Brian - Some Cool and Rare Soundtracks

Now I love movie soundtracks and have a lot of them, but there's one reason I haven't really posted any here. The site www.download-soundtracks.com has a complete lock on it! Heading for 1,000 pages of movie soundtracks, it's an exhaustive database of great music! It's a pain using Uploaded.net, but it's worth it.

My point is, over time I actually found some soundtracks that the site didn't have! I've contributed several things there this year. I've done a bunch more lately, and I've had the links just sitting around. So here they are now if anyone needs some good music. And these are my Zippy links, BTW.

(THATS ENTERTAINMENT)

I've always been a sucker for MGM musicals of the 1940's and 50's. This compilation has many of the best known songs from key films. A good primer. You know some of the songs already and you're not even aware of it.

EASTER PARADE (1949) & THE PIRATE (1948)

I love Judy Garland! I should stress: it has nothing to do with either The Wizard of Oz or her 1950's star turns and concerts. My fave period of Judy is the 40's. She had too much work, two failed marriages, and a hell of a pill problem, but during this time she was this beautiful waif with a voice that could just rip your heart out! These soundtracks contain tunes by two great American songwriters: Cole Porter on The Pirate, and Irving Berlin on Easter Parade. These are both rare editions that came out on Rhino Handmade years ago. Great old school scores.

PIMPS, PLAYERS, AND PRIVATE EYES)

I love me some Blaxploitation music! And that's because when I was a teen, I bought this tight ten-song comp put out by Ice-T's record label. A great intro to the music. It doesn't dig up obscurities, but you can't argue with the track list. And hell, is there any song more badass than Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man"? And when I get to heaven, "Across 110th Street" better be playing as I walk in the gate.

TOM & JERRY AND TEX AVERY TOO!

I love cartoon music! And while everyone knows names like Carl Stalling, no one seems to remember Scott Bradley's amazing scores for MGM shorts. He arguably had the harder job, since Tom & Jerry cartoons weren't broken up by dialogue like Looney Toons were. This two disc set is a limited edition version I paid far too much money on eBay for, so please enjoy it. You won't find it anywhere else, other than where I've put it.

(I LIKE TO SCORE)

In the late 90's, Moby's music was all over the movies. I remember being particularly affected by his cover of "New Dawn Fades" from Heat. Features music from Cool World, Scream, and many more. It also has his breakthrough single "Go", which was his reworking of the Twin Peaks theme.

JUDGMENT NIGHT

I've been wanting to post this one for awhile. Out of all the soundtracks in the early 90's that targeted the "alternative" scene, this one did something original with it. By getting rap and rock artists and having them actually collaborate, something kinda timeless was created. The movie is shit, but from Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth's THC fog "I Love You Mary Jane", through Fatal and Therapy's psychotic "Come and Die", to Ice-T and Slayer's devastating Exploited medley, this one is worth it!

(MIAMI VICE: EXPANDED)

This one I'm really proud of. I've long been a fan of Michael Mann's 2006 film Miami Vice. I like the look of it, I am in love with Gong Li, and I think the music is really cool. It's a mix of club tunes, Latin music, with some alt-metal thrown in. The problem is, the version of the soundtrack that was released was missing songs from the film. So, Jonder helped me with reconstructing this. We added the Linkin Park/Jay Z song from the opening club scene, as well as the two Audioslave songs that are in the film. We also edited down the long track "Sweep", since the film doesn't use much of it anyway. This is also sequenced to follow the order of the music in the movie. And how cool is Michael Mann? He put two Mogwai tunes on here! A great CD for a hot summer night, whether or not you have speedboats and cocaine.

There are two bonus comedy links for this post. I put them up long ago when I first started blogging. Regarding who they are, let me just ask you: are you a water sign, or are you a Fire Sign?