Mondo US Vinyl & CDs

Review: The music from Apocalypse Now is a compelling piece of the film's unique atmosphere, composed by Carmine Coppola and his son, Francis Ford Coppola. This remastered gatefold 2xLP presents a score that is anything but conventional. Featuring bold electronic experimentation, the music complements the film's depiction of chaos and inner turmoil. Tracks like 'The Delta' and 'The Dossier' create a meditative, eerie backdrop, while 'Orange Light' and 'Voyage' highlight the hallucinatory journey of its protagonist, with the latter infusing a touch of psychedelic guitar. While it's not a traditional, action-driven score, the pulsating synths of 'Nung River' and dissonance of 'Chef's Head' bring tension to the forefront. Its final moments with 'Finale' bring reflection to a movie that explores the boundaries of duty and sanity. Although challenging at times, the music's blend of synthetic and natural elements provides a fascinating listen, especially for those open to a bold 1970s electronic sound.

Review: Danny Elfman's score for Batman '89 remains one of the most iconic and influential superhero soundtracks ever created. Released as a collector's edition by Mondo, this reissue features Elfman's monumental work, expertly conducted by Shirley Walker and performed by The Sinfonia of London. Elfman's theme, with its haunting, ascendant four-note motif, perfectly encapsulates the duality of Bruce Wayne and set the benchmark for superhero film scores. This vinyl reissue, pressed on 'Butterfly Effect' vinyl, is accompanied by a graphic novel continuation of the Batman story, making it a great collectable for fans of the 1989 film and Elfman's music. Elfman's ability to blend operatic grandeur with intense action shines throughout the score, notably in tracks like 'Charge of the Batmobile' and 'First Confrontation.' The playful, waltz-inspired theme for Jack Nicholson's Joker adds a layer of dark humor to the soundtrack, contrasting beautifully with the film's darker, more brooding moments. Complementing the release are stunning new artworks by Jiro Fujita and Paolo Rivera. This reissue, produced by Neil S. Bulk and mastered by James Plotkin, honors the legacy of Elfman's career-defining score, which has stood the test of time as the definitive sound of Gotham's Dark Knight.

Review: When a sinister villain threatens to unleash Hell's gates, only a demon hunter stands between humanity and destruction. So goes the premise of the latest Devil May Cry Netflix series; and this new vinyl edition from London's Mondo Music label brings the next DmC gen, with its pulse-pounding soundtrack, to life. An uppercutting score by Power Glove helps bolster the show's uncapped energy, paired fittingly of course with 'Afterlife' by Evanescence. The particular shade of black used on the splatter vinyl edition you hear here is known as Devil Trigger Black; clearly, Mondo prefer to buck any given splatter colour naming trends that came prior.

Review: Two decades after its theatrical release, American soundtrack king John Williams' score for A.I. Artificial Intelligence finally arrives on vinyl. It's a shocker: perhaps the posthuman subject of this unmistakable Steven Spielberg film bespeaks the studio's reluctance to vinyl-ise its score, as the retro format, at first glance, hardly complements the film's futuristic theme. Though it is a late recombinant cultural move, this reissue reveals something pertinent to the film's message: that neoclassical scores aren't just for humans. As David, a robotic child programmed to love, longs to belong after being cast aside by his human family, Williams' score keeps firm to the traditional orchestral movement, refusing the easy temptation to "electronicise". This 2xLP edition is mastered by James Plotkin and housed in a gatefold sleeve featuring artwork by Sara Wong, with design contributions from Jordan Christianson and Jesse Michael Taylor, making it both a sonic and visual tribute to one of Williams' most daring works.