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Basil Kirchin, a forgotten genius of post-war British music, was an influential jazz drummer, creative free-spirit and pioneer of Musique Concrète. He spent most of his life living and working in Hull, the 2017 UK City of Culture, which is honouring him as part of their celebrations. Kirchin wrote a number of albums for the de Wolfe Music library, working with fellow composers John Coleman & Jack Nathan to create some of the most sought-after, cult recordings we have published. – De Wolfe Music

Soundtracking Netflix’s Michelle Obama documentary, the Los Angeles saxophonist trades the sprawl of his albums for a more concise approach, wrapping pop-friendly motifs in big arrangements.

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That Los Angeles saxophonist Kamasi Washington was tapped to compose the music for Becoming, director Nadia Hallgren’s documentary-film companion to Michelle Obama’s 2018 memoir, feels almost like a given. While there is a vital, venerated, multi-generational jazz scene still thriving in Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama’s hometown of Chicago, Washington’s music epitomizes the Obama presidency’s once-in-a-generation vision, uplift, and sense of hope. Today, that period looks like a beacon of light in a time of incessant dolor. You might even feel a lump in the throat when the film shows 2008 footage of Michelle signing campaign materials as a brief reprise of Washington’s bittersweet 2015 song “The Rhythm Changes” plays in the background.

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Becoming’s 15 tracks reveal a seldom heard side of Washington: concision. Barely topping a half-hour runtime, the record ends right where you would otherwise be deep into the third cut on The Epic or Heaven and Earth. Yet such brevity suits Washington here, letting him wrap pop-friendly motifs in big arrangements while also allowing him room to experiment with different approaches. ­– Pitchfork

Finders Keepers Records' continued and unwaning commitment to preserving the archives of composer Suzanne Ciani pays off in an avalanche of dividends with this latest master tape discovery, placing further markers in the historical development of electronic music and cinematic composition. Developed at a lesser-documented axis combining Ciani's key disciplines as a revolutionary synthesist and an accomplished pianist, these early works from 1973 capture a rare glimpse of one of the world's most important electronic music figures embarking on the early throes of a fruitful career as a film composer and sound designer with this rare and previously unheard documentary music illustrating the first-ever skiers' decent from the peak of the tallest mountain in Alaska. Capturing innocence and optimism in its composition, but never less than masterful in its realisation, Denali takes what would later become the yin and yang in Ciani's versatile musical personality and provides unrivalled vistas from both side of the mountain, scaling a treacherous and fine creative line.

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Within the context of Suzanne Ciani's achievements the words “maverick” and "pioneer" have regularly shared sentences amongst a list of "firsts" when documenting her expansive CV as a Grammy nominated, million-selling recording artist, and genuine revolutionary in the progression of future music in all its early capacities. But it is with this important release of uncovered recordings from early 1973 that Ciani's "exploratory" compositions from her formative years find kinship alongside the exploits of other radical and historic trailblazers, as the music for the film known only as Denali finally achieves a wider vantage point. Commissioned in the early years of Suzanne's "professional" life, in a period that bridged her activities with art installations, experimental theatre and her rising reputation as a film composer and sound designer, the Denali tape reels preceed Suzanne's film work such as Lloyd Michael Williams Rainbow's Children (1975) and Bryan Forbe's The Stepford Wives (1975) by just 18 months, and capture Suzanne at her wide-eyed best two years after scoring her first-ever paid work providing synthesiser loops for aquariums in Middle America shopping malls  – Bandcamp

This is the soundtrack to the first film of Chan-wook Park’s Vengeance trilogy, released in 2002. The film is a crime thriller that follows a botched plot to kidnap the daughter of a small business owner, the plan having been to use the ransom money to pay for a kidney transplant. When the child is accidentally killed, the situation flies out of control as the plot unfolds unpredictably. The film portrays the aspects of human psychology as the protagonists are pulled into the maelstrom, while also focusing on the nature of evil. The soundtrack was provided by UhUhBoo Project, an experimental unit by Hyun-jin Baek (singer) and Young-gyu Jang (producer / bass) who seek to fuse local traditional music with avant-garde /contemporary rock. This is an astounding soundtrack that includes several experimental tracks that fully embody the unique style of UhUhBoo, as well as some folk songs and contemporary pieces. The soundtrack, which was released at the same time as the film, was sold out almost immediately. This left no more copies in circulation, making it nearly impossible to find in its entirety. This vinyl issue is the first reissue of this soundtrack since its original release in 2002. – Light In The Attic

“Blow-Up is a soundtrack album by Herbie Hancock featuring music composed for Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow-Up released in 1966 on MGM Records. The album features performances by Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Newman, Phil Woods, Joe Henderson, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette.” – Wiki

“A young Herbie Hancock contributed the bulk of the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 screen classic, evoking the ambience of swinging London with grooves that create effective bluesy moods on the slow pieces, and funky ones on the up-tempo tracks. Rock fans remember the film and the soundtrack for the inclusion of a rare Yardbirds number, "Stroll On" (actually, an adaptation of "The Train Kept A-Rollin'"), one of only three songs they recorded with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on guitars.”  – All Music

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