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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I've been blurring the distinction between cop and spy music because they often contain the same elements, but a good rule of thumb is that, like the TV shows and movies they accompany, cop music contains more action, while spy music contains more intrigue.  Illustrative of this distinction are the two theme songs that tower over everything else in their respective subgenres: Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible theme on the spy side, and Mort Stevens' Hawaii Five-O theme on the cop side.  Ultimately this post isn't really about either of them, but I'll lay the groundwork for the real subject with a rarely-heard version of "Mission: Impossible," performed by the Israeli Philharmonic and conducted by Lalo Schifrin himself:

34-Mission Impossible Theme (Orch)

Israeli Philharmonic

There's nothing like the oomph a full orchestra can give you!  GNP Crescendo's The Best of Mission: Impossible Then and Now is scanty on the liner notes, so I don't know when this track was recorded, or who is playing the piano, though I suspect it's Schifrin himself.  The CD does include a good selection of Schifrin's incidental music from the original TV series, and John E. Davis's from the 80s revival.  Which brings us, incidentally, to Shawn Lee, previously featured here for his impeccable soul album Soul Visa.  The multitalented Lee also has a penchant for incidental music, which he records in bulk and releases as by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra.  Needless to say, the albums are excellent and stand side by side with the work of the soundtrack greats: Schifrin, Morricone, Goldsmith, et al.  He's not above a bad pun, as evidenced by tracks titled "King Conga" and "Das Booty."  He's also not above playing around with standards; there's more than a little "Mission: Impossible" in "Changing Times" from Voices and Choices:

12-Changing Times

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra

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The songwriters I like best are not usually the ones who tackle heavy social issues, or reveal deep emotional truths, blah, blah, blah, etc.; rather, they are the ones who can pack a song so full of hooks that every second is bursting with delicious musical flavor.  Shawn Lee is one of them, and while he has been making records for ten years or so, I only discovered him six weeks ago, once again thanks to emusic.  I've had his album Soul Visa (released in Japan in 2004, elsewhere in 2006) on heavy rotation ever since.  "Some People" is a fine example of his style: a nice breakbeat, some "Brother Louie"-style wah-wah guitar and slinky Ernie Isley-like lead, infectious wordless backing vocals (I challenge you not to sing along with the "bop-bop-bop-bop-bah"s), a bit of glockenspiel, and Shawn's mellowly soulful voice all come together in a perfect pop confection.  What's the song about?  Not much (some people aren't friendly, or something like that), but it doesn't matter with a sound this sweet.

Shawn Lee--Some People

Shawn Lee

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