Back catalogue: Soundtracks

Review: The Leftovers is Max Richter's score for the HBO series of the same name. The story is about the Garvey family in the fictional town of Mapleton, New York and explores what happens when 2% of the world's population disappears all of a sudden. It was first aired in 2014 and was a real critical hit and that's in no small part thanks to the score. It is haunting and eerie at times, laden with doom at other and run through with a subtle sense of hope when needed. And would you expect anything less from one of the most influential composers of his generation?

Review: There have been some incredible movies made about memory over the years. We had Arnold Schwarzenegger missioning to Mars to find his brain (well, the remembering part anyway) in Total Recall, and a piss poor reboot a few decades later. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind asked us all to really think about the value of memory and its ability to hurt and heal. Overboard positioned Goldie Hawn as amnesiac getting a lesson in humility from the carpenter she was horrible to. We can add to that The Almond & The Seahorse, a 2022 film that focused on two couples coping with their inability to make new memories. Weird, at times wonderful, by drafting Gruff Rhys in for the score the producers were guaranteed a soundtrack that would be every bit as unique as the plot. Form haunting, melodic pianos to touches of 1960s pop rendered raw and rough.

Review: Jazz-funk doesn't get much better than this one from Italian pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and record producer Puccio Roelens. It is a fantastic selection of high energy, densely arranged tunes with plenty of standout solos along the way. On other albums, the artist explored more soul and disco sounds but this one from 1976 is all about the jazz and the funk. There are plenty of lush electric piano lines that reach for the skies, fuzzy guitar riffs and noodling basslines that make you all warm inside. This fully licensed reissue is limited to just 400 copies.

Review: Following the release of Jim Jarmusch movie Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai in 1999, many hip-hop heads were keen for the RZA's immaculate soundtrack - his first movie score - to get a release. It did, but only in Japan. Finally, the RZA has put that right, and now the soundtrack, which features a number of contributions from the Wu-Tang Clan, is available around the world via this new pressing. Largely warm, light and airy, much of the material mixes traditional instrumentation - electric piano, various Japanese instruments, guitar - with head-nodding hip-hop beats and the kind of obscure, Blaxploitation-era funk samples that have long been a staple of the RZA's work. It's a great set of instrumentals, with just enough forthright vocal cuts to keep things fresh.

Review: A Monster's Expedition + Earlier Adventures is a double disc collection of music from four different video games (namely A Monster's Expedition, Sokobond, Cosmic Express and A Good Snowman Is Hard to Build) all composed by Eli Rainsberry, Allison Walker, Nick Dymond, and Priscilla Snow. Each one is utterly unique to the game and each one comes laden with beautiful soothing atmospheres delicately coloured with ponderous and whimsical melodies that will distract you from whatever you are doing they are so gorgeous. This is music to get lost in and it comes with superbly serene artwork from Andre Rodrigues.

Review: Having played guitar alongside Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-1970s, then going on to be songwriter and six string man for the Band, it's no surprise that when Robbie Robertson turned his attention to soundtracks they came with assured rock 'n' roll authenticity. A Hall of Fame-r in both his native Canada and the US, his work for screen includes a slew of top notch Martin Scorsese movies, such as The Last Waltz, The King of Comedy, Casino, and The Irishman. Director also enlisted artist for Killers of the Flower Moon, the 2023 epic Western crime drama starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, and Brendan Fraser. This would prove to be Robertson's last score before he died in August that year, and it's a stunning swan song. From meditative psychedelia, to reflective journeyman acoustic, and strange, mysterious, woodwind-led pieces, it's evocative to say the least.

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.