A rare 7inch EP on Hans Wewerkas tiny Austrian Inmus-Label. It's the soundtrack to Hans-Jürgen Syberbergs Tolstoi adaptation "Scarabea – Wieviel Erde braucht ein Mensch". Syberberg is one of the most obscure and controversial german independent moviemakers. Due to his neo-conservative and nationalistic views he plays a rather isolated role among the otherwise predominantly leftwing orientated "Autorenfilmer" of Germanys 60s and 70s cinema.
Among his early works I would really like to see his TV documentation "Sex Business – Made in Pasing" he produced for the Bavarian Broadcast. A portrait of a pornmovie producer in late 60s munich sounds like a thrill.
I haven't seen "Scarabea" so far but given the fact, that Syberberg graduated in philosophy and Susan Sontag was heavily digging his work, I guess it's a tough one to watch (concepts, constructions, metaphors, symbolism, you-name-it).
Eugen Thomass' soundtrack is a quirky mixture of psychedelia, jazz and beat with the inevitable use of fuzz guitar, sitar, Hammond B3 and an everpresent jew's harp on all five tracks. It creates this special trashy sixty-ish mood blending together suspense, drugs, erotica and mystery, that we all know so very well from european sleaze like "Vampyros Lesbos".
"Undergroovin'" and the title track are definitely the groovier ones on the EP while the others tend more to fake-baroque noodling. Overall a nice listen and a hard one to get hold of.
"Undergroovin'"
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"Scarabea"
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Filed under: 45's and 7's, European, Psych / Prog, Soundtracks
Fabulous! Thanks for sharing. Nice review.
Thanks for posting, this is an excellent soundtrack.
Any hints on where I could purchase this great OST?
D