soundtracks . library music . exotica . easy

WEEK STARTING 8 Dec

Genre pick of the week Cover of Cowboy In Sweden - 2023 Reissue by Lee Hazlewood.

Lee Hazlewood

Cowboy In Sweden - 2023 Reissue

    By the end of the 1960s Lee Hazlewood’s LHI Records had burned piles of cash, gone through a half dozen distributors and failed to achieve the kind of chart success “Boots” had promised. Fortunately for Lee there was a land where he was still on the top of the charts, a place where women flowed like Brännvin...Sweden was calling.

    Released as the last LHI LP, Cowboy in Sweden was a soundtrack to the 1970 cult classic film of the same name starring Lee Hazlewood. The film was a surreal psychedelic account of Lee’s journey to his new homeland, while the soundtrack was a perfect compilation of Hazlewood’s orchestral melancholy country pop songs. Recorded over a prolific globe trotting three year period, Lee’s peak on LHI records was ironically the label’s swan song.


    TRACK LISTING

    Pray Them Bars Away (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Leather And Lace (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood _ Nina Lizell
    Forget Marie (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Cold Hard Times (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    The Night Before (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Hey Cowboy (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood _ Nina Lizell
    No Train To Stockholm (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    For A Day Like Today (24 Bit)-suzi Jane Hokom
    Easy And Me (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    What's More I Don't Need Her (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Vem Kan Segla (i Can Sail Without The Wind) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood _ Nina Lizell
    Me And The Wine And The City Lights (session Outtake) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    First Street Blues (session Outtake) (24 Bit)-suzi Jane Hokom
    Pray Them Bars Away (alternate Version) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Easy And Me (alternate Version) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    For A Day Like Today (take 1) (24 Bit)-suzi Jane Hokom
    First Street Blues (take 1) (24 Bit)-suzi Jane Hokom
    Leather And Lace (alternate Vocal Mix) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood _ Nina Lizell
    The Night Before (mono Single Mix) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    What's More I Don't Need Her (instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Pray Them Bars Away (take 7 Instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Easy And Me (take 5 Instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Cold Hard Times (take 4 Instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    No Train To Stockholm (instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Me And The Wine And The City Lights (instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood
    Hey Cowboy (instrumental) (24 Bit)-lee Hazlewood

    With "Scream If You Don’t Exist", Richie Culver metamorphoses from outsider musician to underground fixture, feeling his way from the fringes towards a growing community of musicians that have gravitated towards his singular sound world. Building upon the stark catharsis of his previous dispatches, on his sophomore album the artist draws from grimdark drone, industrial noise, experimental hip-hop and UK rave to map out a space for himself, caught between genre and discipline. While on his debut, "I Was Born By The Sea", Culver took a last glimpse back at his grey, salt-flecked past while struggling towards somewhere brighter; here, he documents the process of finding fresh waters, parsing through the complexity of inhabiting a more open and optimistic place while contending with the weight of his resolve, staring hard won self-acceptance in the face. The album’s title speaks to this creative and emotional work, serving both as the foundational paradox from which the artist’s new discordant sound emerges and as a call to action, a defiant cry in the face of existential angst.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Hottest Day Of The Year
    2. Weakness
    3. Swollen Ft Billy Woods
    4. YOLO Then U Die
    5. Restraining Order
    6. Restaurants Ft Moor Mother
    7. Scream If You Don’t Exist
    8. Say 4 Sure
    9. On The Top
    10. Less Is Less (interlude)
    11. OMG They’re Gone.
    12. Underground Flower
    13. Just Jump In

    Lee Hazlewood

    13 - 2023 Reissue

      “Pimps… whores… pushers… dopers… gangsters… and bottom of the human chain shit-heels. Now you’re probably thinking I’m writing about major record companies and their unscrupulous executives… and lawyers. You could be right… but this time… YOU’RE WRONG! I’m describing the characters in my album ‘13’ …Some I knew… some I invented … some are true… some are false… some I liked… some I didn’t. But they all had a story to tell and I told it…none of ‘em seem to care… and I don’t either… have fun…" - Lee Hazlewood.

      “He (Lee) took my voice off the album and put his voice on the album. Now don’t forget these were in my keys, it was my charts, it was my everything. Lee Hazlewood was not even remotely going to be considered as an artist for this album and that’s the way he wanted it.” - Larry Marks.

      The album 13 was never supposed to be a Lee Hazlewood album. It is perhaps the strangest record in one of the most varied discographies in music. The Bombastic brass heavy funk, deep blues and soul paired with Hazlewood’s subterranean baritone would be best enjoyed with a tall Chivas in an off-strip seedy Vegas lounge. By 1972 Lee Hazlewood had settled in his new homeland of Sweden. His days were spent carousing, making movies with Torbjӧrn Axelman and releasing albums. To keep up his prolific recorded output, Lee began to mine the recently defunct LHI Records archives for material. One such gem, was an unreleased album by Larry Marks (LHI producer, artist and the voice of the first Scooby-Doo theme). Larry’s concept was to take Hazlewood’s strongest compositions and arrange them in a soul vibe. An album was completed, but with no distribution in America and no funding, Lee had no vehicle to release Larry’s record. The tapes were taken to Sweden, Larry’s voice was wiped and Hazlewood’s was dubbed… 13 was born.


      TRACK LISTING

      You Look Like A Lady
      Tulsa Sunday
      Ten Or 11 Towns Ago
      Toocie And The River
      She Comes Running
      Rosacoke Street
      I Move Around
      And I Loved You Then
      Hej, Me I'm Riding
      Cold Hard Times
      Drums
      The Start
      Suzie
      You Look Like A Lady (demo)
      Tulsa Sunday (demo)
      Ten Or 11 Towns Ago (demo)
      Toocee And The River (demo)
      And I Loved Her Then (demo)
      I'm Riding (demo)
      Cold Hard Times (demo)
      Miracle On 19th Street (demo)
      Peppermint Morning (demo)
      You Look Like A Lady - Larry Marks
      Tulsa Sunday - Larry Marks
      Ten Or 11 Towns Ago - Larry Marks
      She Comes Running - Larry Marks
      Rosacoke Street - Larry Marks
      I Move Around - Larry Marks
      And I Loved You Then - Larry Marks
      Hej, Me I'm Riding - Larry Marks

      Lee Hazlewood

      The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes, & Backsides (1968-71) - Repress

        With his handlebar mustache and booming baritone, Lee Hazlewood was one of the defining stars of the late ‘60s. Though he’s perhaps best known for his work with Nancy Sinatra (including writing mega-hit “These Boots Are Made For Walking”), Hazlewood did stunning work away from that particular glamour queen and found latter-day champions in Beck, Sonic Youth, and Jarvis Cocker. Now, for Record Store Day 2012, we are kicking off our excavation of the Lee Hazlewood archives with this anthology, Singles, Nudes & Backsides, collecting the best of Lee’s solo songs and duets from his LHI (Lee Hazlewood Industries) imprint.

        As a true legend of the great American songbook and a rebellious pioneer who left behind a lengthy trail of echo-laden pop masterpieces, Lee’s influence continues to reverberate today. Between 1968-71, Hazlewood not only released his finest solo work but produced numerous artists on LHI. From acid-folk and country-rock to pop-psych and soul, LHI issued dozens of long-forgotten 45s and LPs. This series will include material from LHI (re-mastered for the first time from the original analog tapes), along with Lee’s output for other labels, rarities, and unreleased gems.

        See the sleeve: surrounded by nude girls, each wearing a fake mustache, Hazlewood wears a suit, ever-so-slightly awkwardly playing the role of the ‘60s playboy. Just like the picture, the songs present a man conflicted; he’s the tender-hearted romantic, the broken-hearted loser and the rugged cowboy, all in one. It’s there in the western swing of “Califia (Stone Rider)”, the loneliness of ”The Bed” and the bleak beauty of ”If It’s Monday Morning.” Hazlewood’s tremulous voice was made for duets (indeed, he wrote ”Some Velvet Morning”, one of the greatest of all time); here, Suzi Jane Hokom, Ann-Margret and Nina Lizell play counterpart to his manly tones.

        In the wonderful liner notes, written by British journalist Wyndham Wallace, the writer describes his friend Hazlewood as “a curmudgeonly, unpredictable sort at the best of times, as impatient with his own talent as he is with other people.” The Hazlewood Wallace knew was puzzled by the growing interest in him in the last two decades of his life, which was ended by cancer at age 78. That late flurry of interest saw him perform at the Royal Festival Hall in 1999, his first-ever solo performance in the UK.

        A natural wanderer, Lee lived a big life, fighting in the Korean War, working as a radio DJ in Phoenix, Arizona, setting up Viv Records in the ‘50s, working as a big-shot LA producer in the ‘60s, signing Phil Spector to his Trey Records label and prematurely announcing retirement in the wake of the mid-‘60s British invasion. He didn’t: Nancy Sinatra came along, the hits started flowing and he continued producing characterful solo albums into the ‘70s, which saw his move to Sweden. By 2007, Hazlewood was living in Vegas, and begrudgingly enjoying that flurry of latter-day interest in his work. This landmark compilation promises to create many more converts.


        TRACK LISTING

        1. Califia (Stone Rider) - Featuring Suzi Jane Hokom
        2. The Bed
        3. Sleep In The Grass - Featuring Ann-Margret
        4. Leather And Lace - Featuring Nina Lizell
        5. If It's Monday Morning
        6. The Night Before
        7. Bye Babe
        8. Victims Of The Night - Featuring Ann-Margret
        9. Chico - Featuring Ann-Margret
        10. Hey Cowboy - Featuring Nina Lizell
        11. No Train To Stockholm
        12. Won't You Tell Your Dreams
        13. Nobody Like You - Featuring Suzi Jane Hokom
        14. Trouble Maker
        15. What's More I Don't Need Her
        16. Come On Home To Me
        17. I Just Learned To Run

        Augustus Muller (Boy Harsher)

        My Animal (Original Soundtrack)

          Augustus Muller (Boy Harsher) announces the score for the movie My Animal, directed by Jacqueline Castel feat. Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games, Star Wars) and Bobbi Salvör Menuez (I love Dick, Something In The Air). The score marks Muller’s debut as feature film composer.

          My Animal (premiered at the 2023' Sundance Film Festival), screenplay written by Jae Matthews (Boy Harsher), tells the story of Heather, a strong, defiant young woman who lives in a rural northern town and desires to play on the local hockey team. She meets and falls deeply in love with Jonny, a figure skater new to the area. Their relationship flourishes despite Heather’s hidden personal struggles with her alcoholic mother, her unaccepted sexual orientation, and a familial curse which transforms her, her twin brothers, and her father into feral wolves once a month. Heather and Jonny’s tryst soon clashes against their small community, exposing the truth and prompting a passionate, violent night of personal transformation.

          Augustus Muller wrote and recorded the score at his home studio, primarily used hardware and analog synthesizers, in Northampton, MA. With director Jacqueline Castel, Muller pays homage to Klaus Schulze music for ‘Angst' and John Carpenter's 'Assault on Precinct 13' as major influences. Muller embarked on his composing career in 2019, crafting captivating scores for two short films for the adult film site, 'A Four Chambered Heart'. The scores, titled 'Machine Learning Experiments', were released in 2020, showcasing his talent with their innovative soundscapes. In 2023, Muller joined forces again with 'A Four Chambered Heart', composing two more scores, entitled 'Cellulosed Bodies'.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Transformation #1
          2. Sanctuary
          3. A Walk Home
          4. A Soft Howl
          5. Winter Drone
          6. Patts Theme
          7. Casino Drive
          8. The Slots
          9. Transformation #2
          10. Drone (Dream Theme)
          11. Soft Love
          12. Soft Love (Slow)
          13. Hockey Tryouts
          14. Back Of Your Car
          15. Making Love
          16. Climbing Sadness
          17. Heart To Heart
          18. Crybate
          19. Sudden Loss
          20. Out Of Time
          21. Climbing Sadness (The Funeral)
          22. Outside The Rock
          23. Somethings Building
          24. Transformation #3

          Principe Y Su Sexteto

          Salsa De Guaguanco - 2023 Reissue

            Príncipe's 1967 debut album. Hard salsa with rocking tropical electric guitar! First time reissue, audio remastered from the original tapes, with in-depth liner notes and augmented by three smoking bonus tracks. Príncipe y Su Sexteto, from Caracas, Venezuela, were early pioneers of "salsa con guitarra eléctrica" (salsa with electric guitar), a subset of the salsa genre where the electric guitar is the main melodic rhythm instrument, often taking the spotlight in place of the piano and brass section.

            Various Artists

            Chicas! Volume 3

              The Vampisoul chicas are back. And for the third time. An irresistible collection of ye-yé, twist, disco, beat, popcorn, flamenco pop and even Northern Soul! From the early 60s and in the middle of a difficult political and social context, Spanish female singers - and those who moved to Spain - disregarded conventions and overcame all barriers to be part of a music movement that shook the Spanish society of the period.

              Many of the 24 tracks are reissued for the first time, including very hard-to-find records. It includes extensive notes by Vicente Fabuel featuring all the original record sleeves and artist photos.


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