Vinyl B-Stocks

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


From the moment you hit play on 'A New Threat Is Born', the first few minutes on this soundtrack to the acclaimed video game, Resident Evil 3, you could easily close your eyes and feel like you're back sat in front of a TV playing the story through. If you're unfamiliar with the franchise, let's just say it (re)wrote the book on survival horror, and a big part of this was in the scores used to accompany the on-screen tension. Less focused on specific theme tunes and tracks, over time the emphasis has increasingly fallen on building atmosphere and setting up jump scares for unassuming players. On a record, that sounds like a combination of fast moving and quickly developing instrumental movements and intimidating sound effects. Perhaps not the dinner party soundtrack you were looking for, nevertheless it makes a big impact.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Atomic Runner Chelnov is an action/shooting game produced by Data East, one of the strongest game producers in Japan, originally released as an arcade game in 1988. The game has been much talked-about as a famous, problematic, bizarre, and unique work and in 2021 the soundtrack was released as a CD via an entity known only as the Data East Sound Team. Now the CD hears a reissue, on both its original format and now a vinyl LP edition, giving this rip-roaring sonic platformer a chance to shine. Similar to the recent proto-grime Wolverine soundtrack released earlier this month, Chelnov displays similarly bouncy 140bpm characteristics, making this a sure-to-be favourite for algoravers and, yes, that select breed of DJs who almost exclusively play music siphoned from game cartridges and obscure files.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


Quartet Records, in collaboration with MGM, presents a remastered 50th anniversary edition of Michael J. Lewis' score for the 1973 cult classic Theatre Of Blood, directed by Douglas Hickox. The film is a macabre British black comedy about a Shakespearean actor who is systematically humiliated by critics who consider him hammy and old-fashioned. The actor becomes a serial killer and murders every critic by emulating the sadistic crimes in Shakespeare's plays. Lewis composed a delightful score, with a catchy, charming main theme that is opposed to the brutality of the story. Contrasting strains of old-fashioned lyricism and modern soundscapes frame a score of great stylistic diversity.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Over the course of his long and successful career, Ennio Morricone composed many dance songs in step with the fashions of the late 60s and early 70s. These were themes not necessarily directly connected with his films' synopses, but which were nonetheless played in disco clubs, on jukeboxes, turntables and on the radio. This collection contains a selection of pieces such as the brilliant main theme from Grand Slam (1967); the shake rock (opening credits) from Dario Argento's classic Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971) the danceable from the noir film Violent City (1970); the beat version of the opening credits of 'Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso' by the Sorrows, from How I Learned to Love Women (1966); 'Per Vittorio (Bossa)', an elegant bossa nova with flute and percussions from The Success (1963); the tribal shake from I Cantori Moderni, which winks at the dies irae from Garden of Delights (1967); 'Scuola di Ballo al sole', a wild surf piece from the Hawks and the Sparrows (1966); the supreme bossa nova from One Night at Dinner (1969) with the super iconic voice of Edda Dell'orso; the shake music of "'Ostinazione al Limone from What Have you Done to Solange? (1972); and 'Donnabossa' from Full Hearts and Empty Pockets (1964), a delicate bossa nova piece with a prominent harpsichord.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Breaking from his directorial duties, American cinema auteur Eli Roth (Borderlands, Knock Knock, Green Inferno) stops by the CAM Sugar sound studio for a rare double 7" LP, pinching listeners by the ear and dragging them along a forbidden trail along the gothic, red-lit path that is Italian soundtrack legendariness. Drawing his selections here from a wealth of Italian B-movie expertise, not to mention ownership in his own collection, the contemporary horrorist has chosen 20 delicious but still downright saucy disco, bossa nova and psych tunes here, centring on the Italian Sexy Comedy softcore era of 1969-81.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged, but otherwise in perfect condition***

While most celebrated in electronic music circles for his work as part of Yellow Magic Orchestra - not to mention a string of experimental solo works - Ryuichi Sakamoto has long been an acclaimed composer of music for the big screen. As the title suggests, this fine compilation gathers together some of his best soundtrack works. There are plenty of familiar favourites present - check the chiming, suitably cheery theme to "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence" and the swelling closing theme from "The Last Emperor" - alongside lesser-known gems such as the lilting strings of "The Sheltering Sky (Main Theme)", the simmering beauty of "Little Buddha: Acceptance" and the jazz-influenced bliss of "Femme Fatale: Bolerisch".

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


If you're not familiar with Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan's SQURL project, then it's time to rectify that. Over the past eight years, the two interdisciplinary creatives have been touring some of the most prestigious venues in the world (Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth Hall, London, Center Pompidou, Paris), presenting live scores to the experimental films of Dadaist pioneer Man Ray. Can you guess where this is going? As Logan puts it: "It's a journey we want to take the audience on, illuminating themes throughout these films. They are discrete, but there are also recurring echoes throughout the whole programme". Music For Man Ray presents some of those spellbinding ideas-as-soundtracks in an album form. Tunes and noises created and developed to accompany the film Return To Reason, when experienced as standalone audio it emphasises just how captivating the tones are.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


This soundtrack is a classy melange of blues, jazz and rock that all perfectly capture the sultry atmosphere of Dennis Hopper's neo-noir classic of the same name. Set in a small Texas town, the film follows drifter Harry Madox as he becomes entangled in a web of seduction and deceit and the moody cinematography and gripping narrative are elevated by this electrifying score. Legends of their game like Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal and Earl Palmer all feature with sparse, eerie and deeply evocative overtones. For that reason, this one is much sought after and has retained its smoky allure 35 years after its original release.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


A full Twilight soundtrack reissue campaign is well underway, once again bolstering the staying power of the teen emo-gothic vampire brand. As with the entirety of the series, the score for the first edition in the film franchise was overseen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, with its original elements composed by Carter Burwell and also featuring curated songs from the likes of Muse, Paramore, Linkin Park and The Black Ghosts.