Category Archives: album

Easy Tempo: La Ragazza dalla pelle di Luna

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One of my favorite vinyl collecting quirks is picking up soundtrack records from odd, obscure or surreal-seeming movies that I’ve never seen-it becomes a challenge to find the damn movie! At times the soundtracks are better than the films, but the search and discovery is fun anyway. For some reason the Italians and the French put really excellent sounds into their skin flicks, erotic movies and left-of-center romance/thrillers. If you go to my favorite record store, Dusty Groove America, you will find this particular sexy Italian soundtrack out of stock as I managed to grab it up before it even had a chance to collect dust. Or was that the Le Beat Bespoke disc I found the same day? I can’t remember which was new or not…but this one is everything I hoped it would be. If you like Morricone, you should invest some coin in some Piero Umilliani. Well worth the cash for anyone who owns more than one of the Maestro’s 60s and 70s soundtracks.

The Vixens of Vinyl

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I love vintage album covers. My favorites include any of the misguidedly cheesy “erotic” album covers by Mystic Moods Orchestra or any of the swinging bachelor pad album covers. Now I have stumbled across this book, The Vixens of Vinyl, and I have to say, it is essential coffee table reading for anyone who shares my strange fixation on vinyl album covers, people in outdated sexy costumes with too much eye makeup. In this book, Benjamin Darling collects the finest array of decidedly pre-feminist album art from Esquivel, Martin Denny and other vintage bachelor pad artistes. This one’s 132 pages worth of raging hormones, nonstop racy artwork featuring models with too much hairspray.

Dawn of the Dead/Zombi OST Vinyl

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Goblin is one of those scruffy dog groups you either love or hate. Horror movie buffs in love with Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Joe D’Amato and other Italian fear-flick directors are often total fanboys of Goblin. Me personally, I love the excessively dated sound of the 70s and early 80s soundtracks by this group, especially the bizarre mix of acid rock guitars and 80s techno synth riffs.

This album is great–it’s all over the map and has some extended sounds you only heard for a few moments in the actual film. There’s at least one totally misguided and wrong cut on this piece of wax–which somehow makes it all the more endearing for the music that DOES work.

The Dagored album is on 180 gram vinyl and the fold-out sleeve is fun. I love the grainy stills from the movie, especially the back cover with all it’s splattery 70s zombie blood flying everywhere. Aim for the head, youze.

I lust after all the albums in the Dagored back catalog. One look at the cover art for these albums will tell you why. I own many of them on CD, but it’s just not as much fun. Just look at that cover art for Revolver and The Beyond… you can’t tell me these wouldn’t be a joy to play on a turntable while gazing at those covers and foldouts.

While hunting for Dagored (i was hoping to order direct from them, but alas they seem only to have archives available for viewing-no shopping!) I discovered a lovely, seemingly ancient site chronicling a series of Dawn of the Dead soundtrack releases. Worth a look.