Review Category: Audio

When John Schuermann’s score for The Creep Behind the Camera first started playing, it seemed that we were in for a standard ’50s science fiction score. In other words: there’s theremin, theremin, theremin! That’s to say nothing of larger-than-life brass sections that blare warnings of the incoming alien threat.

And if you like your science fiction soundtracks loaded with eerie sounds of otherworldly creepiness, then you will find much to adore in what John Schuermann has done with his score for The Creep Behind the Camera. Given as the film is about the making of the notoriously-bad 1954 film, The Creeping Terror, parts of Schuermann’s score do nod to those ’50s sci-fi films. At points, Schuermann works in the realm of Bernard Herrmann, with the main title being the track to most obviously reference Herrmann’s score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Rather than work entirely in bombastic brass and sinuous waves of electronics, though, the composer’s work on The Creep Behind the Camera bounces along mightily. Given the intrigue, back-biting, and other nefarious acts perpetrated by Art J. Nelson, the noir aspects of I Love Stalking Lucy or A Monster in Hiding are quite appropriate.

The score also has a fun side, reflecting the mad caper aspects of the film with cocktail lounge, such as I Think They’re Moving Away, and most definitely on the exotica of The Mambo Behind the Creep. It’s all very fun, and what Schuermann created is a score that pays due to every aspect of a film that is equal parts biopic, B-movie sci-fi, and noir thriller.

The only downside is that each and every aspect of the score is a reference to some other work. Even the one cut that operates in a more modern vein, Who Saved You From Your Mother?, is essentially standard horror movie fare, the likes of which scores the trailer for every slasher to come out in the last decade. Schuermann does what he does very well, but his influences are so readily apparent, The Creep Behind the Camera‘s score is more tribute album than anything else.

THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA (2014) / COMPOSER: JOHN SCUERMANN / LABEL: MOVIESCORE MEDIA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITALLY), SEPTEMBER 11TH (CD)

 

What with Waxwork’s release of Chopping Mall, and now Terror Vision putting out Not of This Earth, could some light finally be getting cast on Chuck Cirino? The man’s never gotten the fan service the likes of which were granted to his ’80s synthesizer peers like John Carpenter, even though Cirino’s music makes just as effective use of minimal instrumentation.

A solid part of that may be due to the fact that while Cirino’s scores are minimal and creepy, they’re not usually for high-profile films. The man’s done an awful lot of Syfy films, and despite the perfection in Not of This Earth, Chopping Mall, and even Return of Swamp Thing or 976-EVIL II, it’s difficult to mention that the composer has also done films like Camel Spiders or MegaConda.

Cirino, despite working all of this on a synthesizer, does an effective job of keeping Not of This Earth‘s score from being purely science fiction. Using elements of Morricone’s spaghetti western work, as well as the finest pipe-organ classic horror, mixed with the expected ’80s synthesizer chords, the composer keeps the music fresh and interesting.

The main title theme introduces a melody that Cirino will revisit throughout his score – it’s creepy and very otherworldly, but also just tags the very tail end of ’80s new wave dance. Coming Home/Scruffy reworks the theme in an even more minor key, adding in mellotronic waves and pounding kettle drums to drive home the disturbing nature, while Nadine’s Basement Trip goes a different route, phasing everything into a wash before layering a very Morricone-esque sparse guitar over it.

A Pound of Flesh and Driving Mr. Johnson do an excellent job of showing off what Cirino really does best, however. These two tracks present the composer’s knack for high-energy chase music, which is always something that gets the heart rate up and going. The former builds, falls, and rises several times as it goes along, dramatically ratcheting the tension with each iteration, whereas the latter is a chase theme of classic components. The high end that taps along in the background, like a ticking clock, along with a throbbing bassline – absolutely stellar stuff.

Cirino’s The Terror Rhapsody might be the album’s highlight. It’s disturbing, slightly chintzy, and uses a theremin to really up the tension before it goes into a pipe organ solo, which in turn crescendos into a bass-laden synthesizer. For a piece that’s less than two minutes in length, it really pulls out all the stops, and one wishes it was longer.

All told, this is exactly the score every fan of ’80s sci-fi could hope for, and it’s wonderful that Terror Vision has seen fit to get it properly released. You can snag it digitally from the label’s Bandcamp, or procure for yourself one of several vinyl variants, which will net you liner notes by the composer and director Jim Wynorski.

NOT OF THIS EARTH (1988) / COMPOSER: CHUCK CIRINO / LABEL: TERROR VISION / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

A tie-in piece to the recently released Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor—The Last Adventure, This is Colin Baker is a candid two-and-a-half hour interview with the Sixth Doctor himself, Colin Baker. Hosted by Big Finish maestro and Dalek/Cyberman voice Nicholas Briggs, this feature-length interview takes us through the life and career of Colin Baker, from numerous theatre productions to being in The Brothers to becoming the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, as well as his own achievements of being an actor and author.

Listening to the interview is pretty much the equivalent of spending an evening with Colin Baker, getting to know and understand how he feels about acting, performing and how he genuinely feels about his whole experience on Doctor Who. But most of all, we get to know what Colin Baker is like as a human being, and Baker comes across as a very amiable and humorous chap; he’s entertaining, full of great stories to tell, and by the end you’d actually want to go out and have a pint with him.

We get to explore what his family was like and living with apparently headstrong parents, and how he was originally going to be a lawyer before wanting to be an actor instead. Theatre productions were where he started out, and it’s quite clear that Colin clearly loved doing theatre as he recalls many of the hilarious antics he performed during rehearsals. Colin goes on to discuss what it was like playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers, how people reacted to him, and how that was the part that stayed with him before Doctor Who came his way.

Regarding Doctor Who, you can hear that he clearly loved playing the Doctor, that he had huge enthusiasm for doing it when he started out, which makes it all the more saddening that his tenure came to an abrupt end. Unfortunately, Colin was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and given more care and attention his Doctor could’ve gone on to become one of the greatest Doctors ever, and through the power of Big Finish Productions he has somewhat achieved that. We also hear briefly about his experience on the universally-acclaimed Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and how it’s become the thing he’s most proud of. We also hear briefly about his time on I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here!, and while it was the most bizarre thing to have happened at the time, it was one of the most challenging periods in Colin’s career, and he expresses how he wished he had stayed in longer.

This is Colin Baker is a fascinating examination of a man who has had many highs, as well as some lows, in his career, yet has always emerged with his head held high. To this day, he still loves Doctor Who and cares deeply about its fanbase, as evident in the interview, and is grateful for Big Finish for giving him the chance to further develop his Doctor in many new and exciting ways. Both he and Nicholas Briggs have a great budding relationship, and if you want to know more about the man who made a mark in Doctor Who history then this is definitely worth a listen.

THIS IS COLIN BAKER / STARRING: COLIN BAKER, NICHOLAS BRIGGS / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Iris Wildthyme is one of those odd Doctor Who-related characters that you discover when you step outside the cosy world of the TV shows. Iris was invented by writer Paul Magrs and is a sort of a parody/skewed look at the world of The Doctor. Iris travels around time and space in a double decker bus (which is smaller on the inside), claims to be very long lived, is highly knowledgeable and tends to pick up unusual companions. Her stories tend to do and say things you wouldn’t normally find in a story that involves The Doctor and his TARDIS.

Wildthyme also resembles the actress Katy Manning, and Katy plays the character in this selection of Iris-inspired audios. Wildthyme Reloaded brings together eight short Wildthyme audios, each about 30 to 40 minutes long. We begin with Comeback of the Scorchies by James Goss. Scorchies are malicious fairy-like puppets who first appeared in a Third Doctor audio story which also featured Katy Manning. Goss has a laugh at his own creations here, with the horrible little monsters trying to destroy the galaxy through the power of song. It’s quite silly and a great start to the set.

Next up is Dark Side, a tale that should be a ghost story but is more Victorian high camp, followed by Oracle of the Supermarket, a very English sort of close encounter with David Warner doing a star turn throughout. Next up is Mark B. Oliver’s Murder at the Abbey. Again, this begins as a rather tedious murder drama but the tale’s inherent tropes are mocked mercilessly by the simple presence of Wildthyme in the story. The Slots of Giza is a nice poke at all thing Vegas and with a loving pastiche of Liberace. High Spirits is a much more Doctor Who-style spooky story, improved vastly with Wildthyme’s own sense of sarcasm. An Extraterrestrial Werewolf in Belgium is a humdrum tale rescued by some excellent character development, and the whole thing is capped off with the marvellous Looking for a Friend. This final story focuses on Iris’ own insecurities and provides an amazing overview of the series. It’s also quite funny, and written by Magrs, the character’s creator.

The production and acting is of the high quality that we’ve come to expect from Big Finish. Manning is especially delightful as the harpy-like and very Mancunian Iris Wildthyme, and Geoffrey Breton turns in a fun performance as the perpetually befuddled Captain Turner.

If you don’t know Iris Wildthyme, and you’re looking to stretch your horizons into all things Who-related, then this is for you.

WILDTHYME RELOADED / DIRECTOR: SCOTT HANDCOCK / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / STARRING: KATY MANNING, GEOFFREY BRETON, IAN HALLARD, CHRIS RANKIN, NICOLA BRYANT, LISA BOWERMAN, DAVID WARNER / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 31ST

Hair metal fans rejoice, for the soundtrack to Bad Channels has arrived on vinyl.

Largely put together by Blue Oyster Cult, it’s safe to say that this double vinyl release is far, far better than the sadly uber-disappointing 1992 film that it’s taken from. This Wienerworld package is certainly a mixed bag, although that’s infinitely better than the utter dross that was Ted Nicolaou’s movie.

The divide in quality between the Bad Channels record is easy to see. Basically, the first vinyl is the actual soundtrack to the film and is fist-pumpingly nostalgic for those of a certain musical leaning. Then there’s the second vinyl, which is the actual Blue Oyster Cult-written score. It’s with the score, however, that things suffer a drop in quality. Largely made up of brief, interlude-esque jingles of no real quality, the score element of this release has scarcely few bright spots even when taken in context of the Bad Channels movie. Although Bad Channels Overture and Remodelling stand out as big hitters, the rest of the score is often made up of simple sound effects and short bursts of action that are lost when the score’s listened to as a standalone piece. Most scores have similar sorts of brief blasts, but the Bad Channels effort has so many that it juts away at the listening experience, ultimately making this part of the package an erratic chore to listen to.

What saves the day here, though, is the excellent, sturdy, blue-coloured first portion of this impressive looking release. This is the soundtrack element, with the high-octane guitars, eye-squinting harmonies, and soft rock joys offering something to smile at for those raised under the shadow of 1980s denim-clad, bandana-wearing rock fans. Not only did Blue Oyster cult provide two new songs for the film (Demon’s Kiss and The Horseman Arrive), but there are also some far-too-catchy efforts from the likes of Joker, Fair Game, and DMT.

Songs like Joker’s That’s How It Is and Jane Jane (The Hurricane) and DMT’s Touching Myself Again will have feet tapping and heads a-nodding, whilst the more funky and bizarre is accounted for by Sykotik Sinfoney’s Al Yankovich-meets-The Time contributions, and then an offering such as Fair Game’s Somewhere in the Night will offer listeners the more softer, ballad-esque, faux-emotive side of hair metal.

Bad Channels itself is a spoof of a movie, and this soundtrack could be taken in the same way for those coming across it for the first time. Either way, it’s certainly got plenty of appeal to a certain demographic; largely those who group up in and around the time of Bad Channel’s initial 1992 release.

BAD CHANNELS / COMPOSER: VARIOUS / LABEL: WIENERWORLD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

After Doctor Who’s 23rd season and the epic The Trial of a Time Lord saga finished, it was sadly announced that Colin Baker would no longer play the Doctor, and that Sylvester McCoy would be taking over the role for the show’s remaining 3 seasons. A final regeneration story was never offered to Baker, and he even turned down the offer to film a regeneration sequence for the beginning of season 24’s opening episode, Time of the Rani. But now, 31 years later, we will finally get to witness the events leading up to the Sixth Doctor’s fatal moment in Big Finish’s eagerly anticipated, The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure. Structured similarly to Trial of a Time Lord, The Last Adventure sees the Sixth Doctor involved in four different adventures across time and space, all connected by his old adversary: the Valeyard, the dark manifestation of the Doctor.

Even though each story has a different and unique style and tone, each of them feels like a celebration of Colin’s Doctor. In fact, this four-part story offers a more exciting and stronger story-arc than TV’s Trial of a Time Lord, which felt like a mixed bag with equal parts good and bad. Despite being an audio drama, The Last Adventure is more solidly structured and offers more creative storylines for Colin’s Doctor to get involved in.

The first story, End of the Line (note the title), is a chilling story that puts a dark satirical spin on commuting and all its downsides. The writers, Simon Barnard and Paul Morris, have been given a challenge, not just to make the multi-layered concept exciting, but introducing Constance Clarke to listeners, and Miranda Raison (Tallulah in 2007’s Daleks in Manhattan two-parter) does deliver a very likeable and charming performance. Alan Barnes’ The Red House is an action story with werewolves and Sixth/Eighth Doctor companion Charley Pollard. This story boasts an impressive cast, a richly textured environment, and a typically ballsy performance from India Fisher, who has great scenes with the Valeyard. This story would’ve easily made a great TV episode.

Matt Fritton’s Stage Fright is a witty and sharp Victorian thriller that sees a pleasurable juxtaposition of combining modern street-wise Phillipa Jackson with Victorian heroes Jago and Litefoot, with Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter still making a delightful double-act and Lisa Greenwood brilliantly combining feistiness and vulnerability. Nicholas Briggs’ The Brink of Death is a fitting send-off for Colin’s Doctor, and even though we know how it ends, it doesn’t spoil the enjoyment. Mel does get sidelined, but Liz White is brilliant as sub-companion Genesta. It provides a fitting conclusion to the ongoing story threads of The Last Adventure, whilst also wrapping up the Doctor’s battle with the Valeyard, and thankfully it doesn’t devolve into becoming self-indulgent or anti-climatic.

What’s most of all special about The Last Adventure is that it’s really all about Colin Baker and what makes his Doctor special and unique from everyone else’s. It’s true his Doctor wasn’t universally-appreciated at the time during the ‘80s and that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet he’s survived through that fiasco, and has gone on to become a great Doctor in all things Big Finish. Here, he makes no exception, giving us a consistently grandiose performance, lighting things up, yet making things dark and serious when needed. In truth, Colin Baker deserved more than what got when he started out, and this audio drama reminds us why we should re-evaluate his Doctor in a different light. Michael Jayston gives a suitably menacing performance in audio as he did on TV, and still provides a great foil for Colin’s Doctor.

Funny, sad, scary and thought-provoking with great performances throughout (especially from Colin himself) and consistently solid writing from across the board, The Last Adventure gives the Sixth Doctor the farewell he deserves, and is the fitting paean to the Colin Baker era.

THE SIXTH DOCTOR: THE LAST ADVENTURE / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / STARRING: COLIN BAKER, MICHAEL JAYSTON, MIRANDA RAISON, INDIA FISHER, LISA GREENWOOD, BONNIE LANGFORD, SYLVESTER MCCOY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

Going all the way back to when we first owned Brad Fiedel’s Terminator 2 score on a Varese Sarabande cassette tape, it’s been a favourite. Given its pounding rhythms and electronic strains of melody, it’s very near the perfect gateway film score.

First and foremost, each piece is absolutely unique to the scene which it scores, making Fiedel’s score a great listen for fans of the movie. With each piece, you know exactly where in the film you are, from the nuclear holocaust of Sarah’s Dream (Nuclear Nightmare) to the sadly elegiac ‘It’s Over’ (‘Goodbye’).

Secondly, even with the individual nature of each piece, Fiedel’s music becomes a grand work when viewed in total. Taken as a 53-minute whole, it becomes readily apparent the Terminator 2 score is 100% about the chase music. As Fiedel states in the liner notes, he takes “no responsibility for what may happen if you listen to this while driving!”

It’s propulsive and percussive, and that’s what makes Terminator 2 the sort of film score to draw in those unfamiliar with the style. Ross Levinson’s electric violin on something like Escape From the Hospital (And T-1000) reminds one of nothing so much as those Classical Thunder compilations. Where those were classical music for people who didn’t know the specifics of classical music – just that they liked big, bombastic music – this is film score music for people who don’t know the specifics of film scores.

Casual listeners might not be able to explain that the metallic shrieks which jut into many of the pieces, like Helicopter Chase and Tanker Chase, add a sense of impending doom and keep one’s nerves taut, but they certainly understand that Our Gang Goes to Cyberdybe makes them want to go dangerously fast.

That’s what’s really impressive about Fiedel’s score. It wasn’t until this double LP showed up that we really sat down and lived with this music for the first time in over two decades. Listening to it now, one really discovers that this is all one man, for the most part, and it’s astonishing how much range and dynamicism Fiedel is able to create with two Fairlights and Levinson on violin. In our adolescent memories, this music was created by a huge orchestra. While that’s patently false on the orchestral front, it does still sound absolutely huge.

Silva Screen’s double LP release is heavy duty, 180-gram vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. The silver in transparent pressing nicely reproduces a liquid metal feel, and the release – as stated so many times before – sounds gigantic. It’s always a delight to hear something sound so fresh and new after so long. For a score nearly at its 25th anniversary, listening to Fiedel’s music at room-shaking volumes makes one realize that the music of Terminator 2 is sorely underrated. Action film scores aren’t usually afforded the same retro appeal afforded those in the horror and science fiction camps, but realize that this might be one for the ages.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1992) / COMPOSER: BY BRAD FIEDEL / LABEL: SILVA SCREEN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Nick Briggs followed his July story, Fate of Krelos, with a sinister conclusion in the form of Return to Telos. Set during events of the Second Doctor story Tomb of the Cybermen it gives us the possibility of both old-school Cybermen and a meeting of Doctors!

Last month we heard a rogue K9 (John Leeson) change the TARDIS and spoil a fishing trip. Where most of the drama was in the interaction of the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Leela (Louise Jameson) and other characters were all but incidental, this is a fully rounded out tale that delivers on the promise of July’s introduction.

Things are sounding bad for Krelos as its inhabitants are being used as spare parts (a nod to the Big Finish release of the same name) to build a cyber-army. The Doctor has a part to play, but thanks to the presence of two incarnations on Telos, which one? Frazer Hines recreates both the Second Doctor and Jamie as the plot of this story weaves its way around the original TV story without breaking continuity. Will the two warriors Jamie and Leela meet? Will they be friends or rivals? Listen and find out! More important, when Cybermen from the future appear, which Doctor will fall foul to their fiendish machinations? How will K9 be rid of the cyber technology he has absorbed? All good questions and all answered.

The story also used the character of Peter Haydon from the original TV series; played by Bernard Holley, this helps spread the load and it isn’t just Frazer recreating the 1960s series on his own.

This really feels like a Second Doctor story in many places – Jamie Robertson’s sound and music, the cyber-voices, and the inspiration of Bernard Holley’s return as Peter Haydon make this an absorbing hour of entertainment. Congratulations to all and hats off to Nick who managed to write, direct and play the parts of the Cybermen.

With Return to Telos fans have been treated to a story that comes close to a two Doctors story the TV series never considered. Nick Briggs has produced a classy ending to this year’s run of Fourth Doctor stories. January can’t come too soon!

RETURN TO TELOS (DOCTOR WHO) / AUTHOR: NICK BRIGGS / PUBLISHERL BIG FINISH / STARRING: TOM BAKER, LOUISE JAMESON, JOHN LEESON, FRAZER HINES, MICHAEL COCHRANE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Silva Screen’s release of the complete Blazing Saddles soundtrack, released just in time for the film’s fortieth anniversary, is a bit of a mixed bag. It contains each and every piece of music from the Mel Brooks western comedy, but when it’s all put together, one realises there’s not an awful lot of it. For the most part, what you have is a collection of cues accompanying the songs for which the movie’s so well known.

Those songs – Frankie Laine’s title theme, ‘Ballad of Rock Ridge’ and Madeline Kahn’s ‘I’m Tired’ – provide the bulk of the music for Blazing Saddles. Aside from those three pieces, there’s not a bit of music on this anniversary release that could properly be called a song, given that they all barely run into the minute-and-half mark. Anyone expecting epic western soundscapes will quickly hear that all three of the lyrical songs were re-purposed as instrumentals and used liberally throughout the film.

While as complete a release as one could hope for, there’s still a bit of a sad note to it. One fathoms that the reason it never really saw a solo release is due to the fact that most of these pieces are simply cues. Even padded out as it with dialogue clips, it still barely clears the 40 minute mark. The last ten tracks are alternate versions of what we’ve already heard before, and that includes two further versions of Frankie Laine’s theme song.

The dialogue clips are all that really separate this release from the La-La Land release from 2008, although Silva Screen’s isn’t going to be the limited release that the earlier one was. But what really gripes is that the dialogue clips aren’t even the best ones. When one looks to the Young Frankenstein vinyl release from years back, what one has is a story on record, meaning that you get all the music, interwoven with the best bits of the film.

Given that there’s so little actual music here, there could have easily been a collection of all the film’s classic lines. Aside from Cleavon Little’s immortal “Excuse me while I whip this out,” there’s nothing that really takes advantage. No “I didn’t get a ‘harumph’ outta that guy” or “Mongo only pawn in game of life”? It seems an opportunity squandered.

But, really: if one must have everything from Blazing Saddles, here it is. The recordings sound fantastic, and the instrumental version of the closing theme is absolutely rousing, as is ‘Ballad of Rock Ridge’. For all the repetitiveness of the selections, one really does get an excellent chance to see what fantastic work John Morris did in the western milieu. While the film might be a parody, the same cannot be said for his music.

BLAZING SADDLES / COMPOSED BY: JOHN MORRIS, MEL BROOKS / LABEL: SILVA SCREEN RECORDS / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 28TH

 

As we put on Robert Tomaro’s Slime City score for the dozenth time since it came in the mail a week ago, we began to think that the more you listen to it, the more excellent the melding of washed-out surf guitar and cheap synths becomes. The funny thing is, the reverb-heavy guitar and humming analog synths aren’t actually as prevalent as we constantly think they are.

The surf parts are really a minor part of the score – the main title, closing titles, and Slime Time being the most notable – but are so catchy and memorable, they overwhelm one’s impression of the LP. Also, given that they open and close the record, that sound is your first and last experience with Tomaro’s score, making the impression that much more memorable.

The Slime City score actually bounces between two things: the hopped-up surf workouts that are pure new wave action, and the floating, open space exercises in free jazz-like operations of emotional expression. The former have more traditional song structures, while the latter have more of an atmospheric vibe. Slime Time is one of those pieces where the guitar and synthetic horns go at it hammer and tongs, battling it out to create pure disconcerting dissonance.

Listening to the record, you find yourself flipping it repeatedly, wondering why you’ve been listening to it nonstop for the better part of a week. Part of the reason is that Tomaro created a sonic aesthetic that makes for one holistic sound. Despite the fact that some of these pieces are long enough to be proper songs, while others are cues that barely clock in at 45 seconds, this is one grand piece. As Tomaro says in the liner notes, he tried to “weave them all together as the film moved forward in all its arcane beauty.”

That success is due in no small part to the fact that, throughout the entirety of Tomaro’s score, there’s a spacey, dreamy echo effect that creates a hallucinatory feel. It’s present in every piece, but becomes more prevalent in the pieces like Seduction, where the open space between the notes makes the abundance of effects transparently obvious.

The liner notes by composer Tomaro are rather sparse – more of a note than anything, really, as if the current music director and conductor of the Rock River Philharmonic Orchestra in Wisconsin doesn’t want to draw too much attention to the score he did for a low-budget splatter picture 25 years ago. On the flip side of that coin, director Greg Lamberson contributes an epic essay that barely allows room for one small film still. It’s a tribute to his love and appreciation for the film he made, as well as the score Tomaro made for him.

The release sounds great. Strangedisc might be slow to release things, but each one is crafted with so much care, it’s worth the wait. The Slime Splat color vinyl – opaque slime green on clear vinyl – looks and sounds amazing, and the jacket is a heavier-duty cardstock than most standard releases, giving it a bit of solidity. Another success for this tiny label.

SLIME CITY (1988) / COMPOSER: ROBERT TOMARO / LABEL: STRANGEDISC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW