Shawn Lee has just put out yet another new Ping Pong Orchestra album!  It's called Miles of Styles and, as the title suggests, it's got the most varied genres of any record in the series (and it's also double the length).  The tunes are mostly instrumental, and Lee uses the song titles to telegraph their content: "Punjabi Lullaby," "Brazilian Bubble," "Lagos Calling," "Heist in Helsinki," etc.  Here is "Italy 73"--

09 Italy 73

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestr

Is that an homage to 1970s Italian thriller soundtrack masters Goblin?  I think it's a safe bet; here's some Goblin:

15-La_via_della_droga_-_31

Goblin

So far we've had two of the four kinds of soundtrack music:

1. Fake library music.  Real library music is marketed to film producers to use in film soundtracks.  Usually the records or discs are several times more expensive than "consumer" recordings, because the price includes royalties for unlimited use in films.  This is where most of the music in instructional, promotional, and documentary films comes from.  Feature films with too small a budget for original music also rely on library music.  Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra albums are consumer products; anyone wishing to use the music as a soundtrack must negotiate licensing fees.  Thus, "fake" library music.
2. Real soundtrack music.  Commissioned for a specific, actual film, as Goblin's track was.
   

The third category is real library music, such as Eddie Warner's Cops, Crooks and Spies album for library label l'Illustration Musicale, with tracks like "Detective Theme," "Prohibited Sector," "Manipulated Code," and the Goblinesque "Infernal Crime"--

A6 Infernal Crime

Eddie Warner

Finally, there is fake soundtrack music, or music composed as the soundtrack to an imaginary film.  J.G. "Foetus" Thirlwell has put out three such albums under the moniker Steroid Maximus.  Thirlwell's psychotic rantings can become tiring to listen to, but his Foetus backing tracks were always interesting.  It turns out he really is a gifted composer and arranger, and the mostly vocal-less Steroid Maximus albums showcase that facet of his talents.  I haven't put up any car chase music for quite a while, so here is Thirlwell's excellent "Chaiste"  (get it?  chased?) from the 2002 album Ectopia--

11 Chaiste

Steroid Maximus

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I bought Shawn Lee's new Christmas album (subtitled "Funky Treats from Santa's Bag) under his Ping Pong Orchestra moniker, and as expected it is one groovy treat.  Here's his version of "Do You Hear What I Hear," a la Deodato:

04 - Do You Hear What I Hear

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra

And here's a Deodato lagniappe:

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