SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LALO SCHIFRIN – MAN ON A SWING OST (1974)

Lalo Schifrin
Man On A Swing OST (1974)
Wewantsounds

The late 60s and early 70s have always been objects of intrigue in the 21st century, one notable example being the wide-ranging coverage of the late ‘60s in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). A similarly eclectic focus on this era is the best way to describe Lalo Schifrin’s enthralling soundtrack for the psychological thriller Man On A Swing (1974). Almost half a century following its original release, the soundtrack has recently been remastered for vinyl, accompanied with bonus tracks and alternative takes.

A legend of big band and Latin American music, Schifrin celebrates his contemporaries through a time capsule that is often as reinterpretative as it is faithful to the bounds of the film’s genre. The groove of songs like “Radio Source” and “On The Move” come across as the album’s safer zones, as Schifrin struggles to expand on the tropes of the thriller film score. The album immediately becomes more exciting where a song’s stylistic choice appears misplaced, reinventing what is intended to thrill and terrify an audience. For example, the soft sounds influenced by bossa nova and lounge jazz emerge tenderly on “Juke Box Source”, but by “Janet’s Mazurka”, such sounds carry with them an element of spectral unfamiliarity. This mystique shines even more brightly when Schifrin draws on his experience in the horror film genre on tracks like “Rosehaven Hotel” and “Penultima Trance” – effectively broadening a Hollywood thriller into a work of art interacting with the haunted, turmoiled house of America’s socio-political landscape.

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