Wax Tailor - "Que Sera" (Phonovisions Symphonic Version)

Wax Tailor is a French musician/producer, known to family and friends as Jean-Christophe Le Saoût. With a bit of history, dating back to 2001, and a few albums under his belt, along comes an ambitious project. One involving a live recording with a band and a 52 piece orchestra. Nothing that hasn't been done already, I admit - but this is an artist with music that features lots of samples, a la 'Public Service Broadcasting' and to a lesser degree 'The Avalanches'. Ambitious alright - but he pulls it off brilliantly! 27 tracks of pure bliss. "Que Sera" is possibly his best known song and a good starting point.

The Other(1972) Main Title - Music by Jerry Goldsmith

This is so self-indulgent but here it is anyway. I have just finished Thomas Tryon's novel 'The Other' and I'm kind of kicking myself for not reading it earlier, since I love the horror genre so much. It was a fascinating story with just about every little detail throughout, connecting in some way.... with surprises galore. This isn't a book blog so here is an interesting fact about the music from the movie adaptation, with the screenplay also written by Thomas Tryon. For some reason Jerry Goldsmith's score was heavily cut during the film's post production. So it wasn't until a 1997 re-release of the soundtrack for 'The Mephisto Waltz' that saw a 22 minute suite from 'The Other' tacked on.

Grimes - "Kill V. Maim"

Grimes released her new album 'Art Angels' recently and I anticipated a great album, due to the ranting and raving from the critics etc. But after listening to it, I couldn't stop ranting and raving myself. I'm hanging out for the vinyl version so I've been streaming it on Apple Music continuously. This album has become the soundtrack to the daily dog walk. There are some moments verging into pop music territory - but while her beats are so good and fresh, the song structure is still a little unconventional at times - so I'm guessing it would be a bridge too far for the commercial radio programmers. With so many good albums this year, this one still stands out. It has to be right up there with Courtney Barnett's album. "Kill V. Maim" has been explained a little like this.... Al Pacino from The Godfather Pt 2 era, travelling through space as a vampire and being able to change gender. Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, also did the album artwork - so there is no doubt whatsoever that she is a true artist.