New releases last eight weeks: Soundtracks

Review: In the mid-80s, Svitlana Okhrimenko, Oleksandr Kohanovs'kyi, and Tamila Mazur, students at the Reinhold Glier Kyiv Academy of Music, formed the foundation of Cukor Bila Smert. Their blend of music and camaraderie led to the addition of Eugene Taran, who further helped shape the band's vision. Dubbed Sugar - White Death, their ironic moniker challenged media sensationalism and amidst endless musical exploration, they crafted two albums in 1988 and 1989. The band's unique "sugar calypso sound" emerged, a blend of Kohanovs'kyi's music and lyrics by Okhrimenko and Taran. A significant studio session in 1990 yielded tracks featured on the Mannered Music compilation which sparked international interest. Their journey concluded in 1993 with the release of "Selo" by Koka Records, and now some of the best bits make it onto this new collection.

Review: Waxwork Records presents the iconic Body Double Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Pino Donaggio. Directed by Brian De Palma, this 1984 neo-noir erotic thriller pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock's classics, exploring themes of voyeurism and obsession. Starring Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith, the film follows struggling actor Jake Scully, who, after witnessing a murder, delves into the seedy underworld of Hollywood's adult entertainment industry. De Palma, aiming to defy censorship, crafted an erotic and thrilling narrative. Donaggio's legendary score, including the standout track 'Telescope', masterfully blends orchestral grandeur with 80s electronic beats, perfectly capturing the film's neon-drenched ambiance and suspenseful atmosphere.

Review: Michael Giacchino, a decorated Academy Award-r winning composer, delivers a commanding yet tender score for J.A. Bayona's moving film The Society of the Snow. It recounts the harrowing true tale of the 1972 Uruguayan flight that crashed in the remote Andes, and the ensuing battle for survival. Amid despair, the film champions hope which is a sentiment echoed in Giacchino's emotionally charged score. Balancing poignancy with optimism, the music navigates a delicate path that amplifies the film's power. Bayona and Giacchino's collaboration yields a cinematic masterpiece that will surely resonate as one of the year's most compelling narratives.

Review: Fargo Year Five is the fifth instalment of the acclaimed series Fargo and it debuted on screens back in November 21, 2023, and rolled out ten more gripping episodes. Continuing the tradition, Jeff Russo crafted the captivating music for this season, as he did for the preceding four. Notably, Russo clinched the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special in 2017 for his exceptional work on Fargo. Besides his prowess in television composition, Russo is revered as one of the founding members of the band Tonic, showcasing his multifaceted talent across various facets of the music industry, and this score is as good as all the ones that came before it.

Review: Shame On Dry Land (Syndabocken) is an award-winning Swedish movie that picked up the Guldbagge prize for best feature film soundtrack in 2024. That soundtrack has been written and produced by sometime Studio Barnhus associate and mythical young artist Baba Stiltz. It arrives on vinyl for the first time here and is a dense affair with plenty of esoteric stylings as you would expect of a man with a famously hard-to-pin-down sound. It goes from heavy and dark to airy and Mediterranean and needs to be heard nice and loud for the best effect.

Review: When you look back at the first PlayStation several landmark releases spring to mind - Resident Evil, Tekken 2, Crash Bandicoot - the list could go on much longer and should definitely include Wipeout and Wipeout 2097. Both were renowned for combining high pace, futuristic visuals with contemporary electronic club music from some of the biggest producers and acts at the time. Less remembered, in Europe at least, is the Ape Escape series, an intense party-platform title which arguably has the greatest dance music game score of all time. Comprising six tracks from that saga, this compilation of Soichi Terada's soundtracks emphasises that bold point. Opening on the crisp, punchy techno drive of 'Specters Factory', we find ourselves in suitably spooky jungle ('Haunted House'), rumbling dnb ('Spectors Castle') and roughneck hardcore bass ('Coasters'), among other made up genres. A collection which resembles Terada's amazing 1996 album, Sumo Jungle and makes a case for the Japanese enigma as one of dance music's most underrated geniuses.

Review: Final Symphony II delves deeper into the cherished melodies of the Final Fantasy series. Renowned composers Roger Wanamo and Jonne Valtonen skillfully craft rich and intricate arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's iconic compositions from FF5, 8 & 9. Additionally, Masashi Hamauzu offers a captivating suite inspired by his monumental original score for Final Fantasy XIII, while Valtonen sets the tone with his atmospheric opening piece 'In a Roundabout Way - Fanfare'. Pianist Mischa Cheung shines brightly in the spotlight, captivating audiences with his masterful performances in 'For the People of Gaia' and the emotive solo arrangement 'You Are Not Alone'.

Review: Discovered after 55 years, the previously unreleased soundtrack to the 1964 noir film You're Not From Around Here finally emerges from the Louis Wayne Moody archive. Laden with twangy tremolo and reverb-drenched revenge, it navigates themes of alienation, paranoia, and existential echo. Packaged in a replica film canister with rusted varnishes and a debossed logo, it immerses you in a world of moral ambiguity. This Cabinet of Curiosities release by Numero delves into the esoteric possibilities of curation, weaving threads of intentionality and psychic connections through music history. It's a tribute to the DIY museum and the emotionally charged artifacts of post-industrial consumerism.

Review: Resurfacing from obscurity after 58 years in the Louis Wayne Moody Pictures vault, this unearthed soundtrack unveils a treasure trove of melancholic melodies, mournful guitars, and eerie echoes. It is another of the seemingly endless gems to come from the great folks at Number Uno and is laden with themes of abandonment, shattered dreams, and existential ponderings. The album, titled They Move in the Night, weaves a narrative of moral ambiguity and tearful farewells, set against the backdrop of lukewarm diner coffee and the relentless pursuit of society's shadows. Fascinating stuff.

Review: The Colour Purple is one of those films that went against the odds in the wrong way - the second adaptation of Alice Walker's novel about a Black couple living in the Deep South around the turn of the 20th Century, it built on a legacy of acclaimed literature and cinema (Steven Spielberg's 1985 film), came with a strong cast and had $100million spent on it. Yet, after its release in 2023, despite great reviews and multiple award nominations, it grossed just $67million at the global box office. Musicals aren't for everyone, of course, although it's hard to find fault here. Songs range from super dramatic, almost tribal and certainly stage-filling epics, through to kitchen sink soul, roots, blues, R&B, hip hop, and power pop, and listening through even without the visual focus, leaves a big, long-lasting impression.

Review: An exact dozen Bollywood musical gems, expertly curated to reflect a multitude of styles and sounds within the full spectrum. Tracks from movies such as Blackmail, Apradh, Junglee, Priya, Bhoot Bungla, and Sholay all make appearances, many of which are names that should be familiar to fans of 'world cinema' - for want of a less lazy label - even if the soundtracks themselves are not. Spanning the later mid-20th Century, everything here was recorded between 1958 and 1984, and as such Bollywood Nuggets can be taken as a window on how tastes and demand changed during that time, while certain totems remained. Featuring artists such as Mohammedd Rafi, Kalyanji & Anandji, P Susheela & SP Balasubrahmanyam, and RD Burman, it's a fantastic overview and a fascinating deep dive.

Review: Martin Scorsese's Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues series may not be the Academy Award-winning director's most famous contribution to popular culture, but the PBS documentary film saga, in which the legendary director takes us on a journey through the development of a sound he holds dear to his heart, is well worth looking for. Featuring luminaries such as John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, and more, each episode welcomes a different filmmaker, allowing them to refocus on artists they love. For this album spin-off, we centre attention on the mighty Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the most influential of all blues musicians who tragically died at the age of 35 in a helicopter crash. Although far younger than many of the greats he's often listed alongside, his exceptional abilities on the guitar, and often unique sonics, set him apart from almost anyone else, alive or dead. Listen to what we mean here.

Review: In the John Williams & Hans Zimmer Odyssey, the Orchestre Curieux embarks on a sonic journey through the iconic film scores of two legendary composers. John Williams, known for his sweeping orchestral arrangements in classics like Star Wars and Jurassic Park, contrasts with Hans Zimmer's modern, dynamic and more minimal soundscapes from films like Inception and Gladiator. This orchestral fusion bridges generations of cinema lovers and seamlessly blends Williams' timeless melodies with Zimmer's contemporary flair. The performance promises a cinematic experience, transporting audiences through the rich tapestry of emotions evoked by these masterpieces, all interpreted through the Orchestre Curieux's unique artistic lens.

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.