Sight Unseen™ is a new feature here at WNF, where I write about a disc that I’ve taken in to my collection without knowing or heard anything about it, other than thinking that there may be good music in those grooves.

My most recent vinyl haul (from The Listening Room in Chestertown, MD) included Kurt Vile’s most recent release, Bottle It In (read my review here), and this gem from 1978.  It’s the soundtrack to the Alan Parker film Midnight Express, that late-70’s nugget that brought the phrase “Turkish Prison” into the wider vernacular.  To be honest, I’d never heard this record, even though it was ubiquitous in the years since its release (even I can miss stuff.  Yes, it is true.)

Recently, I’ve been digging back into Jean Michel Jarre’s groundbreaking 70’s works Oxygene and Equinoxe, and Moroder’s similarly important music in the same time parallels what Jarre was doing, but with a solid dance beat.  Moroder’s influence was everywhere then – see his work with Blondie, or with Donna Summer – straight through to the present, where no less than Daft Punk genuflected before him on Random Access Memories. 

As I walked into the shop that day, this very album was on the turntable  – the opening track, “Chase” was playing, and I just said, “take it off.  I need that.”  This music has aged very well, in contradistinction to its contemporaries.  One thing I appreciate about Moroder’s work is that the human element is always present.  No matter how cold the electronics may seem (e.g., I Feel Love) there is always a warmth that manages to work its way to the surface.  This ain’t Kraftwerk (and I love Kraftwerk, don’t flame me.)