Back catalogue: Classical

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


From the moment you hit play on 'A New Threat Is Born', the first few minutes on this soundtrack to the acclaimed video game, Resident Evil 3, you could easily close your eyes and feel like you're back sat in front of a TV playing the story through. If you're unfamiliar with the franchise, let's just say it (re)wrote the book on survival horror, and a big part of this was in the scores used to accompany the on-screen tension. Less focused on specific theme tunes and tracks, over time the emphasis has increasingly fallen on building atmosphere and setting up jump scares for unassuming players. On a record, that sounds like a combination of fast moving and quickly developing instrumental movements and intimidating sound effects. Perhaps not the dinner party soundtrack you were looking for, nevertheless it makes a big impact.

Review: This is a delightful celebration of classic cartoon scores that arrives for a special Black Friday 2024 release. The collection showcases the genius of composers like Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, whose music defined the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies era. Orchestral brilliance and playful synchronisation bring timeless characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to life. With all new remastered tracks, the album highlights intricate arrangements and whimsical motifs that revolutionised animation scoring. Perfect for collectors and nostalgia enthusiasts alike, this one honours the artistry behind some of the most iconic and enduring cartoon soundtracks in entertainment history.

Review: Robin Carolan's latest score for Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is a darkly atmospheric work that fuses gothic elements with a broad range of instruments and sounds. Following their successful collaboration on The Northman, Carolan once again teams up with Eggers to craft a haunting, meticulously composed score that complements the eerie 19th-century setting. British musician Daniel Pioro leads the orchestration, which features 60 string players, a full choir, horns, woodwinds, a harpist and two percussionists. Despite this grandeur, one of the trickiest pieces to perfect was the opening music box which really shows Carolan and Eggers' meticulous attention to detail. Carolan sought to avoid modern influences in the score while embracing contemporary instruments, a balance enhanced by Letty Stott's use of ancient horns and pipes. Carolan's inspirations were diverse, from Bartok and Coil to films like The Innocents and Eyes Wide Shut. He also drew from the Ukrainian film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo to shape the otherworldly tone of the score. Rather than focusing on horror cliches, Carolan emphasised the melancholic and tragic aspects of the story, adding a layer of warped romanticism. The result is an evocative soundtrack that, while perfectly aligned with the film, also stands as a powerful work of art on its own.

Review: The music from Apocalypse Now is a compelling piece of the film's unique atmosphere, composed by Carmine Coppola and his son, Francis Ford Coppola. This remastered gatefold 2xLP presents a score that is anything but conventional. Featuring bold electronic experimentation, the music complements the film's depiction of chaos and inner turmoil. Tracks like 'The Delta' and 'The Dossier' create a meditative, eerie backdrop, while 'Orange Light' and 'Voyage' highlight the hallucinatory journey of its protagonist, with the latter infusing a touch of psychedelic guitar. While it's not a traditional, action-driven score, the pulsating synths of 'Nung River' and dissonance of 'Chef's Head' bring tension to the forefront. Its final moments with 'Finale' bring reflection to a movie that explores the boundaries of duty and sanity. Although challenging at times, the music's blend of synthetic and natural elements provides a fascinating listen, especially for those open to a bold 1970s electronic sound.

Review: The full 83 track suite from the original Halo trilogy of video games is here, bringing you an exemplary score befitting of one of the most acclaimed Arcadian future combat shooter game series in the world. Now you can figuratively "don" your very own sonic Spartan supersoldier suit, as the game's trademark musical motifs - mystical Gregorian choral chants, missionary orchestral movements, gloried verging-on-prog upswells and downturns - are laid in pristine electronica-augmented fashion, by composers Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori and C Paul Johnson. The midpoint of the record marks a highlight, where the Halo 2 soundtrack heard a long list of A-list musician collaborators, marking a heavy metal and nu-metal sojourn.

Review: Laced Records and Halo Studios partner up to bring the epic soundtracks of the original Halo trilogy to vinyl for the first time, remastering and revamping 83 original scores from Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. the music that defined a franchise is thus ethered in perpetuity. Weaving orchestral elements, prog rock, drum corps marches, and heavy metal, Halo presents a perfect bottling of angst and militancy; owing to its popularity with a certain teen gamer cohort, Halo 2's score especially made history as the first video game OST to chart on the Billboard 200. Now, each soundtrack is presented in its own sleeve with custom artwork, and comes in a collector's box adorned with a debossed Halo logo and silver laminate finish.