Aim High: Brian Bennett at Kpm 1973-1976 - the Televisual Soundtrack

Artist: Brian Bennett Title Of Album: Aim High: Brian Bennett At KPM 1973-1976 Year Of Release: 2004
Label: RPM Records | RPM 290
Genre: Disco, Funk, Electronic, Rock Quality:
FLAC (tracks+.cue+.log) | Mp3 Bitrate: Lossless | CBR 320 kbps
Total Time: 58:44 Total Size: 365 MB | 141 MB

On buying 'Aim High' many years ago I presumed it to be the soundtrack for an obscure 70s European TV series that had been composed by The Shadow's drummer Brian Bennett. Looking at the cover, anyone would, right? Even RPM have used 'Televisual soundtrack' in the title and unless you knew that KPM (Keith Prowse Music) was a record label, you might presume it to be the name of a European TV company.

'Aim High' is in fact a 3 year career retrospective of Brian Bennett's output for the British based production music label KPM. All 20 tracks were intended for use by the media industry and may have been used for TV programmes, documentaries, dramas or even feature films. Brian Bennett's track by track comment does not detail if or where the tracks have been used, but I know that 'Ergon' was used in an episode of 'The Sweeney'.

The album features a diverse range of musical styles, some of which were directly influenced by or reflected the current trends in popular music. Glass Tubes, for instance, was a response to Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' but actually sounds closer to the 'Suspira Theme' composed by Italian prog band Goblin. The riff on 'Grand Funk' was inspired by Led Zep. 'Keep On Truckin' is part Status Quo part Nutbush City Limits. 'It's A Crazy World' owes much to The Average White Band's 'Pick Up The Pieces' and 'Honey Days's intro cops 10CC's 'I'm Not In Love'.

Highlights for me include the funk heavy 'Boogie Juice', the delicious (John) Barryism of 'Prelude & Groove Part 2', the moody introspection of 'Reflections On A Misty Morning', the lullabye 'Sunset' and the funtastic pseudo glam fakery of 'Rockin Horse' which had it been released, I'm sure, would have dented the charts.

A gorgeous feast of composition and one of the best library comps in the market place. Highly recommended.

01 - Side
02 - Boogie Juice


03 - Aim High
04 - Sports Day
05 - Ergon
06 - In Motion
07 - Prelude And Groove
08 - Metropolis Suite
09 - Reflections On A Misty Morning
10 - Sunset
11 - Honey Days
12 - Glass Tubes
13 - Cogweb
14 - Traffic Patterns
15 - Speed And Efficency
16 - It's A Crazy World
17 - Grand Funk
18 - Keep Truckin'
19 - Rocking Horse