Reply To: Alfi Kabiljo
So sad….almost a year has passed, and not a single response to this. Understandable, I guess, since Kabiljo isn’t top shelf famous.
But I’ve taken matters into my own hands and explored a bit of his work lately. He did some 40-50 film scores, but also hundreds of TV episodes, ballets, musicals and more. Unfortunately, most of it remains unreleased, but there is some out there.
His music for SELJACKA BUNA 1573 (1975) is interesting. Partly medieval music, partly harsh suspense.
His music for the television series NIKOLA TESLA (1977) is quite good. Melodic, orchestral, some lounge. But also some annoying polkas and waltzes and stuff for what appears to be a travelogue part of the series.
He’s done quite a bit of library music, which I will probably post about in the library music thread.
There is a fun album out, called YU AEROBIC: ORIGINAL WORKOUT MUSIC FROM YUGOSLAVIA 1981-1984. Lots of disco, which I like, but wears out its welcome a bit.
There are some interesting, sweeping bits in his music for the series PAD ITALIJE (1981), about the fall of Italy, but also some meandering bits.
SKY BANDITS remains his most famous, of course. Classic Hollywood action adventure music. No wonder it’s become a fan favourite. But I don’t gravitate very much towards that kind of music anymore.
GYMKATA (1985) is one of his more famous cult films. I’ve only found a suite on YouTube, but it has some neat passages in that east-meets-west style.
He scored the Sharon Stone thriller SCISSORS in 1991, but it remains unreleased.
Kronos Records has released a few more, but I’ve not been able to find them on a streaming service: OKUPACIJA U 26 SLIKA (1976), BANOVIC STRAHINJA (1981) and ZADARSKI MEMENTO (1984).
But a go-to album is the one I mentioned up there, in April last year, SEX, CRIME AND POLITICS: CINEMATIC DISCO, JAZZ AND ELECTRONICA 1974-1984, which has a lot of groovy stuff. Check that out!
