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Monday, March 31, 2014

The Lost Man Soundtrack by Quincy Jones

I use a private torrent tracker site called cinemageddon.net. It is a treasure trove of weird, rare and hard to describe data. Video and audio from all manner of odd and obscure sources.

In 2011 I was going through a phase where I was researching villain themes from movies and over time I came to find that the ones I gravitated toward the most came from Blaxploitation films of the late 60's and early 70's. There was an edge and a keenness to the bulk of what I was listening to in this category. I had downloaded a package of Blaxploitation soundtracks and was moving through them thoroughly. I came across The Lost Man soundtrack by Quincy Jones. This LP has got it ALL. Dark and tumultuous travel grooves and soft sweet ballads run alongside one another in a disorienting fashion.


First is the opening theme which pairs strings with hand percussion and a group of kids singing, well more like an early version of rapping more than singing. The music suggests subterfuge in the action, and there is plenty. It is musically unnerving and paranoid. It takes an abrupt turn (the only kind available on a soundtrack and in a movie so unsettling) into Sweet Soul Sister, which is about as sultry as you can glimmer from the title. Extremely versatile male vocals on this song, in a wonderful scale flux and brimming with attitude.

What made it stand out at this point conceptually, seeing the film and hearing the soundtrack is that this movie's main character is both hero and villain, as are the police who chase him. The line between right and wrong is insanely blurred as are your morals as you watch. The music reflects this in its main theme variations, a sort of spy movie with soul, a police movie that is always looking over its shoulder.

This feeling sticks out hard on Slum Creeper. It is dark and mangled, nearly chaotic. Rap Run It On Down flips the mood 180 degrees again with a gospel pop song, riddled with swelling harmonies. Dual male/female call/response vocals make this song one of unity and solidarity. Next up is the heartbreaking He Says He Loves Me, with its insanely talented female lead swirling vocal melodies all across a scale breadth I can't begin to fathom. If this song as full volume doesn't make you well up even a little bit (despite its antiquated words and themes) then you just don't have any soul!

Try Try Try is my favorite tune from this record hands down. Like the female lead character of this film, as she dances to it, this song has got "soul for days". Smooth meaty basslines and classy brass elevate this female vocalist to astronomic levels as she leads the song along a wondrous and glossy pop ballad. There is simply no describing this song accurately enough to communicate the joy it gives me (again despite its antiquated words and themes).

Up Against The Wall is another dark paranoid instrumental, vibing on this films darkest and most white knuckle moments. As this LP winds down to its melancholic end we feel the ending of the film loud and clear. It helps to have seen the movie to know specifically what I mean but it isn't needed, as the music does a very thorough job of passing along the feeling of the film.

You can watch this film on youtube, for now, and it's clearly sourced from the same VHS rip I have in avi format. You can and should download this soundtrack below, it is near impossible to find in pirated or purchase. I did find an old copy on ebay for 15 dollars shipped. It was worth every penny.



DOWNLOAD THE LOST MAN SOUNDTRACK VIA DROPBOX HERE

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