Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2019 July 22 • Monday

Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's music for Gungala, La Vergine della Giungla is the 579th Soundtrack of the Week.

The cues are mostly variations on the first seven sequences.

Seq. 1, presumably the main title, is a rich and lush piece with hand percussion and strings and a choir singing wordlessly, all the elements blending together in a powerful storm of exotica.

Half a minute of quiet hand percussion begins Seq. 2, and then a gong brings it to a close to be replaced by voices chanting something in Italian alternating with xylophone or marimba lines.

Seq. 3 is a stinging piece that swoops and percolates and sounds like some of Les Baxter’s famous exotica but with a more jittery energy to it.

After that, Seq. 4 has tribal chanting/singing with percussion. Could fit into pretty much any old movie with a jungle setting, from King Kong to Mothra. Ends with a more atmospheric section.

Seq. 5 is a dreamier and more hypnotic piece with a more subdued feel and swelling chords and textures.

Seq. 6 picks up where this leaves off but adds an element of menace and mystery while creating more space.

Seq. 7 is another cue with lots of spare room in it, allowing a handful of percussion instruments to resonate brilliantly as they make some precise statements. Then the whole orchestra and chorus come back in with the glorious main theme.

And that's basically the different flavors you'll hear, although Seq. 14 has a nice section that features the strings and harpsichord or some similar-sounding instrument.