Back catalogue: All genres

Review: "What was amazing about Liska's music was that, unlike most other composers, he didn't attempt to go with the mood of the film and milk the emotions but listened to the rhythm of the movie itself. Especially in an animated film, this helped to greatly enhance the sense of the picture's pace and drama. He was able to discover rhythms in films that even their authors weren't aware of." Jan Svankmajer, whose 90th birthday coincides with the release of this compilation, clearly holds Zdenek Liska in high regard. Respectively, a director and his regular composer-collaborator, the Czech artists worked on ten short films together. The original recordings of music for three of those have survived on tape - Don Juan (Don sajn), Leonardo's Diary (Leonard?v denik) and Jabberwocky (evahlav aneb sati?ky Slam?neho Huberta). Now here they are in all their surreal, folk-ish, playful, comedic and, at times, library-style glory.

Review: What a gem this is to follow up the much-loved 2024 stop-motion animated Netflix classic directed by series creator Nick Park. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl earned critical acclaim, winning two BAFTA awards and receiving an Academy Award nomination in the process. The story follows Gromit as he tries to save Wallace, whose new "smart" gnome invention seems to have a mind of its own and may be linked to a vengeful figure from the past. The film's score was crafted by Emmy-nominated Lorne Balfe and BAFTA-nominated Julian Nott and adds depth to the adventure with theme tunes, dramatic operatic moments, more tender interludes and plenty of great musical narratives. The release includes a four-page booklet with an exclusive Nick Park drawing.

Review: Painter, musician, actor, director and producer. John Lurie has done a lot in his time, whether that's appearing in 19 movies, composing for 20 TV shows and films - including some of those he was the star of - or producing primitivist art work. Here, we get to engage with two of those back catalogues, even if only because these are scores to a pair of his most iconic flicks. Always cool and stripped, Lurie's stuff is the kind of experimental-leaning jazz that works so well when setting the scene. And this applies off screen, IRL too: pressing play here will only serve to create a mood wherever you are, no matter what you'r doing. One of shadowy streets, yellow hued spots, smoky barrooms and dark backrooms, a sense of after hours exploration.