the outcome was virtually identical, the film was confiscated and banned nationwide in Germany, followed by widespread bans by other nations.

The films managed to gain a cult following despite the mass bans placed on it. For years the original film remained one of the most widely circulated bootlegs in existence. It is easy to see how the film managed to create so much controversy given its nature and subject matter. The film tells the story of Rob Shmadtke, who cleans up accident victims for a living. His job places him in the perfect position to satisfy his warped sexual fetish, necrophilia. Rob's girlfriend Betty also shares his love for all things decomposing, both in spirit and in the bedroom. Rob's decision to bring home a rotting corpse for Betty and himself to enjoy serves as the catalyst for the film, and all sorts of sick chaos ensues afterwards.

In 2002 Barrel Entertainment released a 2-Disc DVD of the film, Nekromantik 2. The second disc in the set contained the complete scores for both Nekromantik and Nekromantik 2, as well as six bonus tracks that weren't included on either original soundtrack. Most of the music is credited to German composer Hermann Kopp, although there are several other tracks credited to characters from Nekromantik 2, and I'm honestly not sure why this was done. Perhaps someone reading this will have some insight into the reason behind this.

Now, on to what you came here for, the music.. Kopp's score displays his dynamic ability and range. He is one of those composers who is so talented that his music almost seems to contradict itself, yet manages to strike a perfect balance of beauty, horror, joy and dissonance. The score is both minimalistic and hauntingly atmospheric at the core, and yet remarkably complex at the same time. A wide variety of instruments and sound effects are utilized throughout the score. Kopp wastes no time displaying his mastery of the violin, which takes center stage, captivating the listener with his powerful, rhythmic, and beautiful solos. He also uses the violin to create some of the strangest tracks on the album, significantly slowing down the rhythm, creating an ominous, off-key droning sound. Kopp is no slouch on the piano either, with a number of beautiful piano interludes that appear throughout the score. In sharp contrast are the tracks which sound as if they are from an old school industrial album. Harsh noise, clanging metal, pounding drums, synthesizers, and various sound effects come together to create a truly dark and desolate picture. One of my favorite instruments, the moog synthesizer, also makes a few appearances. I'm a sucker for anything moog, as I know a few of you reading this are too.

It's a shame that Hermann Kopp hasn't released more music during his career, having only released 8 complete albums to date. This is an amazing collection of music, which I believe will appeal to a wide variety of people. I honestly wish that I had more time on my hands to write about this, because it truly is deserving of a longer review. It's just that damn good. Unfortunately, I have a big test tomorrow though, so I need to study for a while and then go to bed. Until next time...

Year of Rlease: Original: 1987 & 1990
Barrel Entertainment Release: 2003
Label: Barrel Entertainment (DVD Extra)
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror
Bitrate: 320kbps (m4a format)

Tracklist:
1. Nekromantik
2. At Home
3. Surprise
4. Menaga A Trois
5. Pas De Deux
6. Supper
7. Katzi
8. Drunk
9. Gardner
10. Nekrointro
11. Pure
12. Scelette Instrumental
13. Work
14. Home/Domestic Version
15. Betty's Return
16. The Wheel of Love
17. The Missing Genital
18. Supersonic Tonic
19. Scelette Delicieux
20. Nekrowaltz
21. Magnum/Bar/Mix2000 Plus)
22. Nekromantik 1991
23. Franzosisch In E/Moll
24. Sex With A Saw
25. End Title/Wheel of Love (Reprise)
26. In The Bar/Dream Sequence
27. Monika By The Sea
28. Ave Maria
29. Home (Domina Version)
30. Menage A Trois (Film Version)
31. Captain Berlin

Download: Nekromantik & Nekromantik 2 Original Soundtracks
Download Size: 168MB

Goblin - Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) Original Soundtrack

As with the last post, this album was originally posted by Allywonderland for the Halloween Countdown of '08. Some of the links on the Sharebee page were down so I went ahead and reuploaded the album to Mediafire. I figure its about time for me to move on to other areas of the horror genre, so this is going to be my last Italian horror themed post for the time being. I may or may not post one or two more before the countdown ends, depending on whether or not I finish posting all of the material I had originally planned to post. I hope you all have enjoyed the selections I have presented up to this point, as well as those that I will be posting in the near future.

I was pleased to know that a few of you enjoyed Goblin's Suspiria soundtrack; therefore I am going to post the Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) Original Soundtrack.

Originally released in 1978, the Goblin soundtrack was featured prominently in Dario Argento's international cut of Dawn of the Dead. Argento, himself, is also credited on the Goblin soundtrack. However, in George A. Romero's version, the Goblin soundtrack was used sparingly and mixed with stock music scores.

I am posting the reissue of the 1978 release which includes the ten original tracks with seven bonus tracks.


Track List:
1. L'alba dei morti viventi
2. Zombi
3. Safari
4. Torte in faccia
5. Ai margini della follia
6. Zaratozom
7. La caccia
8. Tirassegno
9. Oblio
10. Risveglio
11. L'alba dei morti viventi (Alternate Take)
12. Ai margini della follia (Alternate Take)
13. Zombi (Sexy)
14. Ai margini della follia (Alternate Take)
15. Zombi (Supermarket)
16. L'alba dei morti viventi (Intro-Alternate Take)
17. Zombi (The Living Dead's Voices!) (Bonus Track)

Download: Goblin-Zombi (Dawn of the Dead)Original Soundtrack
Download Size: 64.49 MB

Goblin - Suspiria Original Soundtrack (1977 - 264VBR)

This was originally uploaded by Allywonderland for the Halloween Countdown of '08. A few of the Sharebee links were no longer working, so I decided to go ahead and reupload this since it fits in with recent posts devoted to Italian Horror movies. The version provided is the original soundtrack released on vinyl in 1977. This has since been reissued a number of times, usually with bonus tracks included, although the version provided here is currently out of print. - Zer0_II

With a number of cult classic movie soundtracks being posted, I've decided to include one of my own personal favorites that unquestionably should be apart of any "Best Of" horror soundtracks list.

Released in 1977, Suspiria is an Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento as the first installment of his "The Three Mothers" horror trilogy. The film has since become a cult classic and has been referenced many times as residence of some of the "scariest" and "most-violent" movie moments, but arguably eclipsing the film is its unique and preeminent soundtrack. In an age with so many uninspired horror soundtracks that read more like a collage of radio singles that don't advanced the movie in any way; gems like Suspiria are exceptional.

Once again, Italian progressive rock group, Goblin was given the task to pen the soundtrack for the Argento film after previous working in concert on the film, Deep Red. Despite releasing a LP entitled Roller, Goblin would, in the end, be best recognized for the score of Suspiria and Zombi Original Soundtrack (Dawn of the Dead)

Year of Release: 1977
Label: Cinevox (MDF 33.108)
Genre: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Electronic
Bitrate: 264VBR

Track List:
1. Suspiria
2. Witch
3. Opening To The Sighs
4. Sighs
5. Markos
6. Black Forest
7. Blind Concert
8. Death Valzer

Download: Goblin - Suspiria Original Soundtrack
Download Size: 57.59 MB

Keith Emerson - Inferno Original Soundtrack (1980 - 320kbps)

Continuing with my Italian horror theme for "Halloween Countdown 2010", I present to you the soundtrack to one of my favorite films from Italian director Dario Argento. When Argento directed a film he often turned to the members of Goblin to create the music for the film. The members of Goblin had a hand in creating the music to all of Argento's films from 1975 to 1987, with the exception of one film, Inferno. Argento chose progressive rocker Keith Emerson to compose Inferno's soundtrack because he "wanted a different sort of score from that by Italian progressive group Goblin on Suspiria, a more delicate one".

The version of the soundtrack I'm presenting today is a CD reissue released in Italy by Cinevox in 2004. It contains Keith Emerson's original score, as well as a bonus track "Inferno (Outtakes Suite)". This version is currently out of print and no longer available to purchase from Cinevox. Cinevox later reissued the soundtrack again with additional bonus tracks in 2006.

Unfortunately that is all I have time to write about this soundtrack right now as I have to leave for work in a few minutes. I had hoped to be able to write a full-length review earlier in the day, but things just didn't work out the way I had planned. The idea behind the Halloween Countdown is to present at least one item each day until October 31st arrives, and I'm simply not going to have time to do that unless I post a review from a different source. Fortunately I was able to find a very well written review by on cinefantastiqueonline.com (damn, that's a long name for a website) which I hope will be enough to satisfy your curiosity.

"Although often compared unfavorably to Goblin’s music for SUSPIRIA, keyboardist Keith Emerson’s score for the sequel, INFERNO, is every bit as in tune with the film, perfectly matching the mood and action. Unlike Goblin’s heavy rhythms, shrieking vocals, and shrill synthesizers of the previous film, Emerson employs a much more subtle approach, weaving a score out of quiet piano motifs supported by orchestral arrangements, only occasionally reaching into his electronic bag of tricks for a more outre effect. The result comes closer to a conventional piece of film scoring, underlining the on-screen action without drawing as much attention to itself.

If there is a failing to the music, it is one seen in several Argento films (though not in SUSPIRIA): a disconnect between the music and the visual. Occasionally, Emerson’s music seems to shrill for the scene it accompanies. In the case of Kazanian’s Tarantella” (in which a man is attacked by rats in Central Park during a lunar eclipse), the music builds to a grandiose climax more appropriate for a heroic rescue than a bloody demise. Fortunately, this (relatively minor) problem does not extend to the soundtrack album, where the music can be enjoyed on its own.

Unlike the album for SUSPIRIA (and indeed for other Goblin soundtracks, which gave the impression that the group had simply performed a series of track that Argento then cut into the film wherever he felt like it), the track listing of the INFERNO album follows the film in chronological order. Most of the music consists of delicate piano instrumentals (enhanced by ominous orchestral arrangements), which thread the recurring “Inferno” main title theme throughout the film; the effect is hypnotic and dreamy rather than overtly horrific. For the major suspense set pieces (e.g., “A Cat Attic Attack”), the orchestra kicks in with all the enthusiasm of Bernard Herrmann as his most intense, and Emerson adopts a more frenetic, perscussive style of playing that will be familiar to fans of his work as a progressive rocker.

Providing a break from the piano-orchestral sound that dominates the music are a handful of other tracks. “Rose Gets It” features an eerie wordless vocal (probably achieved with a synthesizer; the effect sounds much like a theremin). “The Library” is a brief piece for solo church organ that manages to evoke a Gothic ambiance without sounding too cliched. ”Taxi Ride (Rome)” and “Cigarettes, Ices, Etc” recreate the old three-piece line-up of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, with bass and drums laying down the rhythm while Emerson layers various, piano and keyboard sounds on top. ”Cigarettes,” the last track on the original album, was apparently intended as the closing title music; instead, Argento reused the track “Mater Tenebrarum,” a sort of rock-and-roll version of Jerry Goldsmith’s OMEN theme, with a vocalist chanting the Latin names of the “Three Mothers” described in a book by an alchemist: Mater Suspiriorum (the Mother of Sighs), Mater Tenebrarum (the Mother of Darkness), and Mater Lachrymarum (the Mother of Tears). A handful of music cues from the movie did not make it onto the old vinyl soundtrack album. These were mostly brief, droning synthesizer bits, used as transitions. Subsequent CD releases include a suite of outtakes.

Although lacking the outrageous impact of Goblin’s work for SUSPIRIA, the music for INFERNO is excellent in its own right. In fact, Emerson’s debut as a film composer far exceeds his subsequent, much less distinguished work on NIGHT HAWKS and MURDER ROCK (although he did contribute some nice work to GODZILLA: FINAL WARS). Those seeking the progressive rock assault of keyboardist’s group efforts (The Nice, ELP) will be disappointed, but taken in its own terms, the music for INFERNO is as good as anything Emerson ever did." - Steve Biodrowski

Year of Release: Original: 1980 | Reissue: 2004
Label: Cinevox (CD MDF 306)
Genre: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Electronic
Bitrate: 320kbps

Tracklist:
1. Inferno
2. Rose's Descent Into the Cellar
3. Taxi Ride
4. Library
5. Sarah in the Library Vaults
6. Brookbinder's Delight
7. Rose Leaves the Apartment
8. Rose Gets It
9. Elisa's Story
10. A Cat Attic Attack
11. Kazanian's Tarantella
12. Mark's Discovery
13. Mater Tenebrarum
14. Inferno Finale
15. Cigarretes, Ices, Etc
16. Inferno (Outtakes Suite)

Download: Keith Emerson - Inferno
Download Size: 86MB

Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson - The Legend of Hell House (Unreleased Score) (1973 - 320kbps)

Most of you who have followed this blog for some time now are familiar with my fondness for Delia Derbyshire's work. I have managed to collect the majority of her solo albums, as well as projects she contributed to, namely for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. However, there has been one album that has eluded my grasp until now, due to the fact that it was never officially released. The album in question is the score for 1973 horror film, "The Legend of Hell House", which she composed along with fellow BBC Radiophonic Workshop member Brian Hodgson in Hodgson's Electrophon studio in London. I had hoped that it would appear somewhere on the internet for years before finally discovering this on the old Isbum's Place blog, which is now no longer active. The score was ripped from DVD by a fellow who goes by the name of "The Master Cylinder", who happened to run one of the many sub-blogs on Isbum's Place. The Master Cylinder is a well known figure among rare soundtrack/score enthusiasts, having ripped and released soundtracks and scores for hundreds of movies that were never officially released. This particular release was numbered MC 208.

Original 1973 Movie Poster

I wish I could find out more information about the ripping job MC performed on this release. I couldn't find a DVD version of this film containing 5.1 surround sound. One common way to rip the audio from a DVD is simply to isolate the 5.1 surround sound and rip it to mp3 format. If a disc doesn't include 5.1 surround sound it makes the whole process a bit trickier, and heavy editing is usually required to remove dialogue and other sound found in the movie. Perhaps The Master Cylinder himself will grace us with his presence and be able to elaborate a bit on this particular release, but I'm not sure if he is still around.

Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to watch this film, so I can't say for sure how complete this score actually is. Judging from the length of the album, I find it very unlikely that this is a 5.1 surround sound rip. The album clocks in at just over 10 minutes in total length, which leads me to believe that there was more music which had to be edited out due to the fact that it contained dialogue and various other sounds from the movie. There are also a few places where the audio seems to jump just a bit, although it isn't noticeable enough to be a distraction.

Given the facts mentioned above, I debated as to whether or not I should share this here, but in the end I decided to go ahead for the following reason: To the best of my knowledge, this is the only version in any form of the score for The Legend of Hell House in existence, making it the only way many people will have the opportunity to listen to music from one of Delia Derbyshire's final projects. There are also a few people who frequent this blog that are big fans of Delia's work, and will be excited to see this regardless of how complete it is. Musically speaking, this may turn out to be one of the weaker selections of the Halloween Countdown for some, however I can't emphasize the significance of this collection of music enough.

As for the music, it is very different from the majority of Delia's work, which tends to be more rich and bold in nature. This is a bit more subdued, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is boring. Brian Hodgson is best known for creating sound effects for the sci-fi television series, Doctor Who, and is responsible for the strange sound effects that can be heard. The majority of the tracks on this release feature a haunting minimalistic ambient-like atmosphere, with minor amounts of percussion and brass. My favorite thing about the music is that it combines sounds that seem both organic and mechanical in nature. Hodgson's strange sound effects can be heard throughout each cue, the majority of which sound like spirits calling out from the beyond and letting out tortorous moans, although what sounds like muffled sexual moans can be also heard in some places. There is a very small amount of dialogue found on track 5, though it fades out almost as quickly as it appears.

I'm not going to go into detail about the plot of the movie, as plenty of information can be found online. You can find the wikipedia article for the film here, and the IMDB page here. Unfortunately there is neither a tracklist or album cover for this release. The "album cover" is simply a cropped-out section of the original movie poster I created so that I could have a folder image for my harddrive, and there isn't a track listing to include since this isn't an official release. If any of you can provide any further details surround this release please take the time to leave a comment.

Year of Release: 1973
Label: NA / Bootleg Release
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror
Bitrate: 320kbps

Download: Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson - The Legend of Hell House
Download Size: 24MB

Delia Derbyshire, Dudley Simpson, Brian Hodgson, & David Vorhaus - ESL 104/The Tomorrow People

Produced by the UK's Thames Television between 1973 and 1979, The Tomorrow People was a sci-fi drama show for kids that ran for eight series. A large portion of The Tomorrow People soundtrack was taken from the Standard Music Library's "ESL104" LP. In fact, all but four tracks from "ESL104" were used to score The Tomorrow People.

Standard Music Library was established in 1969 as suppliers of specialist production music for film, television, radio and commercials. The styles range from orchestral, jazz, dance and a variety of world music, to avant-garde composers such as Brian Eno. ESL 104 was one of their first releases, and the original record was used to provide incidental music to several 1970s Doctor Who stories, episodes of ATV's Timeslip and Thames' The Tomorrow People. Delia and Brian recorded the majority of the tracks on ESL 104 under their "Nikki St George" and "Li De La Russe" composing hats, with David Vorhaus, an avant garde American composer who formed Camden Town's Kaleidophon studio with Derbyshire and Hodgson, composing the remaining tracks.

They were highly experimental composers, with no access to synthesisers, using a very innovative approach to composition and scoring with physical manipulation of tape loops, cut up recordings and oscillators as well as traditional instrumentation. The work of Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson could be said to be a precursor to today's ubiquitous use of samplers. In 1963, these applications were so technically advanced for their time that Delia was able to construct the legendary Doctor Who theme through filtered oscillation, cutting, speeding up, and assemblage note- by-note, in a two week period. Again, no synthesisers were used. The heightened, unearthly sound of Doctor Who was born. Delia was able to take the forms of musique concrète, originally developed by by Pierre Schaeffer, with the use of microphones and magnetic tape recorders, and organically bring the truly experimental and the popular together and present it to a mainstream audience.

Director Douglas Camfield eschewed the normal route of asking Dudley Simpson to compose the incidental music and instead selected a number of stock library tracks. The majority of the tracks originate from ESL 104 and two other tracks, the legendary 'Delian Mode' and 'Blue Veils And Golden Sands' originated from the BBC Radiophonic Music album that had been released in 1968. 'Blue Veils' was originally composed for a World About Us documentary about the Tuareg tribes of the Sahara. This Delia composition was composed and constructed using filtered electronic oscillators to give the "shimmering heat haze" atmosphere to accompany the footage. It also uses manipulations of Delia's voice and the ringing of a now infamous green lamp shade. It seems quite fitting that Camfield should use such an atmospheric piece to underscore the fiery destruction of the world in Inferno and her 'Blue Veils and Golden Sands' emphasises Stahlman's complete obsession and madness. Her 'Lure Of the Space Goddess', a kind of swirling electronic woodwind effect, also surfaces from ESL 104 to provide further mood and an uneasy underscore to the environs of Project inferno.

If you are a fan of early electronic/experimental music then I can't recommend this enough. This contains some of Derbyshire's finest work. To view more Delia Derbyshire/BBC Radiophonic music from the archives click here.


Track List:
1. The Tomorrow People
2. Lure of the Space Goddess
3. Battle Theme
4. Homeric Theme
5. Greek Concrete
6. Attack of the Alien Minds
7. Gothic Submarines
8. Whirring Menace
9. Souls In Space
10. Time Capsule
11. Restless Relays
12. Planetarium
13. Wet Asteroid
14. Way Out
15. Fresh Aire
16. Delia's Theme
17. Tentative Delia
18. Delia's Idea
19. Delia's Psychedelian Waltz
20. Delia's Resolve
21. Delia's Dream
22. Delia's Reverie
23. Delia's Fulfilment
24. Build Up To
25. Snide Rhythms
26. The Tomorrow People Theme

Download: ESL 104/The Tomorrow People
Download Size: 37MB

Raymond Scott - Manhattan Research, Inc.

Manhattan Research Inc. is a two-CD compilation of electronic music created by the musician, composer and inventor, Raymond Scott and his company, "Manhattan Research Inc." Posthumously released in 2000 by Basta Music of Holland, the album contains selected samples of Scott's work from the 1950s and 1960s for film soundtracks, commercials, and for his own technical and musical experiments. The synthesizers, sequencers, and drum-machines used were designed and constructed by Raymond Scott.

Scott would often describe Manhattan Research Inc. as "More than a think factory - a dream center where the excitement of tomorrow is made available today." The material, while never intended for commercial release, provides insight into Scott's work. Included among the tracks on the album are commercials for companies such as Ford Motor and IBM, a humorous "Audio Logo" collage entitled "Don't Beat Your Wife Every Night!", and various collaborations with Jim Henson (of Muppets fame). The album features a number of Scott's inventions including the Clavivox keyboard, Circle Machine, Bass Line Generator, Rhythm Modulator, Karloff, Bandito the Bongo Artist, and the auto-composing Electronium.

Much of the audio selections, as well as the images for the accompanying 144-page book, were culled from the University of Missouri Kansas City's extensive collection of Raymond Scott material. Album producers Gert-Jan Blom and Jeff Winner worked with several of the university's staff in choosing material for the project. During the process, the two producers were impressed by the quality and fidelity of the recordings, despite being some thirty to forty years old. Due to Scott's meticulous attention to detail, "They were so well recorded that almost no audio correction was necessary during the mastering" of the album." In the CD notes, Blom & Winner write, "Scott sought to master all aspects of sound capture and manipulation. His special interest in the technical aspects of recording, combined with the state-of-the-art facilities at his disposal, provided him with enormous hands-on experience as an engineer.

Year of Recording: 1953-1969
Year of Release: 2000
Label: Basta
Genre: Early Electronic, Experimental
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:

DISC 1
1. Manhattan Research, Inc. Copyright
2. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.
3. Bendix "The Tomorrow People"
4. Lightworks
5. The Bass-Line Generator
6. Don't Beat Your Wife Every Night
7. B. C. 1675
8. Vim
9. Auto-Lite: Sta-Ful
10. Sprite "Melonball Bounce"
11. Sprite "Melonball Bounce"
12. Wheels That Go
13. Limbo: The Organized Mind
14. Portofino
15. County Fair
16. Lady Gaylord
17. Good Air
18. IBM MT/St : "The Paperwork Explosion"
19. Domino
20. Super Cheer
21. Cheer: Revision 3
22. Twilight In Turkey
23. Vicks: Medicated Cough Drops
24. Vicks: Formula 44
25. Auto-Lite: Spark Plugs
26. Nescafe
27. Awake
28. Backwards Overload
29. Bufferin: "Memories" (Original)
30. Bandito The Bongo Artist
31. Night And Day
32. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. "395"
33. K2r
34. IBM Probe
35. Gmgm 1a
36. The Rhythm Modulator

DISC 2
1. Ohio Plus
2. In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen
3. General Motors: Futurama
4. Portofino 2
5. The Wild Piece
6. Take Me To Your Violin Teacher
7. Ripples (Original Soundtrack)
8. Cyclic Bit
9. Ripples (Montage)
10. The Wing Thing
11. County Fair (Instrumental)
12. Cindy Electronium
13. Don't Beat Your Wife Every Night! (Instr.)
14. Hostess: Twinkies
15. Hostess: Twinkies (Instr.)
16. Ohio Bell: Thermo Fax
17. The Pygmy Taxi Corporation
18. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (Announce Copy, Take 1)
19. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.
20. Lightworks (Slow)
21. IBM Mt/St: "The Paperwork Explosion" (Instr.)
22. Auto-Lite: "Ford Family"
23. Auto-Lite: "Ford Family" (Instr.)
24. Auto-Lite: "Wheels"
25. Bufferin: "Memories" (Demo)
26. Space Mystery (Montage)
27. The Toy Trumpet
28. Backward Beeps
29. Auto-Lite: Sta-Ful
30. Lightworks (Instr. )
31. When Will It End?
32. Bendix 2: The Tomorrow People
33. Electronic Audio Logos, Inc.

Download: Raymond Scott - Manhattan Research, Inc. (Disc 1)
Download Size: 76MB

Download: Raymond Scott - Manhattan Research, Inc. (Disc 2)
Download Size: 81MB