Japanese Soundtrack

Set in New York City in the 1930s, Café Society is a 2016 romantic comedy by director Woody Allen, his 47th film. The 15-song soundtrack features a reliable mix of big-band era tunes, with archival recordings such as "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, as well as eight covers by contemporary outfit Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, who specialize in early swing. The ensemble also appeared on the soundtrack for the director's 1996 film Everyone Says I Love You (and non-Allen projects such as Boardwalk Empire and The Aviator). Here, they do piano-led instrumentals ranging from a lively "The Lady Is a Tramp" to a graceful take on Rodgers & Hart's "Manhattan." Also newly recorded for the film are versions of "Out of Nowhere" and "This Can't Be Love" by pianist Conal Fowkes, also a prior soundtrack collaborator of Allen's, and a member of the Woody Allen New Orleans Jazz Band.

Commissioned as a soundtrack to the seldom-seen French hippie movie of the same name, More was a Pink Floyd album in its own right, reaching the Top Ten in Britain. The group's atmospheric music was a natural for movies, but when assembled for record, these pieces were unavoidably a bit patchwork, ranging from folky ballads to fierce electronic instrumentals to incidental mood music. Several of the tracks are pleasantly inconsequential, but this record does include some strong compositions, especially "Cymbaline," "Green Is the Colour," and "The Nile Song." All of these developed into stronger pieces in live performances, and better, high-quality versions are available on numerous bootlegs.

Harry Nilsson worked at a bank and wrote songs on the side, mostly jingles and pop tunes in the mid-1960s. Under contract with RCA, his first record was a flop, but it yielded hits for The Monkees and Three Dog Night. In the late 1960s Nilsson was everywhere: pal to the Beatles (especially John and Ringo); singer of "Everybody's Talkin'," the theme to the movie Midnight Cowboy (1969); singer of the theme to the TV show The Courtship of Eddie's Father; composer of the soundtrack to the animated movie The Point (with its hit single "Me and My Arrow"); and singer of the number one hit, "Without You." …