M. Zalla (aka Piero Umiliani) - Problemi D'Oggi (Liuoto Records - LRS 0056) (1973 - 192kbps)

February 4, 2013 Update: For those who aren't aware, we here at Digital Meltd0wn are in the process of re-uploading a ton of albums that were removed when Megaupload was taken down last year, followed by the massive file purge that took place when Mediafire adopted a ridiculously strict new policy late last year. We weren't the only blog affected by these events. A truly massive amount of albums were lost, and nearly every music blog took a tough blow because of this. I consider it to be a true tragedy that hundreds of bloggers decided to call it quits following these two incidents. A blogger that many of you will hopefully be familiar with, øשlqæda, was kind enough to help me out by informing me of the source behind this particular rip. It pains me to see his name in the comments section, as he was the admin of a legendary blog, Holy Warbles, which was removed by Blogger last year. Fortunately, there are still hundreds of amazing blogs which managed to weather the storm, and new blogs popping up each day. This particular album was originally posted by Gianni almost four years ago on one of those amazing blogs that did manage to survive, The Growing Bin (http://thegrowingbin.blogspot.com). The download link has been inactive for a very long time though, and with this being so very rare, I feel obligated to ensure that it remains available to download for anyone who is curious enough to listen. Fortunately, there are plenty of new albums being regularly shared over at the Bin. If you haven't had a chance to stop by the The Growing Bin, do yourself a favor and get your ass over there.

Continuing with our library music marathon, I present to you an extremely rare and obscure album released on the Liuto library label in 1973. The artist credited on this release, M. Zalla, is actually one of the numerous aliases of another prolific composer of production music, Italian composer Piero Umiliani. I was surprised to discover that this was not posted on either The Library Hunt, or 36-15 Moog, two blogs ran by library music enthusiast Paul Durango, which both contained a massive amount of early electronic and library music albums. I plan to post a few more Umiliani albums either this month, or some time in January. I have two important research papers to work on for school tonight and tomorrow, so I don't have the time to write my own review. There isn't much information floating around about this album. This excerpt from Delirious Music contains some basic info about Umiliani, his M. Zaa alias, and the concept of the album.

"A rare and obscure concept Library on the problems of modern life, released on the Liuto label and produced by the master of Italian soundtracks himself, Piero Umiliani, here under his alias M. Zalla. 'Problemi D'Oggi' falls into Umiliani's highly experimental, psychedelic / electronic phase and was recorded in 1973 in the legendary Sound Workshop studio in Rome. the music presented here deeply reflects the pessimistic nature of the issues in charge (social problems, terrorism, world crisis, industrial production, conflicts, mafia), a dark and disturbing listening experience from start to finish with some tracks reproducing the same progressive type of vibe, which Umiliani's Braen project / collaboration with Alessandro Alessandroni got cult status for. while the B-Side is loaded with abstract, minimal electronic soundscapes, the highlights are concentrated on Side A: the weird opener 'Produzione' has a trance-like progressive ambient sound style, a futuristic groover way ahead of its time with a hyperfast bass driven beat, excessive conga percussion and really amazing synthisizer effects. 'Mondo In Crisi' respectively 'Non Mollare' reveal strong dramatic undertones produced by an impressive exchange between trippy Hammond waves and droning fuzz guitar chords over hard drums. very progressive and imaginative, this is delirious Italian Production Music and a feast for the sophisticated, openminded ear! - Delirious Music"

Year of Release: 1973
Label: Liuto
Catalog #: LRS 0056
Genres: Psychedelic, Electronic, Musique Concrète, Experimental
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:

A1. Produzione
A2. Mondo In Crisi
A3. Attivita'
A4. Attivita'
A5. Problemi Sociali
A6. Non Mollare
A7. Azione Sindacale
A8. Programmazione

B1. Conflitti
B2. Maffia Oggi
B3. Pendolo Ed Angoscia
B4. Cuore E Raffiche
B5. Metronomo E Cuore
B6. Marcia Ambigua
B7. Terrorista
B8. L'Ultima Raffica
B9. Sowersione
B10. Abbandono Dei Campi

Download: M. Zalla (aka Piero Ulimiani) - Problemi D'Oggi (1973 - 192kbps)
Download Size: 58MB

Egisto Macchi - Sei Composizioni (Gemelli - GG.ST 10.036) (1975 - 320kbps)

One problem with having a rather large collection of music is that you tend to lose track of a few otherwise unforgettable and amazing albums. While I was focusing on my dark and twisted library music theme in November, I somehow managed to overlook this twisted gem from the dark Italian maestro, Egisto Macchi. "Sei Composizioni" (Catalog # GG.ST 10.036) was released on the Italian label, Gemelli, in 1975, and was Egisto Macchi's 10th full-length library music LP. His typically dark and discordant approach can be compared to some of fellow Italian composer Piero Umiliani's own library music efforts. Egisto Macchi was also known as an avid promoter of music and theatre, and was actually much more active in this role than he was as a composer. Not only did belong to a number of organizations which promoted the study, advancement and appreciation of music and the arts, but he also founded several of his own. You can read more about his personal life and evolution as a composer here.

"Sei Composizioni" consists only of 6 tracks, though two of these are long-players, approaching and exceeding 10 minutes in length. Macchi manages to make a powerful statement in a relatively short amount of time with his hauntingly effective compositions, which rival even the most legendary of horror film scores. This is music designed to infect your mind with paranoia and nightmares, and it succeeds masterfully. While I don't have time to thoroughly review each track, I would like to focus on the two tracks which stand high above the rest contained on this album.

"Sei Composizioni" begins with the strange and disturbing "Per Cembalo", which is dominated by unsettling and discordant harpsichord sounds, which are accompanied by a variety of unsettling sounds. Macchi pounds on the harpsichord in a most savage manner, and bombards the keys with various objects. The sounds of footsteps running across the floor, objects being dropped and glass being broken help construct and maintain the tense atmosphere. "Per Cembalo" would be my favorite track on the album were it not for the track that follows it.

The second track, "Kleines Dachauer Requiem", is an absolute masterpiece of dark and experimental music. The vocals, which are utilized as musical instruments in his composition, are the highlight of the track. Choral chants, menacing hisses and haunting whispers are brilliantly used throughout . The sound of glass breaking and unidentified items clashing together make up the abstract percussionary sounds. At first the atmosphere is sparse, as the vocals and sound effects are used rather sparingly. Layers of sound are subsequently introduced, and the tension begins to gradually build toward the latter half of the track. The choral chanting becomes more frantic and urgent, eventually reaching a nearly overwhelming atmosphere of suspense and dread. The cacophony of overlapping voices creates a deliciously sinister sound. If you could make a recording of the descent into the mind of a psychotic individual, I would imagine that it would sound something like this, as each layer of the subconscious is explored before finally emerging upon the chaotic source that lies at the heart of the disturbed mind.

"Lamento" and Quintetto Seriale" are dominated by stringed instruments and piano, with melodies that are more traditional in structure in comparison to the abstract and experimental sound heard in the preceding tracks. At certain points the mood becomes noticeably lighter, as Macchi parts the atmosphere of impending doom, allowing moments of beauty to emerge, if only for an instant. "Computers" recaptures Macchi's more experimental side. It begins with a solo of clicking percussion sounds, which sound somewhat like hooves on a cobblestone road. New layers of sound are gradually added, as strings, flute and chimes are subsequently introduced. "Computers" culminates in a tense atmosphere that stops short of the frenzied atmosphere of "Kleines Dachauer Requiem". "Allunage" rounds out the album strongly. It begins with yet another sparse percussion intro before reintroducing the choral arrangements once again. The piece begin rather grimly, however, the latter half introduces a more uplifting and otherwordly sound to close out the album.

I honestly can't recommend this album enough. It is worth downloading simply for the rewarding experience of listening to "Kleines Dachauer Requiem", but the rest of the album is very impressive. Those of you who enjoy experimental and contemporary classical should especially enjoy this masterpiece of library music.

Year of Release: 1975
Label: Gemelli
Catalog #: GG.ST 10.036
Genres: Library Music, Experimental, Avant-Garde, Musique Concrete, Contemporary Classical
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Per Cembalo
A2. Kleines Dachauer Requiem
A3. Lamento
B1. Computers
B2. Quintetto Seriale
B3. Allunage

Download: Egisto Macchi - Sei Composizioni (Gemelli - GG.ST 10.036)
Download Mirror: Egisto Macchi - Sei Composizioni (Gemelli - GG.ST 10.036)
Download Size: 77MB

Egisto Macchi - Futurissimo (St Germain Des Prés - St GDP 117) (1971 - 256kbps)

To be honest I'm a little burnt out on writing at the moment, so this post is going to be a bit shorter than usual. I just finished five 500 word essays for school, along with a 5 page report, which I have been working on since I woke up this morning.

In case you're just now tuning in, I have been running with a dark and twisted library music series the last couple of weeks. One of the first I shared was Egisto Macchi's amazing 1976 library music album, Sei Composizioni, released on the Gemelli label as GG.ST 10.036 in 1976. Now I would like to share my personal favorite from Macchi, Futurrismo. Futurrismo was released on the French label, St Germain Des Prés in 1971. St Germain Des Prés was a sub-label of one of my favorite production music libraries, Montparnasse 2000.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Egisto Macchi was a legendary Italian composer of dark avant-garde and musique concrète library music. Macchi once again brilliantly combines dark, unnerving and broken electronic sounds with abstract traditional musical instrumentation. Foreboding violins, droning electric guitars, Disturbing sounds effects, such as knocking upon a wall, screeching metal, howling winds, shrieking animalistic sounds and strange voices are implemented to enhance the unnerving atmosphere. Macchi takes you on a trip, to a dark, hellish future, one which I will be returning to often.

Year of Release: 1971
Label: St Germain Des Prés
Catalog: St GDP 117
Genres: Library Music, Avant-garde, Experimental
Bitrate: 256kbps

Track List:
A1. Chambre Anachronique
A2. Nouvelles Planètes
A3. Appel Spatial
A4. Moduule Lunaire
B1. Capsule en Panne
B2. Forme Planétaire
B3. Gare Spatiale
B4. Extra-Terrestre
B5. Limite Extrême
B6. Nébuleuses
B7. Bande Radioactive

Download: Egisto Macchi - Futurissimo (St Germain Des Prés - St GDP 117)
Download Size: 61MB

Egisto Macchi - Voix (Gemelli - GG.ST.10.031) (1970 - 320kbps)

Here is yet another amazing dark avant-garde library music LP from Italian composer Egisto Macchi. Many people consider Voix to be his masterpiece. While it is an amazing record in its own right, I personally prefer both Futurissimo and Sei Composizioni, both of which I recently shared on the blog. You can find Futurissimo here and Sei Composizioni here.

Voix was released in 1970, and was the first library music album that Macchi composed. It was the first of many he composed for the amazing Italian library label, Gemelli. Gemelli released several avant-garde library music LPs. It was owned and operated by legendary Italian composer, Bruno Nicolai, up until his death in 1991. Unfortunately Gemelli releases are extremely difficult to come by. Only 500 copies of each release were pressed.

As with all of Macchi's work, Voix is an absolute masterpiece of dark avant-garde music. The majority of the tracks have an ominous tone, with a mechanical or industrial feel to them. The percussion work is absolutely amazing, with small handheld percussion instruments at the forefront, backed by powerful tribal rhythms. There is also plenty of hauntingly, beautiful piano work throughout. In contrast, there are also some more brutal moments, as Macchi relentlessly pounds upon the keys in a frantic manner. Vocals play a prominent role in the arrangements, with haunting choral vocals appearing on several tracks, as well as strange muffled voices, menacing hisses and disturbing laughter. Piano keys are frantically pounded upon. Ominous strings feature prominently throughout, often used in in a rhythmical, percussive manner. Ambient electronics provide a textured backdrop to several of the tracks.

The B-side marks a change in tone, with many of the tracks having a whimsical, dreamlike feel to them, while still retaining a a slightly sinister undertone. There is a distinct theme present on the B-side, featuring a common melody which can be heard on "La Memoire", "Chanson De La Nuit" and "Chanson Du Matin". This will be one of the last albums I share for my dark and twisted library music series. I plan to move out of the shadows soon, and showcase some of the more upbeat library music gems.

Year of Release: 1970
Label: Gemelli
Catalog #: GG.ST. 10.031
Genres: Library Music, Avant-Garde, Contemporary Classical,
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Pensée
A2. Phonèmes
A3. Diaphragme
A4. Voix
A5. Moonsong
A6. Timbres
A7. À Plein Gosier
B1. La Mémoire
B2. La Calme
B3. Le Cauchemar
B4. Chanson De La Nuit
B5. Chanson Du Matin
B6. Reflexions
B7. Gouttes
B8. Inquiètude

Download: Egisto Macchi - Voix (Gemelli - GG.ST. 10.031)
Download Size: 74MB

Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2

As promised, here is Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2. Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 1 can be found here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2010/06/ren-stimpy-production-music-vol-1.html Apparently this was compiled and uploaded to a torrent site by an anonymous person. It was then uploaded by blogger Voncheech, then recompiled and posted by Kirk Demarais in it's final form on the Secret Fun Blog over two years ago. The links on that blog have been dead for some time now. Both volumes have popped up in various locations over the last two years, but never for long, and usually only one volume at a time. I intend to keep these links alive and well. This volume is much larger than the last, so I had to split it up into three separate volumes. There are 194 tracks, so as with the last volume I'm not going to include a track list. Kirk appears to be an expert on the subject, and I can't really expand upon his original post, so I will present it rather than my own amateur ramblings. Here is his original post:

Here it is folks, the long-awaited second volume of vintage incidental music that was excavated for the Ren and Stimpy show. Most of this stuff seems to come from the post John K. era with several notable exceptions that were sorely missing from the first batch (i.e. Shock Horror which blared as the news "Ren Hoek Takes Bubbly Sponge Bath" hit the streets), but even if you're as unfamiliar with the later episodes as I am, you're still bound to find something you enjoy among the one hundred and ninety-four selections (that's five full hours to you and me). Compared to the last set this collection is much more massive, but it's less focused stylistically; however, this amounts to a broader and wackier range of music.

Once again, the original curators of this amassment remain shrouded in the shadows of cyberspace, but we can thank blogger Voncheech for recently upping them. And just like last time, I contributed a cover (featuring another Bill Wray masterwork), looked up and ID tagged the artists, and made a track list. Again I tried to arrange it according to musical styles. It starts with plucky mid-century easy listening, and turns glamorous before going nutso eclectic ( You name it...rag time, folk, barroom piano, jazz, country, big band, banjo pickin', traditional German, Irish, French, and Eastern, and no shortage of polkas) followed by romantic, classical, drama and suspense, all punctuated with an assortment of short cues. You're practically guaranteed to like it if you like the same things I do... wax paper... boiled football leather... dog breath. We're not hitchhiking anymore... we're riding.

- Kirk Demarais

Year of Release: 1998
Label: NA
Genres: Soundtrack, Library Music
Bitrate: 192kbps

Download:
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2 (Part 1)
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2 (Part 2)
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2 (Part 3)
Download Size: 405MB Total

Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 1

Update January 16th, 2013: As NØ aluded to in his previous post, I have finally returned from my adventures in darkest Africa. He and I will be working to re-upload many of the albums that were lost in the great file purges that took place on many of the major file hosting services after the seizure and closing of Megaupload. Almost every blog was affected by this, and unfortunately ours was no exception. Before these purges, Mediafire was easily my favorite file hosting service of choice. However, after reading about how they deleted countless files that were perfectly legal, such as music released under a creative commons license, or shared with permission from the artist, I have decided to look for greener pastures. This means I am going to have to experiment with different hosts until I can regularly deliver download links from a reliable host.

Please comment if any of you can recommend a good file host. I have been away for nearly a year, during which I had access to the computer/internet very little, and a lot can change during that time period on the internet. The primary thing I am looking for is a hosting service that provides longevity, in that they are unlikely to delete the file due to a DMCA complaint or a mistake, as far as the files are concerned. Of course, it would be great if this host met other standards, such as: acceptable file size limitations, no wait time for free users, fast download speeds etc. Again, please leave a comment if you can recommend such a host. I will be conducting an experiment of my own to find the best possible host in the meantime.

This will be the first of what will be many posts containing updated download links. I will begin re-upping Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 2 as soon as I finish writing this. After that I plan on focusing on the posts which have the most re-upload requests. For those who may be new to this blog, I hope you enjoy what we have in store for you, and to those long-time visitors who might still be around, I hope that you discover something that you may have missed the first time around.

Update November 8th, 2010: I posted this several months ago, but as a few readers so kindly pointed out, I neglected to include the last 10 tracks. I should point out that this was originally posted by a former contributor here by the name of PsychoCat. I would like to thank those of you who pointed out the mistake, and apologize for the inconvenience. You can find the link to the download which contains tracks 100-109 listed as Part 3 in the download section at the bottom of the post. Ren & Stimpy Prodcution Music Vol. 2 can be found here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2010/06/ren-stimpy-production-music-vol-2_29.html

Today's music comes to you directly from the secret fun blog, an extension of the retro culture phenomenon Secret Fun Spot...created and maintained by Kirk Demarais, who also created I Rode Phantasmagoria, a site dedicated to my favorite childhood dark ride. Unfortunately, the download links to both Volumes 1 & 2 on the Secret Fun Spot blog are now dead. Demarais, author of 'Life of the Party', was most recently a contributing artist in Crazy 4 Cult, a show hosted by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, wherein over 100 artists reinterpreted classic cult films. A lot of hard work went into the making of this compilation, and I really appreciate it. I hope you will too. - PsychoCat

"From the moment I experienced my very first brilliantly stupendous episode of the Ren & Stimpy show my brain has ruminated on how to get my hands on that wonderful vintage "incidental music" that sets the tone for their zany, wacky, madcap antics. Eventually the internet taught me that the music of Ren & Stimpy comes from all over the place. Some was written for the show, some are well known classical pieces, and there are quite a few works by Raymond Scott. For me, the most elusive stuff has always been the authentic "production music" from the 1950s.

A couple months ago I discovered that some dear soul (or souls) had assembled a massive collection of these aural delights, and made them available on a torrent site. It was as though the Gilded Yak had answered all of my letters at once! And you guessed it, I'm making this marvelous collection of classics available to you, the valued internet user.

Put simply, these melodies have enriched my life. Play them on your drive to work and you're the star of an instructional traffic safety film, turn it on during dinner and mealtime becomes 80% happier (but be careful.. play the wrong track and you could wind up with a touch of Space Madness). Best of all you can listen and imagine that you live in the world of Ren and Stimpy where the walrus-napping horse is your next door neighbor, where the toy stores are stocked with Log from Blammo, and a visit from Powdered Toast Man is just a complaint away!

Since this stuff is already available 'out there' I decided to add some extra value before I handed it off to you folks, and therefore I did the following..
-Designed an "album cover" for the collection (as seen above)
(Bill Wray illustration swiped from his web site.)
-Hunted down and tagged the name of every artist for every stinkin' track
-Added a couple tracks that I had that weren't included in the bundle
-Created a track listing based on musical styles. It kicks off with some general '50s domestic lollygagging tunes and then it gets more downtown hustle and bustle-ish. After that it goes spooky, glamorous, romantic, and finally dramatic.

It is my pleasure to present you with the unofficial Ren & Stimpy Production Music collection. Be happy happy and enjoy joy joy it! - Kirk Demarais"


Year of Release: 2006
Label: NA (Bootleg Release)
Genres: Soundtrack, Library Music
Bitrate: 192kbps

Download:
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 1
Download Size: 208MB Total

Download Mirror 1:
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 1

Download Mirror 2:
Ren & Stimpy Production Music Vol. 1

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Janko Nilovic - Supra Pop Impressions (Montparnassee 2000 - MP 16) (1973 - 256kbps)

Supra Pop Impressions would easily make my list of top 10 library music albums. Some of the library music albums I have posted recently are more experimental in nature, and therefore might not appeal to everyone; however, I believe this would make an excellent introductory album for those who are new to it. It displays the diversity, originality and pure talent that can be found on so many library music albums - as long as you are willing to dig. This album also exemplies the reason I love library music so much. It allowed classically trained composers to break free and experiment, with their experiments often resulting in some of the most amazing music I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Janko Nilovic was one of those extremely talented composers who was way ahead of his time, and dedicated his career to creating music for various production music libraries. Nilovic was born in Montenegro in 1941, and was formally trained as a musician at the age of five. He moved to France in 1960, where he was introduced to more contemporary musical styles, which would have a profound influence on his career and musical output. Eventually he started composing music for production music libraries in the 1960s, beginning with the Telemusic label. A few years later he would go on to compose the majority of work in his catalog for the Montparnasse 2000 label. Janko Nilovic signed a contract with Montparnasse 2000 which guaranteed him absolute freedom in his musical experiments.

Supra Pop Impressions was released in 1973 on Montparnasse 2000, as catalog # MP 16. Montparnasse 2000 was a French label founded by André Farry, with the assistance of Louis Delacour. Delacour would later go on to found his own label, Neuilly. Their early releases, such as this one, were limited to 1000 copies. The label would present 500 copies to TV stations and radios, with 500 reserved for later distribution. Many of my favorite library music albums were released on the Montparnasse 2000 label, so you can expect to see several more MP 2000 releases here on DM in the not-so-distant future.

Supra Pop Impressions sounds surprisingly modern despite being recorded nearly 40 years ago. It is absolutely rife with blistering guitar solos, wicked basslines, and funky beats. On an album loaded with so many killer tracks it is hard to pick a favorite. "Roses and Revolvers" certainly stands out as one of the strongest in my opinion though. Shimmering harpsichord melodies collide with heavy hip-hop beats and a wicked funky bassline. Beat-diggers will absolutely love this one, as I'm sure the rest of you will. As the name suggests, "Once In My Country" lays down some funky blues guitar riffs with a hint of country twang. "Krishna Mission" is a fun track dominated by energetic and driving harpsichord melodies which are complimented by bluesy guitar riffs, with that country twang appearing once more. At the halfway point, the harpsichord gives way a seriously heavy beat, along with a blistering guitar solo which interjects to steal the show.

Tapata opens up Side B with some groovy blues flavored electric guitar work, before transforming into a showcase of funky, rolling percussion work, which is reminiscant of some of the percussion work of artists I have recently featured on the blog, such as Patrice Sciortino and Camille Sauvage. Tapatapa was sampled by the Beatnuts for their song "Contact". I consider "Ballet Mecanique" to be another one of the strongest tracks on the album. It opens up with a hauntingly beautiful harpsichord solo, which is gradually overtaken by a killer funky bassline. A hard-driving beat kicks in soon after that gallops along at a frantic pace to set the stage for the absolutely ripping guitar solo that kicks in soon afterward. The whole process is repeated before the pace dies down one last time, allowing the harpsichord to close out the track just as it began. As the name suggests, "Funky Stage" lays down the funk in a heavy way. The funky bassline is accompanied by some psychedelic guitar work with a touch of blues and hammond organ, and closes out the album just as strongly as it began.

Again, I can't recommend this album enough. Janko Nilovic was a prolific composer, and released numerous library music albums; however, Supra Pop Impressions easily stands out as one of my personal favorites in his entire catalog. I hope you all will agree. Please feel free to share your opinions on this album in the comments section. I'm eager to read how you feel about the recent library music posts.

Year of Release: 1973
Label: Montparnasse 2000
Catalog #: MP 16
Bitrate: 256kbps
Genres: Library Music

Track List:
A1. Electric Days
A2. Roses and Revolvers
A3. Once In My Country
A4. Krishna Mission
A5. Mystic Words
A6. Pop Circus
B1. Tapatapa
B2. Chorus For Leslie
B3. Girl Named Revolte
B4. Ballet Mecanique
B5. House In The Plain
B6. Funky Stage

Download: Janko Nilovic - Supra Pop Impressions
Download Size: 73MB

Patrice Sciortino - Les Cyclopes (1967 - 320kbps)

Update:

maestro898 has been kind enough to translate the original notes in French to English. You can find both the original notes, as well as the English translation below the download link at the bottom of this post. Thank you for your generosity maestro898.

As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to start sharing a few of my favorite library music LPs over the next couple of weeks. I hope to cover a wide array of musical styles, as well as the artists and labels that I enjoy the most. I hope to be able to strike a balance between the essential, for those who are unfamliar with library music, and the obscure, for those who are. Those of you who are unfamiliar with library music, or have only had the opportunity to listen to a few releases, are in for a real treat. First up is one of my favorite French composers, Patrice Sciortino.

I recently posted the compilation "Espace Et Actualité" from the Musique Pour L'Image label, the highlight of which was the seven amazing tracks composed by Patrice Sciortino which appeared on the B-side.. Patrice Sciortino has released several essential library music albums. Many people consider "Chronoradial" to be his Magnus Opus. Chronoradial was released on the Musique Pour L'Image sublabel, PSI, in 1970. It is an amazing piece of work, and will probably appear here in the near future; however, I personally prefer his debut album, "Les Cyclopes". Les Cyclopes was released on the French audiophile label, Disques André Charlin, in 1967. Les Cyclopes seeks to capture the spirit and character of five different continents by using a vast array of percussion instruments, performed by eight different percussionists, along with one bass player. The number of percussion instruments implemented by Sciortino truly is staggering. While there are too many to list here, you can get an idea of the sheer number of instruments used by looking at the back cover.

I provided some background info regarding Patrice Sciortino in the Espace Et Actualité post, which I linked to above. I have taken the liberty of typing out the liner notes from the back of the album, and I have included those notes as a text file with the download. (Edit: I forgot to include the text file in the download. There is an additional link below the download link which will direct you to the text file.) I should point out that those notes are in French, since I typed them exactly as they appeared on the back of the album. I used Google Translate to translate some of the information to English. Unfortunately the intended meaning behind some of the passages isn't very clear. I chalk this up to the inherant limitations of the Google translation service. Perhaps someone from France would be willing to provide a more accurate translation? I was able to pull some relevant and insightful information from the translated text though. The following excerpt is taken from the aforementioned liner notes that I translated into English:

"Cyclops / Panorama Of Percussion
directed by the author
Recorded in Paris by André Charlin / Art Direction - Carl de Nys

Patrice Sciortino is a unique and diverse musical figure. In spite of his youth (he was born in Paris in 1922) he already has an extremely imposing catalogue of compositions and extremely various activities. Patrice Sciortino does not

All systems of musical language, rhythms, scales, styles, all means of expressing them, instruments and techniques have been (at some point in their history) representative of a country and a people, that is say "typical."

Some of them stayed, others have followed the course of universal exchange, teaching us that the ownership and authenticity are relative and nuanced.

The purpose of this disc is to travel the vast panorama of percussion instruments in the five continents, using them in a context where the pace is connected with their nature and thus open the door to immigration .

Without pretending to paint a perfect image of each of each of these regions, we hope to capture part of the character of each region.


Composer: Patrice Sciortino

Double Bass: Willy Lockwood

Percussionists:
Serge Depannemacker
Yves Lestang
Bernard Lubat
Michel Lorin
Gerard Perotin
Diego Masson
J.-Ch. François
R. Sola

Year of Release: 1967
Label: Disques André Charlin
Catalog #: CL-34
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Etincelle
A2. Berceuse du Soleil
A3. Mythes et Masques
A4. Ventre et Seigneur
A5. Noces de l'eau et du feu
A6. Grande Chasse
B1. Struction
B2. Cristaux
B3. Odeur d'ombre
B4. Rythmétis
B5. Black U.S.
B6. Lumières de la nuit
B7. Cosmophonie

Download: Patrice Sciortino - Les Cyclopes
Download Size: 90MB

Album Notes (French): http://freetexthost.com/gz0dcdkdo0

Album Notes (English Translation): http://freetexthost.com/ufpapg0o65

Edward Michaël - Sept Préludes Symphoniques (De Wolfe - DWLP 3056) (1967 - 320kbps)

This will be the last installment of my dark and twisted library music series. I hope that you all have enjoyed the music I have shared up to this point. After this post, I plan to share a few of my favorite library music albums of all time, and introduce the wide array of music to be found on them for the uninitiated.

I wanted to share something a bit different than the dark avant-garde albums I have recently posted. "Sept Préludes Symphoniques" features a more traditionally oriented orchestral approach. It lacks the experimental approach found in my most recent selections; however, it more than makes up for it with its overwhelming power. Sept Préludes Symphoniques was released on the De Wolfe label in 1967. De Wolfe was actually the very first production library. The introduction of the silent picture created a need for music to accompany it. De Wolfe stepped in to fill that void in 1927.

Edward Michaël is the composer credited for this release. As far as I know this is the only material he ever officially released, aside from a track that was included on a compilation entitled "De l'onde à l'infini" released on the Barclay label in 1974. Sept Préludes Symphoniques will impress you with its sheer in-your-face power. This is bold, dramatic orchestral music with a bit of a dark twist. The music is dominated by soaring strings, thunderous percussion, and overpowering brass.

I should point out that Sept Préludes Symphoniques isn't quite as dark as some of the albums I have shared for my dark and twisted library music series. Many of the tracks have a very adventerous feel to them, and could even be described as romantic at times. However, this is easily one of the most powerful library music albums I have ever heard, and the darker moments are definitely there. This would have made an amazing soundtrack. In fact, the music brings to mind some of the work of the composers for the classic Universal Studio's monster films, such as Herman Stein, Hans J. Salter and Franz Waxman. Library music and film score fans alike should enjoy this album.

That wraps up my dark and twisted library music series, although I may resurrect it down the road. I hope you all enjoyed the music as much as I have enjoyed sharing it.

Year of Release: 1967
Label: De Wolfe
Catalog #: DW/LP 3056
Genres: Library Music, Contemporary Classical
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. No. 1 Chant De L'Universe
A2. No. 2 Du Fond Des Brumes
A3. No. 3 Chant Plaintif
A4. No. 4 Rite Du Soleil
B1. No. 5 Le Lotus Dans La Nuit
B2. No. 6 Murmures Du Vent
B3. Forces D'Integration
B4. Sur Le Mont Gelboé

Download: Edward Michael - Sept Préludes Symphoniques (De Wolfe - DW/LP 3056)
Download Size: 67MB

Ennio Morricone - Controfase (Gemelli - GG.ST. 10.019) (1972 - 320kbps)

Ennio Morricone was one of, if not the, most prolific composers of the 20th century. While most people are familiar with his scores for countless films and television series, it is a lesser known fact that he also composed a handful of albums for production music libraries. Continuing with our dark and twisted library series, I'm pleased to present one of the legendary Italian maestro's darkest efforts, rivaling even some of the great giallo soundtracks he composed throughout the 1970s. "Controfase" was released on the Gemelli label in 1972. Gemelli was an Italian music library label formed in the mid 1960s, which was owned and operated by Morricone's friend and frequent collaborator, Bruno Nicolai. Ordinarily such composer-owned library labels folded upon the death of the composer. However, after Nicolai's death in 1991, Nicolai's daughter took over the Gemelli label and subsequently re-released a handful of his recordings.

I recently started a new semester at school, and have picked up an additional course. I am swamped with assignments at the moment, due in part to a mistake which forced me to start the course a day late, so I'm going to have to keep my writing to a minimum for the time being. I will attempt to put up at least two to three posts a week though. Hopefully I'll be able to find my groove with the assignments within a couple of weeks, which will free up a bit more time for me. When possible I will provide an online review to provide you with more info on the release in question.

Unfortunately information surrounding this release is scarce. In fact, I couldn't even find a single review of the album online, which I find strange considering Ennio Morricone's huge following. "Controfase" was released in extremely limited numbers, with Gemelli releasing only 500 copies, making it extremely difficult to find this release on vinyl. I consider this to be a masterpiece of dark avant-garde library music. Morricone implements mysterious and dissonant jazz percussion, ominous string arpeggios, and atonal ambient electronic sounds, all in his trademark style, creating a brilliantly dark statement in the process. You can find more Morricone albums previously posted on the blog here.

Year of Release: 1972
Label: Gemelli
Catalog #: GG.ST. 10.019
Genres: Library Music, Avant-Garde, Contemporary Classical
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Controfase
A2. Tempo
A3. Soli
A4. Come Sommersi
B1. Con Ferma Ostinazione
B2. Follia
B3. Degenerazione
B4. Eclissi Seconda

Download: Ennio Morricone - Controfase (Gemelli - GG.ST 10.019)
Download Size: 67MB

Joel Vandroogenbroeck - Biomechanoïd (Colorsound - CS01 - 1980 - 192kbps)

When I saw the Biomechanoïd cover art by H.R. Giger, I was disturbed and intrigued enough to seek out this bizarre album, the first release by the German label Colorsound Library. It is composed by Joel Vandroogenbroeck of the experimental/krautrock act Brainticket.

Biomechanoïd is an avant-garde album of electronic sound effects and soundscapes, with snippets of piano and other instruments. The album opens with "Dark Plasma" which effectively brings to mind bubbling, boiling liquids, with a series of strange metallic drones in the background. The two album highlights for me are "Sign from Space" and "Lost Planet". "Sign from Space" is a mind-bending little trip through some dark territory. Odd vibrations and electronic calls are interrupted by screeching signals from another world. It feels like you are getting closer and closer to some secret, but then it vanishes. It’s pretty cool. “Lost Planet” is an amazing sci-fi synthesizer freak-out that makes me picture ascending from outer space to the surface of some terrifying but beautiful world. I also enjoyed the album closer “Galaxy Recall”, a two minute hypnotism. I'm curious to know what other library albums by Vandroogenbroeck sound like. Let the search commence.

Year of Release: 1980
Label:Colorsound
Catalog #: CS01
Genres: Electronic, Library Music, Avant-garde, Ambient, Noise
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track list:
A1 Dark Plasma 4:30
A2 Elements 4:55
A3 Sign From Space 4:30
A4 Strange Lady 3:00
A5 Plastic Gnome 2:05
B1 Voices 1:46
B2 Metallic Agony 5:40
B3 Lost Planet 5:30
B4 Asteroids 2:20
B5 Interstellar Insects 2:28
B6 Galaxy Recall 2:07

Download: Joel Vandroogenbroeck - Biomechanoïd (CS01 - 1980)
Download Size: 60MB

VA - Espace Et Actualité (Musique Pour L'Image - MPI 505) (1967 - 320kbps)

When January rolled around I had originally planned to offer up an eclection selection of library music, however, once I started going through my collection I couldn't resist continuing my dark and twisted library music series. As a visitor recently pointed out, the majority of people who collect and share library music often focus on the releases containing funky breaks, which have been sampled by DJs to create hip-hop beats since the genre first emerged. I wanted to focus on the dark corners of the library music world, and concentrate on a few masterpieces which are all too often passed over for the more upbeat library LPs featuring funky beats and cheerful moog synthesizers. Don't get me wrong, I love those type of library music LPs just as much as the next person, and they helped to introduce me to the amazing world of library music. However, as far as library music goes, those beat-heavy LPs make up the more mainstream side of production music, and I'm all about exploring the more obscure and unsung albums. For those interested, I fully intend to share some of my favorite upbeat library LPs once I finish with my series of dark & twisted library music. After that I plan to share a few releases from each of my favorite library labels.

"Espace Et Actualité" (MP 505) was released on the French label, Musique Pour L'Image" in 1967. The A side contains music from three different artists, while side B consists of music from Patrice Sciortino. Claude Vasori, Robert Hermel and François Bayle comprise the composers featured on side A. Of these three composers Claude Vasori is the only one I'm really familiar with. He released the majority of his music on the Musique Pour L'Image label. I have a few of these releases, including Energie - MPI 541 (1972), Musique Pop Pour Images En Mouvement - MPI 529 (1971), and Action, Charme, Espace - MPI 502 (1967) if anyone would be interested in seeing them posted in the future. The music on this side consists of mysterious and mildly ominous spaced-out ambient tunes. While the music isn't bad, it is overshadowed by the selection of music presented by Patrice Sciortino on the B side, which is much more engaging and unique.

Side B alone makes this library LP worth downloading in my opinion. French composer Patrice Sciortino is responsible for all of the tracks on the B-Side. Sciortino studied at Pierre Schaeffer's GRM (Groupe de Recherche Musicale), along with the aforementioned Claude Vasori. He went on to compose music for theatre and production libraries in the 1960s. Sciortino is often remembered among library music collectors for releasing several amazing percussion themed LPs, including Percupulsions (Neuilly - MC 8002) and Percussion Power (Mondiophone - 46.503). The majority of his work was released on the Neuilly label, and sublabels Crea Sound and Mondiophone.

Espace Et Actualité contains some of the earliest library music that Scioritini composed. It is a bit more constrained than some of his wilder efforts in subsequent years. Sciortino's avant-garde approach to library music, with an emphasis on percussion, brings to mind Camille Sauvage (aka Eric Framond), particularly Fantasmagories, albeit much more reserved in nature. Sciortino manages to strike a wonderful balance with his music. The music manages to be rather sparse, yet engaging at the same time. The inclusion of bells and harps gives the music a delicate sound, while powerful and discordant piano melodies bring some harshness to the compositions. The music is primarily dark in nature, yet light undertones emerge through the darkness, if only for brief moments.

I wouldn't say this release is as strong as some of the previously dark and twisted library LPs I have shared, as it is a bit more reserved in nature than my previous selections. However, this is a solid album in its own right, particulary the music found on the B-Side by Patrice Sciortino. Those of you who enjoyed the previous selections in my dark and twisted library series should find this one quite enjoyable as well.

Year of Release: 1967
Label: Musique Pour L'Image
Catalog #: MPI 505
Genres: Library Music, Ambient, Avant-Garde, Experimental
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Claude Vasori - De´part Fuse´e
A2. Robert Hermel - Industrie Spatiale
A3. François Bayle - Titan
A4. Claude Vasori - Espace Chromatique
A5. François Bayle - Andromede
A6. Robert Hermel - Apesanteur
B1. Patrice Sciortino - Alchimie Rythmique
B2. Patrice Sciortino - Ville Sanse Vie
B3. Patrice Sciortino - Abimes Souterrains
B4. Patrice Sciortino - Danger Sous Roche
B5. Patrice Sciortino - Approache Dramatique
B6. Patrice Sciortino - Hostilite´
B7. Patrice Sciortino - Tumulte

Download: VA - Espace Et Actualité (Musique Pour L'Image - MPI 505)
Download Size: 68MB

VA - Give Peas A Chance: 21 Obscure Hits and Jazzy Gems (2003 - 192kbps)

I want to thank Zer0_II for bringing me on board to contribute to this blog regularly. It has been a great pleasure thus far and I am ecstatic about all the good and interesting music we'll be posting in 2011.

My first post for the new year is a great compliment to Zer0_II's previous post of Pulse of Events. This is a compilation culling 21 tracks from various library music labels, released on vinyl and CD by the German label Crippled Dick Hot Wax. It is an hour long groovy excursion into sixties and seventies cinema full of tracks that range from the energetic blaxploitation/cop show-esque, brass-heavy rock of John Cameron's "Crime Squad" to the laid back, loungey, & funky awesomeness that is "Name of the Game" by Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett. The album is amazingly cohesive, with a flow that I find very impressive. If you need some tunes to make you feel like one cool MoFo, get this.

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Crippled Dick Hot Wax!
Catalog Number: CDHW 085
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. Gary Grant / Simon Park - Good Company
2. André Ceccarelli - Panier A Crabes
3. Paul Kuhn - Gateway To Crime
4. Freddy Gigele - Polizeiruf 110
5. Alan Hawkshaw - Troubleshooter Vol. 2
6. John Cameron - Crime Squad
7. Brian Bennett / Alan Hawkshaw - Name Of The Game
8. Günter Platzek - Heavy Steel
9. Made In Germany - Sprungbrett 1
10. Wirbitzky-Zimmermann - Eat Art
11. Orchester K.J.Lubitz - Die Grosse Chance
12. Hötter-Zimmermann Group - Powerplay
13. Boris Jojic - Knock Out
14. Dieter Reith - Arabia
15. Jonny Teupen - Never Gonna Be A Skyscraper
16. Hartmut Kiesewetter - Wind It Up
17. Klaus Wüsthoff - Jet Clipper Suite
18. Berlipp's Band - Crime In Beat
19. Simon Park - Big Mouth
20. George Fenton / Ken Freeman - Mobil Unit
21. Freddy Gigele - Titel, Thesen, Temperamente

Download: VA - Give Peas A Chance: 21 Obscure Hits and Jazzy Gems
Download Size: 77MB

VA - Pulse Of Events (Themes International - TIM 1023) (1976 - 320kbps)

Some of you may remember that I closed out November with several dark library music selections. During the next couple of weeks I plan to return to sharing library music, but rather than strictly focusing on a specific mood or theme, I would like to share a diverse selection this time around. First up is a compilation entitled "Pulse of Events", released by the severely underrated Themes International library as TIM 1023 in 1976. I have a couple of reasons for posting this compilation. The first and most obvious reason is that this compilation is one of the most solid and beat-heavy library music albums that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. The rather dull cover is certainly deceiving, as the vinyl it houses contains some real scorchers. The second reason I wanted to share this is so that I can direct your attention to a blogger that is relatively new to the scene, and off to a tremendous start. I remember when I first started blogging I was given a big push by a blogger who had been around for years. RYP from the legendary Twilightzone! blog introduced a great deal of people to my blog, who most likely never would have paid it a visit otherwise. Hopefully now that I've been blogging for nearly five years, I can give a similar push to others who are somewhat new to the music blogging scene. Pulse of Events was originally ripped by "Marsellus Wallace" and shared on his extraordinary blog Marcellus Wallace's Crate Favorites. Mr. Wallace recently shared several Themes International rips over on his blog to kick off the new year. Be sure to dig through the archives while you're there for more library music goodness.

The compilation opens up with three outstanding tracks by Alan Hawkshaw, each of which are suspenseful jazz-rock numbers, often heavy on the bass and brass, and with what sounds to be some amazing synth/keyboard and piano work as well. Hawkshaw is followed by Mike Moran, who delivers two solid funk-rock tracks. "Task Force" opens up with a hip-hop beat shortly before the brass, percussion and funky guitar work take over. "Situation Unstable" begins where the previous track left off, yet takes the track in a more rock oriented direction toward the latter half without losing its funky edge. Next up is David Lindup and "CCX", a laid-back and light rocking groover, which leans toward the funky side at times also, featuring some nice fuzzy guitar work, piano, and powerful bursts of brass. While "Inside Information" contains one of the hard and heaviest riffs on the whole compilation, it is very fun and soulful track at the core, featuring plenty of hammond organ and some light guitar thrown in for good measure. The next four tracks come courtesy of Alan Parker, perhaps best known for his work on "Afro Rock" on the legendary KPM label (KPM 1130). While each of these tracks is solid in their own right, they are outshadowed by the monstrous "Hard Line", a real hard rocking scorcher with some seriously fuzzy guitar licks that are nothing short of Bad Ass. Closing out the album are a couple of tracks by Les Hurdle and Alan Tew respectively. Hurdle's "Offbeat" is another laid-back funky groover with the emphasis on the beat. Alan Tew closes out the album with "The Come On", a solid track that is a bit dynamic in nature. It has a bit of a crime jazz feel to it at the onset, but continuously evolves throughout. Driving strings, a deliciously funky bassline and weird spaced out sounds can be heard throughout. My favorite part of the track is the introduction of the piano near the end of the track, which closes it out with a bit of ragtime flavor.

As far as library music goes, this compilation is very accessible and would serve as a great introduction for the uninitiated. I really can't recommend this compilation enough. As I mentioned before, Themes International is a criminally underrated label. Labels such as KPM often get the majority of attention from collectors, while labels such as Themes International manage to fly under the radar despite releasing a number of amazing releases. A couple of the performers are even well known for being KPM regulars. If you happen to stumble across any releases by Themes International on other blogs in the future, go ahead and do yourself a favor and download them. Chances are you will be glad that you did. If you enjoy this gem, then I'm sure you will enjoy the various other Themes International library LPs that Marcellus Wallace has made available on his blog also.

Year of Release: 1976
Label: Themes International
Catalog #: TIM 1023
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Alan Hawkshaw - Troublemaker
A2. Alan Hawkshaw - The Hunted
A3. Alan Hawkshaw - The Investigator
A4. Mike Moran - Task Force
A5. Mike Moran - Situation Unstable
A6. David Lindup - CCX
A7. David Lindup - Inside Information
B1. Alan Parker - Move
B2. Alan Parker - Counter Move
B3. Alan Parker - Mustang
B4. Alan Parker - Hard Line
B5. Alan Parker - Stake Out
B6. Les Hurdle - Offbeat
B7. Alan Tew - The Come On

Download: VA - Pulse of Events (Themes International - TIM 1023)
Download Size: 77MB

Roger Roger - Drama and Suspense (Crea Sound - MC 8013) (320kbps)

This will be the last album in my dark and twisted library music series for the time being. The theme will resume again in January. For those of you who haven't been following the blog, we will be starting a project that has been in the works since October. "Digital Meltd0wn's Nightmare Before Christmas" will kick off on December 1st. I will be making a more formal announcement later this evening to reveal the names of the guest bloggers that will be participating in the event, as well as some of the items you can expect to see posted.

Roger Roger (aka Cecil Leuter, Eric Swan) is probably best known for his library music albums consisting of upbeat electronic pop and contemporary classical music. However, "Drama and Suspense" starkly contrasts with the bulk of his output, and stands as one dark and sinister piece of work in comparison. Drama and Suspense was released on the French library music label, Crea Sound, some time in the 1970s. This is another one of those albums that doesn't have a date on the front or back cover, and no one seems to know the exact year it was released. This album was originally shared on the Painted On Silence blog. Unfortunately the admin of that amazing blog decided to remove all of the download links from his posts and call it quits more than two years ago.

As the title suggests, Side A contains the dramatic themes, while Side B contains the suspense. Side A is the stronger of the two sides in my opinion. I'm reminded of some of the old science-fiction/horror soundtracks from the '50s and '60s, particularly some of Akira Ifukube's work on Godzilla and various other Japanese monster movie soundtracks he produced. The first couple of tracks have a militaristic feel to them, as if two massive armies are about to meet on the battlefield. Judging from the titles, I assume this is what Roger Roger had in mind as well. These tracks are full of pounding percussion and bursts of heavy brass. While this side represents the drama, some of these themes also have an ominous and suspenseful tone to them as well. The last two tracks, particularly "Strange Motion", deviate from this formula a bit. "Strange Motion" has more of a whimsical and dreamlike science-fiction sound to it.

Side B represents the "Suspense" in the title. It consists entirely of tracks which are darker and more mysterious in tone, which is something you don't usually hear from Roger Roger, and I for one love it! These tracks also have that early sci-fi/horror feel to them, which I have grown rather fond of over the years. I consider the first track, "Frankstenstein", along with the last track, "Weird Moment", to be the strongest on Side B. Frankenstein introduces the macabre sounds, and happens to be my favorite on Side B. It features that classic sci-fi/horror sound I have repeatedly referred to. The sinister music is punctuated with outbursts of deep brass, and accompanied by the sound of gusts of wind, which increase in intentisity as the track progresses. My only complaint about this release would be that the next few tracks are somewhat similar to one another and repetitive. "Weird Moment" closes out Side B on a strong note though. Although it is rather simple in structure, it has a genuinely creepy sound. I can't be certain, but I believe either synthesizers or keyboards are being used here to create the eerie melody heard throughout the track. It is accompanied by the faint sound of rattling chains, and occassionally interrupted by mellow, dreamlike interludes.

While this isn't the strongest album Roger Roger ever released, it is certainly a departure from the style of music he was known for, making it a unique oddity in his vast catalog. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, this will be the last library music album that I will share until January. Let Digital Meltd0wn's Nightmare Before Christmas begin...

Year of Release: 197x (Unknown)
Label: Crea Sound Ltd.
Catalog #: MC 8013
Genres: Library Music, Contemporary Classical
File Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. War of the Planets
A2. The Aggressors
A3. The Hobsters
A4. Dark Journey
A5. Invasion
A6. Strange Motion
A7. Alert
B1. Frankenstein
B2. Furtive Incident
B3. Catastrophe
B4. The Search
B5. Anxiety and Fear
B6. The Rendezvous
B7. Weird Moment

Download: Roger Roger - Drama and Suspense (Crea Sound - MC 8013)
Download Size: 65MB

Camille Sauvage - Fantasmagories (Montparnasse 2000 - MP 33) (320kbps)

With our upcoming "Nightmare Before Christmas" project beginning on December 1st, I wanted to transition into the project by sharing a couple of dark and twisted library music lps. First up is the one that immediately came to mind, and also happens to be one of my favorite library music albums - "Fantasmagories" by French Composer Camille Sauvage, released on the legendary Montparnasse 2000 library. He also released a handful of albums on Montparnasse 2000 using the alias Eric Framond, which people often mistakenely cite as his real name. I couldn't find any concrete information regarding the year this was released, but I am certain that it was released some time in the 1970s.

While Fantasmagories is a horror themed album, it isn't as horrifying as people often like to make it out to be. However, for a library music lp this is certainly a twisted album that does have its darker side. This is very abstract music, perhaps best categorized as musique concrete or avant-garde depending on who you ask. In many ways this reminds me of a cross between Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper's soundtrack to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Japanese duo Haruomi Hosono and Tadanori Yokoo's soundtrack to Cochin Moon. Sauvage masterfully incorporates screeching out-of-tune saxophones, menacing basslines, a plethora of percussion instruments, finger-snaps, strange electronic sounds, ghostly voices, Jews harp, horns and flutes to create this dark masterpiece.

There is also a distinct jazz sound which can be heard on tracks such as "Magma", "Enfirissimo", and "Pavillon Des Agités". Although they retain the sparse and disonant mood created by the other tracks, they also sharply contrast with them in several ways. Aside from the jazz flavor, the most obvious difference is that they are lighter in mood. They also loosly adhere to a rhythmic meter, as opposed to the complete abandonment displayed on the more abstract tracks.

On a side note, this is the only Camille Sauvage album that I have had the pleasure of listening to. I have searched for the album "7 Drums Concerto" for years to no avail. If any of you could help me out I would greatly appreciate the gesture.

Year of Release: 197x
Label: Montparnasse 2000
Catalog #: MP 33
Genres: Library Music, Experimental, Musique Concrete...
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Terrifical Night
A2. Musique De L'Au-Delà
A3. Magma
A4. Vivisection
A5. Ectoplasme
A6. Enferissimo
B1. Charette Fantôme
B2. Le Jugement Dernier
B3. Pavillon Des Agités
B4. Rapacité Nocturne
B5. Requiem Pour Satan
B6. Rhapsodie Pour Belphégor

Download: Camille Sauvage - Fantasmagories
Download Size: 77MB

Sven Libaek - Boney (1972) + Nickel Queen (1973)

Sven Libaek has experienced a recent surge in popularity due to his compositions from "Inner Space" recently being used in the film, "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou". Below you will find two rare soundtracks from the Australian composer available for download, "Boney" and "Nickel Queen", both of which have long been out of print. Before I begin I would like to say that I am posting these with the serious Sven Libaek fan in mind, which is not to say that you shouldn't listen to these if you're not familiar with his work. However, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Sven Libaek, I would recommend that you check out some of the more celebrated and interesting works in his catalog before listening to these, such as "Inner Space", "My Thing", "Nature Walkabout" or "Solar Flares".

The other reason I am posting these two albums is due to the controversy that was generated over their removal from another blog. Both of these were posted on the Pecks Spet Rips blog over three years ago, much to the delight of Libaek fans everywhere. While the download link for "Boney" simply expired, shortly after the "Nickel Queen post was made the "original ripper" left a commen demanding that the blog admin not only remove the download links, but the entire post. The reason given was that he was angry over having not received credit for the rip. Despite the admin's attempt to give this person credit in his post, they insisted that it be removed regardless. Suprisingly enough the blogger removed the download links along with the post, depriving many people the opportunity to listen to this rare Sven Libaek album. TI've already discussed exactly how I feel about the entire episode in the comments section of this post so I won't go into it again. However, I will say that as long as these albums remain out of print, they will remain on Digital Meltd0wn.

Fortunately I was able to grab "Boney" before it was removed. I would like to thank øשlqæda for leaving "Nickel Queen" in the comments section of my previous post. He runs a blog called Holy Marbles, which can be found here: http://holywarbles.blogspot.com Holy Warbles is an absolutely amazing blog featuring tons of great music from all over the world. Be sure to pay it a visit if you haven't already.

Sven Libaek - Boney

"Boney" was a television series about an Aboriginal detective. While Boney certainly has a few suspenseful crime jazz tracks, it is largely a laid back affair and the action packed spectacles you might expect to hear are conspicuously absent. As a reviewer on another site so aptly stated: "judging by the soundtrack this must have been the most chilled-out cop show of all time", and I tend to agree. One would expect "Action Theme" and "Murder in the Outback" to be suspenseful numbers, yet they are actually mellow jazz compositions, with a very brief and mild amount of suspense on "Murder". There are a couple of tracks which have a nice chilled out spaghetti-western vibe to them, which I would imagine Libaek used to coincide with the rural setting of the series. Overall this is a solid album, which I'm sure all of you Libaek fans will enjoy.

Year of Release: 1972
Label: Festival Records
Catalog #: FL 34660
Genres: Television Soundtrack, Library Music, Jazz
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
A1. Boney Title Music
A2. Boney Theme
A3. Love Theme
A4. Action Theme
A5. Murder In The Outback
A6. City Lights
B1. Outback Theme
B2. The Fight
B3. Wild Formations
B4. Relief
B5. Boney Theme

Download: Sven Libaek - Boney
Download Size: 51MB

Sven Libaek - Nickel Queen

"Nickel Queen" was an Australian comedy film released in 1971. The plot revolves around an outback pub owner who finds herself an overnight millionaire after staking a claim during the "nickel boom" of the late 1960s. For those interested, I actually stumbled across this site, where you can watch the entire film online (you need to download the divx webplayer plugin if you don't have it). The music consists of light, upbeat jazz, which many people would categorize as lounge music. One thing that makes this album unique among Sven Libaek albums is the inclusion of a several vocal tracks, making this his most vocally oriented release. The vocals come courtesy of session singers Kerrie Biddell and Terry Kaff. The inclusion of the didjeridu at the onset of the album, and sitar in "Go Anywhere", which are two instruments that I find very captivating, were a nice added touch. The upbeat, poppy percussion work that can be heard throughtout would have to be the highlight of this album for me. While I'm a big fan of Sven Libaek's work, and I can appreciate the beauty of the arrangements, I have to say that overall this album really isn't my cup of tea. While I generally prefer not to share albums that I don't thoroughly enjoy, I felt as if it was important to share this for the reasons listed above.

Year of Release: 1973
Label: Philips
Catalog #: NA
Genres: Soundtrack, Library Music, Jazz
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
A1. Look (Every Day)
A2. Take Without Giving
A3. Jenny Blake
A4. Go Anywhere
A5. News From The Exchange
A6. Park Scene (Look, Every Day)
B1. Go Anywhere
B2. Go Anywhere (Instrumental)
B3. Spinifex Hill (Look, Every Day)
B4. Meg's Shopping Spree (Take Without Giving)
B5. Mrs. Benson
B6. The Fall Of Benson Mining
B7. Look (Every Day)

Download: Sven Libaek - Nickel Queen
Download Size: 66MB

Roger Roger - Sounds Industrial (L'Illustration Musicale - IM 25) (1976 - 320kbps)

Despite possessing a rather large library music collection, I have neglected to share many albums here for one reason or another. During the next two weeks I plan to share a few of my favorite library music albums, better known to some people as production music. If you are unfamiliar with library music then you should check out this Wikipedia article, which provides a decent overview of the genre. In the coming weeks you can expect to see a mixture of albums that any library music enthusiast will be familiar with, along with a few very rare and obscure albums, which hopefully haven't already been posted elsewhere.

First up we Roger Roger's Sounds Industrial (IM 25), which was released on vinyl in 1976 by the L'Illustration Musicale library label. Although Roger Roger happens to be one of my favorite library music composers, I had intended to share a more accessible album here first. The other album I was uploading canceled due to an error, so I just decided to run with it. Roger Roger was a French composer who was born in 1911 and died in 1995. As strange as it seems, his real name was actually Roger Roger. He also released several albums using the aliases Cecil Leuter, which he primarily used for his electronic output, and Eric Swan. Roger Roger was one of the most prolific of all the library music composers during his career, having composed music for dozens of production libraries, television shows and radio. He is well known among library music enthusiasts, although because he preferred to compose music for the more obscure library labels, he never achieved the recognition that many prolific film score composers do. He released albums on several different labels, although is best remembered for the work he did for the Mood Music series on the Chappell label. He was also one of the earliest composers to use the Moog synthesizer, releasing Pop Electronique in 1969, only five years after Bob Moog released his first synthesizer. While his early electronic output tends to be his most popular work, he dabbled in a diverse range of styles, including jazz, classical, psychedelic, experimental and exotica.

Sounds Industrial is one of Roger Roger's earliest albums of electronic music. One thing I love about many library music LPs is that you get the opportunity to hear classicaly trained musicians have fun and experiment, and I get the feeling that Roger Roger was doing just that with this album. At the core of this album is some excellent minimalistic synthesizer music. While each track is short, often averaging roughly a minute each, Roger Roger is able to create very dynamic pieces of music within a very short period of time. What I love about this album is the way each track progressively builds in complexity and atmosphere, yet manages to retain a certain level of simplicity. Most of tracks begin with a very sparse minimalist sound, usually just a simply synth melody, or perhaps a bleep here and a blip there. Then various instruments, sound effects and textured ambient sounds are incorporated one by one, and each track takes a life of its own as it becomes progressively more complex.

I can see this appealing to a variety of people,especially those of you who enjoy experimental, minimal synth, ambient, space-age pop, early electronic music, or just electronic music in general. Hopefully this will serve as an introduction to both library music, as well as Roger Roger, for a few of you. As I mentioned before, you can expect to see more of his albums here on DM in the near future, including those he released under his aliases.

Year of Release: 1976
Label: L'Illustration Musicale
Genres: Library Music, Early Electronic, Experimental
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
01. Sounds Industrial N°1
02. Sounds Industrial N°2
03. Sounds Industrial N°3
04. Sounds Industrial N°4
05. Sounds Industrial N°5
06. Sounds Industrial N°6
07. Sounds Industrial N°7
08. Sounds Industrial N°8
09. Sounds Industrial N°9
10. Sounds Industrial N°10
11. Sounds Industrial N°11
12. Sounds Industrial N°12
13. Sounds Industrial N°13
14. Sounds Industrial N°14
15. Sounds Industrial N°15
16. Sounds Industrial N°16

Download: Roger Roger - Sounds Industrial (L'Illustration Musicale - IM 25)
Download Size: 59MB

Barry 7's Connectors: 21 Rare Library Tracks

This was a great find I recently came across at the local used music shop. This disc features a compilation of library music from the libraries of of Chappel, Southern & PIL. The compiler of these tracks is none other than Barry 7, formerly of the analog synth force of nature Add N to (X) and currently of the supergroup Lung, Rotter & Seven which features Barry alongside Lung and Chris Rotter of Tokyo Windbag. [Lung, Rotter & Seven exclusively make tracks utilizing the Korg DS-10 application on three seperate Nintendo Ds systems...interesting stuff to be heard following that link]

The sounds on this disc are as eclectic as a library music compilation should be. Some tracks have a lounge vibe, some are fascinating soundscapes of electronic experimentation, and some are simply enjoyable and melodic compositions by too often overlooked artists. This compilation is a lot of fun and I hope you fellow Digital Meltd0wners will enjoy it.

Also, while I'm sure most of you are already aware of it, if you dig library music I cannot suggest a better blog than The Library Hunt.

Enough of my blabber and linking. Enjoy this compilation!

Tracklist
01 Jiri Bezant & Jiri Malasek - Erotica 2
02 Nino Nardini - Catch That Man
03 Stringtronics - Dawn Mists
04 Georges Teperino - Weird Sounds No. 1
05 Paul Guiot & Paul Piot - Amour, Vacances Et Baroque
06 Paul Bonneau - Preambule No. 36
07 Sven Libaek - Solar Flares
08 Anthony King - Forgotten World
09 Sven Libaek - Quasars
10 Doris Hays - Scared Trip
11 Eric Peters - Electronic Rhythm
12 Paul Bonneau - Univers Sideral
13Roger Roger - Coconut Coast
14 Cecil Leuter - Electro Sounds No. 8
15 Roger Roger - Roger Rhythm No. 1
16 The Johanna Group - Hors Phase
17 Anthony King - Maladjusted Moogie
18 John Matthews - Electro - Exotic 1
19 Paul Bonneau - Preambule No. 37
20 Torrie Zito - Mobile
21 Gary Bellington - Merry Go Sound

Download: Barry 7's Connectors: 21 Rare Library Tracks
Download Size: 110mb

KPM1104 | Delia Derbyshire - Electrosonic

Electrosonic (aka KPM1104)is a 1972 KPM Library record electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire made with Brian Hodgson and Don Harper while moonlighting from day jobs at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. One of the most enigmatic albums in the KPM sound library of the early 70s,a haunting batch of spare electronic tracks by Delia Derbyshire, who is best remembered for her musical work for the Dr Who! television series. The tracks here are far more mellow and contemplative than her previous work. Most numbers are short and built around simple, spare themes played by Delia with a gently flowing approach that's often quite melodic, even though the tunes themselves echo with a fair bit of darkness. The overall sound isn't as funky as you might expect from other KPM releases, but it more than makes up for that with an incredible array of sounds, techniques, and odd little notes, all of which come across with a "voice" that's far different than some of Delia's better known electronic music contemporaries.

Year of Release: 1972
Label: KPM Library (Catalog KPM1104)
Genre: Electronic, Experimental, Library
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. Quest
2. Quest (Fast)
3. Computermatic
4. Frontier To Knowledge
5. The Pattern Emerges
6. Freeze Frame
7. Plodding Power
8. Busy Microbes
9. Liquid Energy
10. Liquid Energy (Bubbling Rhythm)
11. No Man's Land
12. Depression
13. Nightwalker
14. Electrostings
15. Electrobuild
16. Celestial Cantabile
17. Effervescence
18. The Wizards Laboratory
19. Shock Chords

Download: Delia Derbyshire - Electrosonic
Download Size: 41MB