Commercial Release: ‘Kung Fu Supersounds' is Out Now!

With the help of Joel Martin, one half of Quiet Village, we've compiled some rare slices of OST ephemera from the de Wolfe library used in the legendary Shaw Brothers' Kung Fu movies during the seventies and early eighties. Released through de Wolfe's fledgling commercial label, the original cues have all been put together for an epic 43 track album to produce what has to be the ultimate ‘must-have' release this year for cult film and soundtrack boffins everywhere.

For those not in the know, The Shaw Brothers made the original martial arts movies, which were shown late-night to the Far East blue collar crowd hungry for action and thrills. The films spawned a plethora of spin-offs and copies, and are the acknowledged inspiration behind Quentin Tarantino's ‘Kill Bill' films (the director even used the infamous Shaw's “SB” logo at the beginning of the movie!) - but none have quite captured the gritty delights of the originals.

Kung Fu Supersounds consists of some of the best and most innovative scores from those cult classics, including Return To The 36th Chamber (1980), Invincible Shaolin (1978), House Of Traps (1982), Flag Of Iron (1984), Dirty Ho (1979) and many more, re-mastered and sounding as good as they did way back when…

Order your copy here

De Wolfe Soundtracks Outrageous New Show on ITV2

De Wolfe has supplied music for a new 6-part series on ITV2. ‘No Heroics' is on every Thursday at 10.30pm. Described as a cross between “Heroes”, “Cheers” and “The Office,” the show follows four friends and superheroes that spend their off-duty time hanging out at the local hero pub, The Fortress.

According to the preview “they drink, curse, bitch, moan, and complain about the lack of respect they get from the populace at large. It's a peculiarly British take on the world of superheroes, which means self-loathing, self-deprecation, and sexual innuendo…”

Sounds good to us! Keep your ears open for some choice slices of the Electric Banana in amongst the various De Wolfe compositions included in the soundtrack. Or you can have a listen by clicking the links below!

Electric Banana tracks:

The De Wolfe Library Sampled Again!

Atlanta-based rapper Swizz Beats, a.k.a. Kaseem Dean, is the latest Hip Hop artist to have delved deep into the De Wolfe Library for samples to plunder.

Swizz's promo single “Where The Cash At?”, taken from his forthcoming album, is currently being aired on 50 Cents' online and cable channel ‘ThisIs50', in the build up to the album's imminent release in October. The track opens with, and is largely based around a track by de Wolfe composer Roger Webb: ‘Assignation'.

Where the promo at? Here.

The Noveltones Return

May 3rd - De Wolfe artists The Noveltones, who performed 'The Gonk' and 'Left Bank 2' kitch classics, are back in demand! 'Left Bank 2', which was originally used as the gallery sequence for the BBC series ‘Vision On' and is a tune that crops up everywhere from Top Gear to commercials for Picture Loans, will be used in a new game for the Playstation 3. The Noveltones are set to feature on the soundtrack alongside unlikely counterparts The Go Team and the influential Malian composer Toumani Diabete.

The game, a twist on the 'platform' format called Little Big Planet, has been developed by British company Media Molecule for Sony and is already drawing interest in the gaming world, despite it not being due for release until September 2008. Games industry pundits are expecting the game to be a landmark and Slashdot Games editor Michael Zenke is predicting that the game could be the PlayStation 3's killer application; "if these elements are for real, this is the reason to buy PlayStation 3" he said.

For a sneak preview of Little Big Planet, have a look here.

De Wolfe Music Sponsor a Bulldog

March 10th - De Wolfe has teamed up with Televisual magazine for their fourth annual Bulldog Awards 2008 that kick off this month. De Wolfe will be sponsoring the award for Best Audio, with nominations for the category being announced in Televisual's March edition supplement. Voting for the awards is predominantly by members of the production community who read the magazine, although anyone is welcome to vote and could possibly win one of several prizes including a Macbook Air, Apple TV and various iPods. Voting continues throughout this month and April until the winners are announced in May.

De Wolfe are proud to be involved with the awards this year after the lush orchestral score for last year's winner was recorded at our very own Angel Studios in Islington. George Fenton's stunning soundtrack to Planet Earth was seamlessly blended with Sir David Attenborough's authoritative narration and the sounds of nature together with high definition images to create something that engaged the senses and really came alive. The show won an impressive 52% of the Best Audio vote.

You can vote online for the TV shows that grabbed your attention in 2007 across a range of categories at the Bulldog website (www.televisual.com/bulldogs) where there is a full run-down of the nominees. More information is available in Televisual's supplement this month.

Vying for the De Wolfe-sponsored Bulldog Award for Best Audio prize this year are Later With Jools Holland , Liverpool Nativity , The Lusitania , Glastonbury '07 and War Oratorio. De Wolfe Music wish the nominees the best of luck.

De Wolfe in ‘Sicko' Shock Doc

January 10th - Michael Moore is rocking the boat again as his new documentary, ‘Sicko' hits the shops on DVD this week. This time his usual acerbic wit is directed at Nixon's promotion of HMOs in the seventies and health care in the United States compared to free, universal care in other countries. Despite stepping on a few toes the film got a big thumbs up at Cannes and critics have claimed it his best work yet.

De Wolfe is proud to have had several tracks included in the milestone documentary, with more featured on parts of the DVD. Tracks from the de Wolfe library by Paul Lawler, Frederic Talgorn, Jack Trombey, Tim Souster and Simon Haseley all make an appearance.

Recently de Wolfe has had a slew of tracks used in Hollywood; The Simpsons Movie, American Gangster, Talladega Nights, Nancy Drew and Tarantino's Grindhouse all include music from our library. Lets hope there's more to come - watch this space for news of any more de Wolfe tracks gracing the big screen.

36 Second Wonder (bra)

It's back! The shortest song ever to enter the UK Singles Charts - a THIRTY-SIX second track about women's underwear - has re-entered at number 26.

The ditty, ‘The Ladies Bras' by Jonny Trunk and Wisbey, which features the line “the ladies knickers and the ladies bras” over a kitsch organ backing, entered the charts back in August at No.70, thanks to Danny Baker who first previewed the song in July. It now has a Facebook fan page and unofficial YouTube videos have begun appearing on the Internet.

The (annoyingly!) catchy organ riff used in ‘The Ladies Bras' is based on de Wolfe track ‘The Gonk', written by Herbert Chappell and performed by the legendary Noveltones. The song is named after a ‘60s fairground prize made out of wood and hair (if you must know…) and was originally aired on television as the theme tune to Thames TV's children's show, ‘Seeing And Doing', which ran from 1971-1989. It also turned up in 1978's classic zombie flick ‘Dawn Of The Dead'.

One fan on Facebook said “The kids gave us the 'Crazy Frog', now its payback time.” Supporters of The Ladies' Bras can order it today from http://wippit.com/ladiesbras.

The number one slot beckons...

De Wolfe Go Commercial!

De Wolfe is proud to announce that we are breaking into the commercial market with a compilation series including some of the finest tracks from the depths of our back-catalogue. The collectable albums will each be themed and will group sought-after film cues and production music into similar respective genres and styles.

The series begins with the release of Bite Harder on the 29th October 2007, an awesome sampler of some of our finest ‘70s breakbeats, loungecore, funk and psychedelic rock, featuring the era's best session musicians. Herbie Flowers, Barry Morgan, Johnny Hawksworth, The Electric Banana and Ronnie Verrell all make an appearance and among the tracks you'll find samples used by Beyonce, Kool G Rap, Cam'Ron, High and Mighty and more.

This is the first album in the series so keep an eye open for future de Wolfe commercial releases.

- To buy your copy of Bite Harder click here

- Available to download from iTunes click here

De Wolfe Soundtracks 2K Sports Game

2K Sports' Ice Hockey game for the X-Box 360, PS2 and 3 features several incidental music tracks from the de Wolfe library.

The imaginatively titled NHL2K8 has been receiving hot reviews in the States and its stunning next-gen visuals has led to it being called 2007's best looking Ice Hockey game. Best sounding as well we hope!

For more info go here

NewsKnight

De Wolfe are delighted that Sir Trevor McDonalds new Sunday night programme is using De Wolfe title theme "Hitting Headlines" composed by Dave Sharp.

News Knight is a brand new satirical comedy series that sees Sir Trevor McDonald as you've never seen him before, dissecting the top news stories of the past seven days.

Joining him each week will be stand-up comedian Marcus Brigstocke (Late Edition, BBC Radio 4) plus two other well-known comedians who will change each week.



preview track

Sing along to De Wolfe!

Lily Allens single "littlest thing" which sampled the De Wolfe track Emmanuel has been included on London Studios new playstation game Singstar - Pop Hits.


more info

Dead Silence

From the makers of Saw comes Universal Pictures' new fright-fest 'Dead Silence' starring Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta and Donnie Wahlberg.

The film features Rouge Music's 'Lucky in Love' composed by Alex Heffes

Watch the trailer

Mos Def

Rapper Mos Def has taken a sample from De Wolfe. Used on the track 'Lifetime' from the album 'True Magic'. 'True Magic' is his first full-length project since 2004's 'The New Danger'. It's the third solo album from the New York rapper and is his last album on Geffen Records. Production duties are supplied by Pharrell Williams, Kanye West and Rich Harrison, among others.

Mos Def - True Magic (HMV, Amazon)

www.mosdefmusic.com

The Littlest thing

De Wolfe get involved in the Latest Lily Allen release 'Littlest Things' released on December 11th 2006

The third single to be taken from Lily's debut album 'Alright, Still' Littlest Things takes the pace a little slower. This is a top contender for the Christmas number one spot.

The track samples the De Wolfe track Emmanuelle (original film score music).

Good luck Lily

watch the video

Lily Allen - Alright Still (HMV, Amazon, iTunes)

www.lilyallenmusic.com

The Prestige

The release of acclaimed director Christopher Nolan's new film The Prestige, starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson.

The film features de Wolfe's Tripping Gaily composed by Ena Baga

watch the trailer

Specsavers

A De Wolfe track has been used for the new Specsavers television advertising campaign.

The track from our back catalogue is "Folk Guitar" by Claude Vasori.

Watch the advert

The seventh release of our Harmony hard drive system is shipping in October to all Harmony users.

To find our more about Harmony, or to arrange a demonstration, in th UK please call 020 7631 3600

outside the UK please or your local de Wolfe agent, or simply e-mail harmony@dewolfe.co.uk

De Wolfe music is now available to download in ten territories with more to follow soon. Every track from every CD can be downloaded in Broadcast WAV, MP3 320 & MP3 128 formats.

Register here

Lily Allen - Alright Still

Congratulations to Lily Allen for following up her #1 single 'Smile' with her debut album Alright Still.

Already the soundtrack for this summer, the album features the track 'Littlest Things' which samples de Wolfe's classic theme from the movie 'Emmanuelle'.

Lily Allen - Alright Still (HMV, Amazon, iTunes)

www.lilyallenmusic.com

World Cup Player

To celebrate the World Cup 2006 in Germany we've made our own World Cup Player.

You can view the fixtures, latest scores, group standings and listen to music for all the competing nations.

BBC's Commonwealth Games Theme
is a Deadly Avenger remix of the de Wolfe classic Hammerhead composed by Simon Haseley

Brokeback Mountain


Brokeback Mountain has already been mooted as one of the films of the year, and we here at de Wolfe are extremely proud that one of our tracks, “I'll Be Gone” by Terry Gadsden & F. Kinck-Petersen was included in the film.


The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams and was directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee.

www.brokebackmountain.com

Harmony October Update now shipping

The latest music update of our Harmony hard drive system is now shipping to all our Harmony users.

To find our more about Harmony, or to arrange a demonstration, please call us 020 7631 3600 or your local de Wolfe agent, or simply e-mail harmony@dewolfe.co.uk

The Music Library

October sees the release of The Library Music book, a compilation of the cover art of De Wolfe and other music libraries from the 50s, 60s & 70s.

The book comes with an exclusive CD of rare library tracks

Available at Amazon

De Wolfe introduces its music download service in the UK. Every track from every CD is now available to download in pristine broadcast quality WAV format or MP3s at 320 and 128kbps.

Register for downloads

Ian Boddy interview - Sound on Sound August 2005

Ian is one of Britain's leading electronic musicians as well as a pioneer in sound design. In the interview Ian talks about his recordings, playing live, writing for de Wolfe, and his most recent innovative work.

www.ianboddy.com

Gorillaz - Demon Days

Check out the amazing new #1album Demon Days from Gorillaz featuring De Wolfe's track 'Dank Earth'. Congratulations to Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D on a stunning record.

www.gorillaz.com

Get the album at Amazon

Also available on the iTunes Music Store

Tribute to Basil Kirchin 1927-2005

Basil Kirchin was a pioneer of avant-garde film and television music, a renowned jazz musician and a good friend of de Wolfe music. Sadly Basil passed away in June and will be greatly missed.

"Three or four decades on the world within our world that Basil Kirchin uncovered remains deep and unnerving, familiar and alien" Bob Stanley Mojo Magazine July 2005

You can read more about Basil here

Abstractions of the Industrial North
Recorded for the de Wolfe library in the mid-sixties Kirchin hand-picked the musicians for this project. They included Jimmy Page, Tubby Hayes, Big Jim Sullivan and Clem Cattini. 'Only the best toughest and tightest'.