 Nico Fedenco It seems to me that I've been calling for a reissue of the music from the Emanuelle series for a long time, although even I have not been certain that I actually meant it until now. Long thought by me to be the single most unlikely thing to ever be reissued on CD (I stressed Emanuelle in Bangkok in particular), the soundtrack music to these softcore classics (well, classics of early cable TV, anyway) has always been in my mind as being the most far-away music you can encounter. Blending Euro-trash melodies with bossa nova rhythms, heavily reverbed vocals, swirling flutes, and fake baroque-isms, it might be the music that most closely reflects what my brain would sound like if you hooked it up to a PA system. Imagine my utter shock to find a CD compiled from the soundtracks of several Emanuelle movies actually available for purchase. And the Laura Gemser Emanuelles to boot! Black Emanuelle's Groove comes to us courtesy the current DJ fascination with Italian erotic film soundtracks, and is one of the best CD's of its kind. Culled from four Emanuelle films released between 1975 and 1977, the disc perfectly captures the feel of libertine Emanuelle's jet-setting sexplorations and "free" lifestyle. The theme from Emanuelle in Bangkok is represented in several different versions (a bossa nova, an acoustic ballad, etc) although unfortunately the vocal version is not included. That exclusion is my only qualm with the disc, admittedly a minor one seeing as I'm sure I'm in the vast minority of people who actually expect certain songs from softcore porn films to be put out commercially. The rest of the CD balances flutey atmospherics with fuzz guitars and phasey violins to provide the sonic experience of encountering "Black" Emanuelle in a Malaysian marketplace, where one thing leads to another and you're having anonymous sex on the steps of the palace. What palace? Who knows, it's an Emanuelle movie, full of exotic locales and improbable sexual dalliances. The CD, like the movies from which it is drawn, transports the listener to a place that may or may not have ever existed, but is an attractive alternate reality nonetheless. A seamy underbelly to the lifestyles of the rich and famous, with Robin Leach confined to a wheelchair, watching from a closet as Emanuelle fucks his wife. If the songs on the disc seem familiar, then shame on you for watching such movies! But undoubtedly you'll enjoy this disc, which is sort of a seamy underbelly to the easy listening genre. Highlights include the theme from Emanuelle in Bangkok ("Sweet's Variations"), "Kamasutra in Love," "Rhubarb," and the instantly recognizable (because it is so bizarre) "Emanuelle Nera Orient Reportage," which sounds like Roger Miller on an alcoholic bender in Germany, doing a jingle for a local TV station. Essential listening! Take that, Rolling Stone Music Guide! The disc is well packaged (or perhaps I should say that the well-packaged Laura Gemser is featured, ahem, prominently throughout) … indeed, any CD where the disc itself features a nude photo of "Black Emanuelle" is a serious classic in my book. This won't be easy to find (try Dusty Groove) but it's well worth the effort for any fan of oddball music, skin flicks, or both, in other words, people like me. Put away those soundtracks for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction … bring on The Sensous Nurse and Lady on the Bus!
Review by Huggie-Buggy |