LA BÊTE NOIRE/PARIS N’EXISTE PAS OST by Jean-Claude Vannier LP

From deep in the vaults of the Parisian composer who arguably created the stylistic blueprint for decades of orchestral French funk and symphonic psychedelia, “the arranger’s arranger” Jean-Claude Vannier (Histoire de Melody Nelson/L’enfant assassin des mouches) finally liberates two previously unreleased and fabled film soundtracks that mark significant milestones in the career of this legendary composer and his close connection to the French free jazz scene.

Comprised on this one vinyl disc you will find the only existing original historic recordings to his first ever 1968 collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg as well as the entire lost musical score for Vannier’s first major star-studded solo film commission which followed the Gainsbourg years and a fruitful decade as one of France’s most in-demand arrangers and songwriters.

These two scores, for Vannier’s oft type-cast commissions for “drugsploitation” dramas (Cannabis, La horse), are further united by their inclusion of sax player Philippe Maté and the early formation of Vannier’s own Insolitudes ensemble. As long-time custodians Finders Keepers Records are proud to present both the hallucinogenic orchestral music to Robert Benayoun’s Paris n’existe pas and the rhythmic onslaught and cyclic waltzes from Patrick Chaput’s La bête noire complete with an extensive booklet of essays, interviews, secrets and rare images from both of these mythical cinematic obscurities.