Vampyros Lesbos
Sexadelic Dance Party
(Crippled Dick Hot Wax!)
OK, so the name of the group isn't Vampyros Lesbos, but rather it's music conducted and written by Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab for a film of the same name. In case you're wondering what the hell Vampyros Lesbos is, you're going to have to turn the clock back almost 30 years (before I was even born) to 1970 during the blossoming age of exploitation films about naked and dangerous women. The music on the disc comes from several of the many many (he once directed 13 in one year) films by Jess Franco (who was deemed one of the worlds most dangerous directors by the Vatican).
So now that you know where it came from, I'll try to give you an idea of what the music on the disc sounds like. Like the films themselves, the music borders on schmaltz most of the time in it's varying forms, but is actually very innovative in several parts and doesn't even sound that dated for the most part. Considering the fact that it was composed for early skin flicks (newer films just don't seem to have the attention to detail paid to their music), it's actually very very solid. Perhaps everyone involved with the production just took their jobs a little more serious back then.
The disc starts off with the horn, guitar, and Rhodes-sounding organ fueled "Droge CD 9." It's a funky little track in which the guitar almost pulls a bit of flamenco and the horns blare in all the appropriate moments. Things are followed up with the very sleazy sounding "The Lions and the Cucumber." Replete with strange vocal noises (not singing, by any means) and a dirty guitar line, the track oozes with personality. "People's Playground Version A and B" both are funky little interludes with chimes and random ambience thrown in the mix.
Things get even more interesting with super-high female vocals (again, without any real words) and a funky little keyboard line in "The Ballad of a Fair Singer." The track gets a boost of even more flavor with what sounds like a bit of sitar plucking. Little ethnic bits like it get dropped in every once in awhile, just to make things even more eclectic. "The Message" sounds like a Barry White track gone horribly awry with its mellow, sensual groove and on-the-edge-of indecipherable male vocals.
Basically, this is the disc for all you kitsch-adoring, martini-swilling, cigar-loving hipsters out there to show your oh-so-cool friends who's the hippest dadio on the block. Everyone has those damn lounge compilations, but not too many people own a disc of music from late 60's/early 70's porn music. Plus, check out that label name. It's quite weird, and a whole lot of fun.
Rating: 7
