Search - Various Artists :: Sound Gallery 2

Landmark compilation of British E-Z listening

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/21/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first volume of The Sound Gallery represents the headwaters of the British easy-listening scene. The curators have produced a smashing compilation of mood music from EMI's Studio Two label, rounded out with a few additions from the United Artists label and the KPM Recorded Music Library. Volume 2 of the Sound Gallery, produced 18 months after the first, features 27 more tracks from the EMI vaults. In between their two Sound Gallery outings, the producers took on the archives of Britain's Pye Records, turning up even more late-60s and early-70s gems.Both Sound Gallery volumes highlight music recorded in the best London studios and performed by the cream of England's session musicians. The sounds of the 70s (seductive saxes, funky wah-wah guitars, spunky violins) are often matched against drum-and-fife marching tempos to produce music that could put a spring in the step of anyone chasing a hood in a Quinn-Martin production. Had these tracks been produced for use in America, we might have found one accompanying a particularly melancholy episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show (Keith Mansfield's "Life of Leisure"), serving as the running theme in a made-for-TV movie starring Karen Valentine (Alan Hawkshaw's "Girl in a Sportscar"), as the soundtrack from a Starsky and Hutch episode in which Dave and Ken smoke out a pot dealer (Alan Morehouse's "Funky Fever"), as a variation on the themes for The People's Court and McCloud (Alan Tew's "The Detectives"), or simply as the soundtrack to one of your very worst nightmares (Lord Sitar's reworking of The Who's "I Can See For Miles").Though not as substantial as the first Sound Gallery volume, The Sound Spectrum does feature a few interesting British TV themes ("Get Carter" "Catweazle"), some swinging jet-set jazz (Chico Rey & the Jet Band's "Stiletto", John Schroeder's "Headband"), and a few kitschy instrumentals (The Lovin' Spoonful's "Speakin' of Spoken", Cecil Holmes Soulful Sound's funky take on Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra").Both volumes of the Sound Gallery have been issued domestically on the Scamp label, the Sound Spectrum is available domestically on Sequel. Of the three, the first volume of the Sound Gallery is the pick of the litter."

SUPER GROOVY, AS GROOVY AS GROOVY GETS !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 10/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A few weeks ago, I got my hands on what I truly believe is one of the best pieces of listening I've done in ages... and was thrilled to find out that yet another DOSE of it was available... Today, it came ! ! ! THE SOUND GALLERY : VOLUME TWO "27 MUSICAL MASTERPIECES" - - as the sticker on the label states : "Groovy suburban wife swapping party music to tickle your fancy... The soundtrack for today's swinging generation !" - - I am currently in utter pants wetting shock... Vol. 2 is even better than volume one... late '60s early '70s heavy groovin' brass, wa wa guitars, Hammond Organs... phenomenally recorded and arranged ? Kichey ??? Yes... Very kiche ??? Yes... Brilliant... YES ! ! ! - - I happen to be a Jazz organist, seroius funk collector and fan of such brass rock groups as Tower of Power, Cold Blood, Player's Association (bet you don't know them) and loads of others... when I tell you that some of the stuff on this album made the hairs on the back of my neck (which I have a lot of) stand on, trust me... it means something... The stuff might seem like RETRO SPACE AGE ACTION MOVIE music on the surface, but beneath it, the stuff is WILD ! ! ! - - this is "yeah baby" hard swanin' jungle juice... I have a feeling that this is going to be on my frequent listen list for a long time ! ! !"

Lounge rock for cool nerds

Eddie Landsberg | 03/06/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's instrumental lounge lizard music from the 60s and early 70s, which at the time was mainly for singles bar strikeout kings and other nerds. Now, however, this music is really "in" and totally "hip." Both Sound Gallery disks are pretty strange, but people snap their fingers and tap their toes to this music (without realizing it). If you collect lounge music, then these disks are worth getting because they contain songs that aren't the standards you find on many compilations, but are unique and not easily found anywhere else."