A great score is nothing without a great theme, and one of the most memorable themes to me is Goblin’s opening music of Buio Omega. It was one of the first scores to catch my ears and really want to delve further into the world of Italian soundtracks. With the pulsating arpeggiations, the weird synth sounds, and the mathematical rhythms that still sound fresh; obviously the perfect soundtrack to a film about necrophilia. Recently the great folks at Cinevox reissued Buio Omega and Cinema Suicide writer Tim Fife talked with Goblin drummer Agostino Marangolo about his reflections on the classic soundtrack.

As you may or may not know Buio Omega (1979, aka Beyond the Darkness, Buried Alive) was a film by gore maverick Joe D’Amato about a man whose girlfriend dies and he can’t live without her. So he steals her corpse, embalms her, then props her around the house while he takes other women home to murder. All the while his meddlesome nanny-lover-mother figure is jealous and tries to separate him from his dead love. A truly bizarre film even by D’Amato’s standards. The film caused much controversy for its use of gore, and many believed that D’Amato used real cadavers in the film (a rumor that was debunked on an interview included on the Shriek Show DVD).

As great and utterly bizarre as the movie is, it wouldn’t have the uneasiness and creepy mood it ultimately has without the Goblin score. The score was recorded by Goblin after the original band disbanded, and bassist Fabio Pignatelli and drummer Agostino Marangolo decided to continue and front the project. Agostino says he and Fabio wanted to continue working together as Goblin because of their musical kinship, trying to further develop the rhythms in their music. They also employed Italian OST staple Maurizio Guarini on keyboards and Agostino’s cousin Carlo Pennisi, who played guitar on the album; “I call him a full Goblin member because he was fully involved in the intense activities of the group” Agostino says. Agostino says Goblin became in involved with Buio Omega, after the film’s producers asked Goblin’s publisher if they would add their unique sound.

The Buio Omega score has some very different sounding pieces in it, ranging from organ fugues, to melancholic piano pieces, to futuristic, dance inspired works. When asked about who wrote the music on the album, Agostino replied that each member of Goblin had a specific field that they composed best in, so one member wrote the love themes, another may have composed the horror themes. The album also at moments has a very disco sound; “I’ve always hated Disco,” Agostino says, “but like you know the session-guy should adapt himself to all kinds of music.”

The actual soundtrack for Buio Omega was not issued when the film released and subsequently didn’t see the light of day in it’s entirety until Cinevox’s 1997 CD release. Previously three tracks were available on the great Goblin compilation “Hits, Rare Tracks and Outtakes,” and also on a very rare 7” single (which may have been some kind of bootleg). Some of the tracks later would surface on other soundtracks; three Buio Omega tracks were used to fill out the rest of their score for Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination (1980). And Bruno Mattei famously snatched music from their score without the band’s knowledge for his nunsploiation flick The Other Hell and his cult zombie film Hell of the Living Dead (both 1980). “The publisher of the Buio Omega soundtrack had the rights and did this,” Agostino remarked.

The newly released version of Buio Omega is in its way unique. First, Cinevox rearranged the score so it went in the order they appeared in the movie, also stripping away the track titles (that honestly didn’t make any sense) that were on the original and replacing them with their original titles (ex: M 29). The album has also been completely remastered and sounds better than ever and it also is in stereo for the first time. The packaging has a great design to it; a tri-fold digipac that also includes a 12 page booklet with great screenshots of some of the best parts of the film. The album also includes some unreleased takes and a surprise ending! It is truly a superior version of the album than its predecessor.

Currently, Agostino Marangolo is teaching students the rudiments of drumming and percussion (and there are some great Youtube clips you can find of it). He also says that he and the boys in Goblin (without Mr. Simonetti) are still continuing to work together. “Right now there is a big project in the works for the return of Goblin live,” he says. “Likely we will begin with concerts in Italy and based on demand we would like to continue in Europe and America.”

Special thanks to Agostino Marangolo, Silvia at Cinevox, and John Fanning and Nicola Vinciguerra for their help with the translation.

One thing that gets me really excited about soundtracks, or just music in general, is when companies release really fun limited edition releases. Clearly made for the fans exclusively, these records generally speak to what really want from on a CD; great packaging, and extras that enhance the great music that is already contained within.

Liberi Armati Pericolosi is one of the first CDs in Beat Records new limited series, which is directed right at the fans (Soundtrack Apocalisse writer John Mansell already wrote another review about another release in the series, Milano Rovente). And this is a really great start to hopefully an ongoing series of interesting releases.

The score was composed by Gianfranco Plenzio and Enrico Pieranunzi; Plenzio has famously worked with directors Fellini and Argento, and Pieranunzi was part of the group Pulsar who composed the Milano Violenta score. The score is notably two different scores in one, as it has a very jazzy sound one minute and then a classically influenced score. It is technically a poliziotteschi score, but doesn’t use all the trademark (and sometimes overused) sounds of the genre, making it a very different and enjoyable listening experience. There are of course moments with the wah guitar, bongos, and free wheeling flute lines, but it doesn’t sound like another Cipriani or Micalizzi score.

What’s really enjoyable about this disc though is the packaging and the extras. The CD includes a great booklet with liner notes by Fillipo De Masi (in both Italian and English) and photos and posters of the movie. But the real charmer on this album is the interview with Gianfranco Plenzio , which is on an enhanced video on the CD. Thankfully Beat made it so anyone can view it, as it’s an mp4 for your computer, and even has English subtitles (with a scrolling text that’s not entirely ideal, but certainly generous). The interview fourteen minutes of Gianfranco talking about his co-writer, the differences in past and present compositions, and why he thinks it’s a really great score. The video is well edited, and acts as a pseudo documentary with clips from the movie and vintage pictures of the composers set to songs from the score.

If this is what Beat will be releasing in the future, I complement them on a really great idea. I also highly recommend their other limited release Milano Rovente, which has an absolutely amazing score and includes an interview with Rovente director Umberto Lenzi. Hopefully there will be many more of these releases to come.

Both of the mentioned CDs are limited to only 1000 copies, so get it while you can.

It is amazing to me that so many excellent scores from Italian movies keep being unearthed in various recording company vaults. LA LUNGA NOTTE DEI DISERTORI comes originally from the vast CAM archive, and was only ever issued on a CAM promo Lp (LP CAM PRE S) back in 1971.

Cipriani is a composer that is well know to many collectors because of his numerous Italian western scores and also because of the composers gift for melody and his ability to infuse so much emotion into his music for romantic films that he has scored. I think I am right when I say that the war movie is a genre that the composer rarely frequented, and maybe that is why I was not familiar with this title at first look. I am glad to report that Cipriani produced a wonderfully powerful and suitably martial sounding work for this 1970 release. But there are also moments within the work when the Cipriani spaghetti western style filters through which is for me at least a real treat. Then there are slower more tender sounding interludes which are full of poignant and sensitive sounding tone poems which haunt and also delight the listener.

The score opens with the principal theme for the movie, MASA MATRUH, this is a grand and very commanding composition with aggressive neo- classical sounding strings heralding timpani and rumbling percussion, this combination builds with the utilisation of swirling strings that introduce an urgent sounding piano backing which enhances and keeps tempo for more strings that take on the theme giving it a good workout supported by brass and excellent dark sounding choral work courtesy of Nora Orlandi.

Track 2 is a soft and gentle sounding cue, TEMA ARABO:DIALOGO, is performed on subtly placed woods underlined with guitar and delicate use of strings that together create a poignant and mesmerising composition. Track three DESERTO is also rather low key in its sound and style, but this time Cipriani adds to the mixture more romantic sounding strings and choir along with flute, again the overall effect is stunning. Track four, TEMA ARABO: CAVALCATTA is something that would not be out of place in either a western movie or maybe an adventure yarn, Cipriani using upbeat percussion and also flyaway sounding strings in a composition that borders on being pop and classical orientated, think Hannibal Brooks and you will know what I am trying to say, there is also a choir within the work that enhance the theme by crooning in the background and adding the occasional grunt or bark here and there.

This is certainly a surprise of a release, and one that you should have in your collection, art work is very 70,s in its appearance and looks like something one found on CAM LPS back in the day. Sound is very good, and the cd is presented and packaged very well indeed, another hit from hillside, you will regret it if you don’t get it.

For a number of years now I have often wondered why composer Robby Poitevin, has not been mentioned a great deal within discussions about music in Spaghetti westerns. He has made a number of worthy contributions and these deserve to be issued on recordings for collectors to savour and enjoy. Thankfully Hillside cd productions have begun to put this oversight to rights. Last year they issued HIS NAME CRIED VENGEANCE which is an excellent score and later they released LITTLE RITA OF THE WEST the score minus the songs, which was also memorable stuff.

Now they have issued KILLER-CALIBRO 32, a western score from 1967 which in my opinion is even better. This score includes more of the musical trademarks that we associate with the Italian western genre, where as HIS NAME CRIED VENGEANCE was a more conventional sounding western soundtrack. KILLER-CALIBRO 32 contains, whistling courtesy of the one and only Alessandro Alessandroni, solo trumpet, the obligatory saloon piano tracks, plenty of highly charged action cues, a poignant and delicate sounding love theme, choir from Il Cantori Moderni, racing timpani, harpsichord, a great title song by Maurizio Graf and some pretty impressive electric guitar work.

It is probably one of the composers best works for a spaghetti western, and has a sound and style to it that is very infectious. Again this is a limited edition of just 500 copies, so I would suggest that you invest in a copy as soon as you can. The sound quality is excellent and the CD cover and booklet includes some striking images from the movie. I am so pleased that Hillside are continuing their release programme and more or less concentrating on westerns, we are told that there are numerous more spaghetti western scores laying around in vaults in Italy I just hope that these too see the light of day very soon. KILLER-CALIBRO 32 is a must have CD.

Goblin’s classic 1979 score for Buio Omega gets the special treatment with a deluxe edition comprised of 24 tracks including about 12 minutes of unheard music.  This version is unique from the previous 1997 edition as it includes the album in an unheard stereo mix.

Goblin created a perfect atmosphere to suit Joe D’Amato’s weirdo slasher masterpiece Buio Omega (aka Beyond the Darkness). Prior to the 1997 release, tracks from it only appeared on a rare 7″ and on the 1995 compilation “Hits, Rare Tracks and Outtakes.”  The album is from the period when Goblin’s core was just founding members Fabio Pignatelli and Augusto Marangolo.  Similar to Patrick and Contamination, the score incorporates jaded guitar, intricately placed rhythms and pulsating synthesizer tones.  Although Simonetti’s period became more acknowledged over the years (Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead), arguably Goblin’s most recognizable period was in their later years, as they truly came into their own sound with their unsettling, dark prog-rock sound.

Cinevox is also set to release on of Ennio Morricone’s greatest Giallo scores L’ Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo (aka The Bird with the Crystal Plumage).  Recorded in 1970’s for Argento’s debut thriller, it’s from Morricone’s brilliant Giallo period with conductor Bruno Nicolai.  Incredibly woven dissonant themes evoke the best parts of modern composition and Italian cinema. It also features Alessandro Alessandroni’s.

This version will also be unique to the prior versions, as it will have a full stereo mix of the album, and will include a few unreleased tracks. Both of these albums are set to be released mid-October.

Also throughout the month of October, Cinevox will have an online-only album up for sale entitled Cinevox Countdown to Halloween.  The album features a few songs you might not have from past Cinevox titles that are no longer in print.

The track listing is:

1.Giorgio Gaslini/Goblin-Profondo Rosso (from “Profondo rosso”)

2.Goblin- Fright (alternate version) (from “Contamination”)

3.Keith Emerson- Don’t go in the shower (from “Murderock”)

4.Riz Ortolani-Passi di morte perduti nel buio (from “Passi di morte perduti nel buio”)

5.Libra –The Shock (from “Shock”)

6.Pino Donaggio-Trauma (from “Trauma”)

7.Gino Marinuzzi-Terrore nello spazio (from”Terrore nello spazio”)

8.Goblin-Killer on the train (from “Non ho sonno”)

9.Giorgio Gaslini- La notte dei diavoli (from “La notte dei diavoli”)

10.Piero Piccioni- Il monaco (from “Il monaco”)

11.Carlo savina- La cripta e l’incubo (from”La cripta e l’incubo”)

12.Keith Emerson-The possession (from “La Chiesa”)

13.Ennio Morricone-Quattro mosche di velluto grigio (from”Quattro mosche di velluto grigio”

14.Goblin- Suspiria (from “Suspiria”)

15.Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera-Sette note in nero (from “Sette note in nero”)

The album can be downloaded from online music sites like Itunes, E-Music, etc. In other news, Cinevox’s website also claims it will be re-releasing Libra’s Schock soundtrack, a new Roma Violenta compilation (!!!), and a new Morricone score in their future releases section.

THE MESSENGERS was released in 2007, produced by Sam Raimi, and is a terrifying nerve jangling tale about a family who move into a farmhouse and begin to be troubled by a clan of enraged ghosts and demons. LoDuca’s score is a fearful and spine chilling work, full of dark and down right virulent sounding musical passages, his score although largely atonal still has an attraction to it, he utilizes solo piano in a handful of the cues and also pairs this at times with solo female voice which is quite literally haunting.

What I love about this score is that is harkens back to the great horror scores written by Goldsmith that manifested themselves within movies such as THE MESPHITO WALTZ and to a degree THE OMEN TRILOGY, LoDuca makes excellent use of aggressively played strings that are relentless in places and create an atmosphere of pure dread and urgency. The composer also very cleverly lulls the listener into a false sense of security with quiet yet uneasy sounding cues where solo piano can be heard playing out a pensive sounding theme while in the background there are half heard sounds and also interruptions from low strings which build as if they are heading towards you intent on enveloping you.

Goldsmith used this type of scoring in THE OMEN;The Piper Dreams being played delicately on piano, which acted as a calming and quite charming interlude that was soon interrupted by the satanic choir or dark and ominous strings. LoDuca has certainly captured a most fearful atmosphere within his score, the mood is dark and full of terror the overall effect being very black and at times his evil sounding work has the ability to make this listener feel down right uncomfortable. I dare you to listen to track 17 (PITCHFORK MAN) in the dark or track 19 (FAMILY MATTERS) without getting just a little bit unsettled.

This is a great horror score, which although atonal and unmelodic at times still has a wonderful attraction about it, a fascination even, the CD ends with a particularly lovely theme, track 20 (A FAMILY AGAIN/END TITLES), which is a somewhat lilting lullaby, performed on piano, solo violin, Female voice and has an almost Celtic sound to it mid way through, but even here the composer still underlines the theme with an uneasy sounding melody, maybe hinting that although things have quietened down, all is not yet right . Well written and extremely well orchestrated this score is a triumph for the composer and a soundtrack I would recommend whole heartily.

I love the sound that Maestro Rustichelli has conjured up on this score; it brings to mind an almost sleazy and very laid back image of a back street which is dimly lit, within the opening cue (FROM SICILY TO MILAN) the composer utilises piano and an almost wailing and mournful sounding saxophone which renders a smoky jazz infused motif that is underlined by subtle use of brass and lightly struck cymbals as an introduction to a more low key sounding theme performed on harpsichord and a music box effect that are supported by near romantic swelling strings, the overall effect is stunningly attractive and haunting.

The second track (DRAMATIC DISCOVER) is a more down beat and less melodic affair. It opens with tense sounding brass that is enhanced by use of a quirky sounding organ riff, the cue continues with the use of dark and tense sounding strings that act as a background to a saxophone motif which is played as if it is faraway or in the distance, the composer adding little stabs of bongos here and there and that little tweek from the organ every so often. The score also includes a particularly nice sounding song (WHAT IS LOVE), which was written by Franco de Gemini, this is performed by Melody.

I would mark this as one of my favourite Rustichelli scores which is quite something as I have many scores by the Maestro in my collection, and have had this one just two days, it just has that sound and presence about it that makes it instantly attractive to the listener. It has a unique and lingering aire to it, the theme being as distinctive as Rota’s GODFATHER. It is also quite hard hitting in places; track number 12 (FLICS COMPROMISE) includes a menacing sounding piano, combined with strings and brass to create a cue that more than suggests that something is not quite right. Under all of this and also in many of the tracks there is a distinct Sicilian instrumentation, which I think is the main component that makes all the other ingredients of the work gel together.

Again this is a soundtrack that I highly recommend, any self respecting collector of Italian film music cannot be without it. The CD is packaged as always very well, in a Digi Pack with notes by Umberto Lenzi, Claudio Fuiano and Fabio Babini, which are all most interesting. Plus there is the bonus once again via multi media of an absorbing interview with Umberto Lenzi.

Alessandro Alessandroni was born in Rome in 1925. He began his musical career playing with the locals of Soriano nel Cimino; “I became a musician step by step while I was a student. My first experience (playing music) was in a small village where I spent my summer vacations. I learned to play the mandolin in a barber shop; I was 12 years old. I soon moved to the accordion and later took three months of lessons in piano. On my own I gradually learned double bass, tenor sax and guitar.” Alessandro at the time was studying economics at a university in Rome, but eventually gave into devoting his life to music.

Alessandro began performing in nightclubs regularly and eventually met future collaborator Nora Orlani, who soon after meeting asked Alessandro to sing with her vocal group 2+2. Alessandro eventually left the group to start his own quartet, I Caravels. During this time, he also was recording music for television series, commercials, and documentaries. Through this medium, he found himself working on movie soundtracks and eventually caught the ear of frequent Fellini collaborator Nino Rota. During an early 1960’s session for a Rota score, Alessandro began to whistle and Rota was instantly floored at what he had heard. “Nino Rota was a very good musician—it was a pleasure to work for him—and also a great gentleman.” Alessandro recalls. “He was excited with my whistle and I recall he summoned me into the recording studio and asked me to whistle for Fellini!”

During Alessandro’s work in television, he became friends with the future maestro of Italian cinema, Ennio Morricone, as Morricone was writing arrangements for the popular TV station RAI. Morricone soon asked for Alessandro to play guitar and to have his vocal group to perform on his soundtracks. In 1964, Sergio Leone asked Morricone to score what would become one of the most popular and influential westerns of all time, A Fistful of Dollars. Morricone asked Alessandro to include 8 more vocalists to his choir, and the group then became the now infamous I Cantori Moderni. During the recording session, Morricone asked Alessandro to use his unique whistling talent, and thus the signature sound of the Italian western was born.

In 1966, Morricone scored possibly his most popular and influential score, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. For the score Morricone used Alessandro’s clanging guitar sound, his choir, and his trademark whistle. He also had Alessandro use his voice in several unique ways, and his voice is the one you hear when the movie’s theme starts. Alessandro went on to record numerous recordings with the maestro, including the fabulous score for Gui La Testa.

Alessandro then began to work with nearly every important composer in Italian cinema. He worked with Bruno Nicolai on some of his most infamous scores including Land Raiders and his giallo masterpiece Tutti I Colori Del Buio. “My working relationship with Nicolai was much the same as with Morricone,” he says, “based on a reciprocal appreciation and high regard for professionalism.” For Tutti I Colori Del Buio, as well as many other scores, Alessandro plays the sitar, which he says he began to play after hearing it on a Beatles record.

Alessandro also worked with Piero Umiliani on numerous scores, and is credited with introducing the idea of Piero’s biggest hit “Mah-Na-Mah-Na” (which later became a popular skit on the Muppet show). “I worked a lot with Umiliani. He liked my voice and that of my late wife Giula De Mutiis. I gave him the idea for Mah-Na-Mah-Na…and he’s reaped the fortune ever since! I’m still waiting for my recognition!” Alessandro has also contributed to scores composed by Nico Fidenco, Franco Micalizzi, Stevlio Cipriani, and Francesco De Masi among countless others.

De Masi is the composer that Alessandro says gave him his start into composing his own work for soundtracks. “Francesco De Masi was the composer who invited me to collaborate on many soundtracks. From then on, I was accepted into the world of cinema for which I write my own soundtracks. I am always grateful to De Masi.” Alessandro’s first credited score was for the western Go Kill and Come Back, a score he composed with De Masi.

In 1971 Alessandro ventured into the world of the Italian exploitation market with the horror film The Devil’s Nightmare. The score is one of the more notable things about the movie, evoking a haunting erotic feel; “I was always searching for new sounds. In the Devil’s Nightmare I chose an obsessive sound and doubled it over many times.” The obsessive sound Alessandro is referring to his the vocalist, who sounds like she is singing with generous amounts of delay on her voice. The score also features a snarling guitar sound that is integral to the score, which Alessandro says he made by putting two magnets next to the pickups of the guitar.

Still searching for new sounds, Alessandro says he began to compose his work using Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-note technique. In this system the composer uses all twelve chromatic notes, and the result can make the composition include extreme dissonances. Alessandro says he used this technique to compose the music for Lady Frankenstein, among other scores in that period.

Between the early seventies and early eighties, Alessandro composed over 40 scores for nearly every genre of film. In 1978 he composed an amazing score for the controversial film Killer Nun. Using his choir and a unique way of playing traditional instruments, Alessandro composed a fitting score for the bizarre movie; “I used many instruments including 12 string guitar, banjo, classical guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, and others- but I manipulated them many of them, detuning and altering their original sound.” You can also hear an early drum machine, a singing saw, and plenty of effects on the masterful recording.

In the early eighties Alessandro scored for such erotic films as Hard Sensations and Le Porno Schiave Del Vizio, before nearly retiring from composing in 1981 with La Guerra Sul Fronte Est. He returned to composition in 1998 for the modern take on the Bud Spencer/ Terrence Hill franchise, Trinity Goes East. But Alessandro was unhappy with how the score eventually turned out; “I’m not satisfied with the final result of the soundtrack. If the script is not interesting, then the music also becomes mediocre.”

Lately Alessandro has been performing concerts all over Europe, playing compositions on guitar. When he performs, audiences are still excited to hear his amazing ability to whistle. “Audiences are always enthusiastic about Spaghetti Westerns,” he says. “I’m asked to whistle or play a piece that even if the program is jazz music, Italian folk music, or my own compositions or arrangements in classical music.”

At age 83, Alessandro is still writing scores and crafting his work. “I am always in search of new sounds and new ideas using more modern technology such as computer sounds mixed with acoustic instruments.” There are still many scores he has composed that have yet to be released and new generations of fans inspired by Italy’s wizard of sound.

Special thanks to maestro Alessandroni and John Mansell for their help in this article.

SELECTED SOUNDTRACK DISCOGRAPHY

IL BUONO, IL BRUTTO, IL CATTIVO (aka The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, 1966)
Arguably Morricone’s most known score, and easily one of his best. Alessandro adds much to the music with his jangly guitar, unique vocal interpretations, his choir, and, of course, his whistle. Although many of the unique sounds on the recording came from Alessandro, he credits it all to Morricone.

SVEZIA, INFERNO E PARADISO (aka Sweden, Heaven and Hell, 1968)
A great Piero Umiliani “mod” sounding score. The classic song “Mah-Na-Mah-Na” comes from this score, and became a huge hit all over the world. Alessandroni claims he’s the one who came up with the lead vocal line but never received the credit.

LESBO (1970)
Alessandro penned this score with Francesco De Masi. A great score in the vein of classic Italian scores, with wonderful female vocals.

LA PLUS LONGUE NUIT DU DIABLE (aka Devil’s Nightmare, Vampire Playgirls, 1971)
One might say 1971 was a good year for Alessandroni scores, and this may be the best one of the bunch. Haunting church organs and guitars that sound heavier than Black Sabbath. This score was available (paired with Nora Orlandi’s amazing score for A Doppia Faccia), but is sadly now out of print.

TUTTI I COLORI DEL BUIO (aka All the Colors of the Dark, 1972)
Possibly Bruno Nicolai’s greatest Giallo composition. Alessandro contributes his sitar and his choir for
the album’s strongest track “Sabba.”

FIGLIA DI FRANKENSTEIN (aka Lady Frankenstein, 1971), LO STRANGOLATORE DI VIENNA (aka The Mad Butcher, Meat Is Meat, 1971), SUOR OMICIDI (aka Killer Nun1978)
A fabulous compilation of Alessandroni scores.  Lady Frankenstein has a lush, exotic feel, with lots of crazy orchestral moments. The Mad Butcher has a classic German sound, and moments would not be out of place at Oktoberfest. Killer Nun is an amazing score, with lots of dissonant sound collages mixed with classic Italian soundtrack fare, and may be Alessandro’s most varied work.

SANGUE DI SBIRRO (aka Bloody Avenger, 1976)
A great poliziotteschi score composed by Alessandro. He really takes the style on, and even sounds a bit like Isaac Hayes at moments in his composition. Recently issued for the first time by a collaborative effort by Cinedelic, GDM, and Escalation records it is most likely already out of print as there were reportedly only 500 copies produced. The title track from this can also be found on the fabulous Attori a Mano Armata compilation.

The German label Crippled Dick Hot Wax has always been close to my heart for releasing such great soundtrack compilations as Vampyros Lesbos, Beretta 70, and Schoolgirl Report. And keeping in that tradition, they’re releasing a great compilation of music from the Bruce LaBruce movie “Otto.”

If you don’t know who Labruce is, he’s a Toronto based filmmaker, artist, and writer who spearheaded the queercore movement in the early nineties. He’s had some notoriety recently for his stylish semi-pornographic Warholian movies like The Raspberry Reich and also for his articles in Vice. Bruce’s new film is about a gay zombie punk named Otto living in Berlin who eventually finds himself in a low budget horror film. The film is said to have plenty of nods to classic horror and exploitation films and amazingly it was featured at this years Sundance film festival.

For the soundtrack, LaBruce wanted a dichotomy of styles, and to feature relatively unknown performers. In the liner notes he says “I didn’t want to narrow it down to a single sound or style: I wanted something modern and classical, tonal and atonal, traditional and avant-garde, pop and experimental. The only solution was to send out word on MySpace that I was looking for music for a melancholy gay zombie movie.” LaBruce was inundated with responses, and over a year’s time selected 37 artists and 56 tracks for the movie. 

The soundtrack itself is unique, as it not only uses contemporary experimental sounds, but also the album has an incredible rhythm to it. It begins with a traditional and familiar horror theme, and then switches to a melancholy guitar and plodding bass drum dirge-like piece. The score then gains momentum by gradually becoming heavier in tone, as well as more sample based and vocal friendly. The tracks toward the end become more modern and avant-garde using elements of opera, noise, and musique concrete sound collages.

This album has some incredible cuts on it, one being Orthon with Ernesto Tomasini; a haunting track that incorporates violin and operatic vocals that could easily be an off kilter traditional Eastern European folk song. Another was by the Ultra Milkmaids+V, who provide possibly the most experimental work on the record, using sound collage, subsonic bass frequencies, and weird loops. Also notable is the Misty Rose track, which sounds like it could have been penned by Scott Walker back in the sixties. The only complaint to possibly be found with the album is the inclusion of their rougher tracks, which seem to almost halt the beauty of the continuity of the record, notably the Pandas of Death Metal track sounds like a throwback to mid nineties industrial rock.

The original score also included more recognizable names including Throbbing Gristle, CocoRosie, and Antony and the Johnsons, but LaBruce says he wanted the soundtrack to be focused on the lesser known artists. The album will be released worldwide September 5th on both CD and limited double vinyl (at LaBruce’s request). LaBruce is also working on a second compilation of material from the film.