Merryl & Flex1000 - (2014) Split CS

Merryl side (banger1) has these odd beginning sounds, and, I can’t tell whether I’m spooked or chill. I think a lot of people call this a Lynchian vibe, which basically means that it’s 1) creepy, 2) tense, and 3) a little funny, too. Fuzzed out vocal samples are mixed in, creating a bouncy Dilloway moment that’s immediately thrown out the fucking window when the whole thing BREAKS. Soon, the side flies off the handle into a slow-burning smack-down where the sonic violence gets super transcendental.

Flex’s side (banger2) delivers driving synth pulses set to his own distorted, apocalyptic vocal blasts. After some preliminary wylin’ out, the side digs deep into phases of serious head-nodding rhythms that are blown, scorched, torched – whatever – they’re badass and real (real-as-in…punch your friend at the show and then kiss your friend at the show). 

 

Roger Miller - (1969) Walkin' In The Sunshine LP

After a triumvirate of near-perfect albums came this harbinger of the decline of a particularly imaginative and original country artist. Upon listening to the first side, one wonders if this is the same Roger Miller whose string of zany hits had made listening to the hit parade so much fun. We get three of his most inconsequential and unformed songs ever recorded, and sandwiched between are covers of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" and "Green Green Grass of Home" that should never have been hatched. Miller positively sleepwalks his way through these performances. Things definitely look up upon a flip of the side, though. We get three high quality Miller songs, and, although close inspection reveals these also to be a bit imitative of his past glories, they are still full of the detail and spiky twists this artist is known for. "Pardon My Coffin" is really a fantastic song, despite the "Sixteen Tons" lick in there. And how about this bit of poetry tossed in at the end of "I'd Come Back to Me": "If egg was foo, if I was you, you'd be too young for me." Miller's cover of "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams makes one wonder why he didn't approach more of his cover versions like this. He takes total liberty with the lyrics and structure of the song, turning it inside out very casually, as if what he was doing was the original version. Not all the material on the second side is that good, but the high points would certainly have become more well-known parts of the Miller canon if they had not been surrounded by such drek on their original release. The session backup sounds great when they stick to a small jazz-flavored country combo. The strings are the last thing Miller needs, weighing him down worse than if arranger Jerry Kennedy himself had climbed onto the artist's back and demanded a shoulder ride. A key part of Miller's sound all along, Kennedy should have known better.

Ennio Morricone - (2015) The Black Belly Of The Tarantula 2xLP

With music by one of cinema’s greatest composers, Ennio Morricone, Paolo Cavara’s LA TARANTOLA DAL VENTRE NERO (BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA) is considered one of the best gialli ever made. Starring celebrated genre actor Giancarlo Giannini, the terrifying film is about a homicide detective hunting down a psychotic killer who has been paralysing and slaughtering women just as the deadly Pepsis grossa – the Tarantula Hawk wasp – does to its own eight-legged prey.
Ennio Morricone’s score is equally frightening, though you wouldn’t immediately believe it. The initial melodies of the score conjure up memories of the hits of Serge Gainsbourg, with an upbeat keyboard riff mixed with the breathy and seductive vocals of Edda Dell’Orso, and there’s some jazz fusion along the way. But from there it starts to spiral and spiral into the unknown, with disquieting atonal sounds, creepy insectoid strings, stabbing percussion. The mix of an unhinged piano and drums feels like the buzzing of the wasp, and the music gets so uncomfortable you feel paralysed – with fear - and that’s when it really starts to terrify you. Such is the power of maestro Morricone and BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA.

The Black Belly Of The Tarantula

Michael Perilstein - (2015) Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (Original Motion Picture Score (And Then Some)) LP

Available for the first time on ever on Vinyl, Michael Perilstein's (The Deadly Spawn) score to one of the most absurd horror films ever put to celluloid. Part Noir, part sexploitation comedy, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a cult classic with a truly killer soundtrack that is just as goofy as the film it underscores. Complete with a collection of bonus cues newly recorded by Perilstein. Featuring original artwork by We Buy Your Kids, and all new liner notes by the composer.

Fabio Frizzi - (2015) The Beyond LP

Music composed and orchestrated by Fabio Frizzi

A reissue of the highly sought-after soundtrack to THE BEYOND with brand new packaging and artwork by Graham Humphreys. A single vinyl record housed inside a gatefold sleeve with a booklet containing never before seen on set photographs.

Sleeve notes from Composer Fabio Frizzi, Italian horror expert Stephen Thrower and start and production assistant Larry Ray including some of his never before seen on set photographs.

The Beyond

Andre Previn - (1962) The 4 Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (Original Sound Track) LP

MGM had become aware by April that the film was not going to be able to recoup its cost and started writing off the losses. Ultimately the movie earned $1,600,000 in the US and Canada and $2,500,000 overseas, incurring an overall loss of $5,853,000.

This, along with the failure of Mutiny on the Bounty and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, lead the MGM president to resign.

Carlo Maria Cordio - (2015) Absurd (Rosso Sangue) 2xLP

A cult classic from the video nasty era (and their first in an ongoing series from the legendary CAM Records in Italy) with Carlo Maria Cordio’s musical score to Joe D’Amato’s notorious ABSURD (aka ROSSO SANGUE). A pseudo-sequel to ANTHROPOPHAGUS, the film reunited D’Amato with George Eastman, star of the previous film, and brought the action from Greece to America where the near-invincible Mikos escapes from a hospital to go on a typically gory killing spree. Using drills, band saws, axes, scissors, and an oven, Mikos terrorises the kids of an American (Italian) family until he gets his inevitable comeuppance courtesy of a drawing compass.
Carlo Maria Cordio’s score is centred around a versatile seven-note piano riff that gets an amazing amount of use without ever feeling too stale or repetitive. Cordio augments the riff in interesting and varied ways, sometimes going down the Goblin route with the big and impactful percussion and the funk beats, with a healthy dose of synth, or going for a bit of a chilled out proto-LETHAL WEAPON tune, with noodling electric guitar. Tension is the order of the day much of the time, with synths, an electric keyboard, and a snare drum being Cordio’s weapons. If you love your prog-rock horror music, this will be right up your alley. Just leave the axe at home, no?

Black Flag - (1981) Licorice Pizza And More 7''

Unofficial reissue of the original release on SST Records/ Unicorn Records from 1981 (first Black Flag release with Henry Rollins on vocals). One bonus track is added, a never released version of "Spraypaint", recorded in 1981 as part of the "Damaged" demos. This edition has a xeroxed picture sleeve and includes a large insert with a Black Flag interview taken from Ripper Magazine #3 from 1980. Scratched out matrix numbers.