A highly-sought-after collectors item, The Minx soundtrack is full of the Cyrkle's trademark three-part harmonies, intricate arrangements, and paisley-psychedelic sounds (the percussion intro of "Nicole" has become a break-beat classic). Recorded in 1967--following the Cyrkle's pop chart success with Paul Simon's "Red Rubber Ball" and their own "Turn-Down Day"--and shelved until the film's release two years later, The Minx has eluded the grasp of even the most dedicated Cyrkle fan, until now.
D**E
Five Stars
Perfect! Sealed and unused. Remarkable seller.
A**R
Try it. You'll like it. No kidding.
Great soundtrack music, straight out of the sixties. The movie may have been a dud but this is great, well-produced atmospheric music. Plus, "Murray the Why" has got to be the best cat name ever.
J**R
Novelty soft-psychedelia sixties rock
I was made aware of this disc by an article in the English music mag Mojo about standout sixties soft rock obscurities. The Cyrkle, apparently, were a mid sixties outfit that opened for, and were a favorite of, the Beatles circa 1966. This was touted as the final and "lost" Cyrkle album, a soundtrack to a skin flick that sunk quickly into obscurity. I bit, expecting a goldmine of tuneful gems. The tracks do certainly have a unique late sixties pyschedelic feel, yet they are so lite they border on elevator music. The exceptions are "Squeeze Play", a nice little jingle doused with sixities technocolor, and "The Rigging", a great (...) instrumental break.The rest is forgettable and borderline annoying. The pictues from the film, however, found inside the CD booklet, are quite erm..titilating.
A**R
The Cyrkle is Awesome
I love the song "Something Special" . People who are dissing the album don't understand certain areas of this life, but that's not exactly a bad thing. It's definitely an upside to something that's bad for a lot of people.
B**J
above average 60s soundtrack
The Minx Soundtrack was done by the Cyrcle and consists of some jazzy vocal pieces and some more rock-pop oritented work.The rock songs are about average, but it is the softer, vocal selections that really make the scroe stand out. These are not sappy easy-listening passages that you might expect from, say, the Vouges or The Letterman. Rather, they are light and jazzy, set to accustic guitar. They are breezy and melodic, well-thought out as opposed to so much of the saccerine vocal wallpaper prevelent on mid-60s soundtracks.This score really stands on its own as music and i would buy it again in a heartbeat. It is far better than the rest of the Cyrkles albums. Lovely work.
Y**Y
A treat for lovers of West-Coast Sunshine Pop
First, I'm astounded that the previous two reviewers could get so much so wrong (perhaps they were written by the same person?) The first reviewer had apparently never heard of The Cyrkle before hearing this record, so I'll take his opinion with a grain of salt. He inexplicably criticizes the record for being "light", and not Psychedelic enough. That's like accusing The Carpenters of not being Psychedelic enough--they never were, so why expect them to be? The Cyrkle were, in fact, one of the best American pop groups of the second-half of the '60s, and are still inexplicably under-rated. Far from being Beatles-wannabes like so many other American bands of the time, The Cyrkle crafted a uniquely American sound, somewhere in-between The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel. The second reviewer accuses Don Danneman's voice of being nasal. I wonder how he feels about Brian Wilson's voice? Danneman's was no more nasal than that classic voice.I think that preconceptions and misconceptions are to blame with the low scores given this disk. But they're forgetting that this is neither a collection of singles, nor is it a rock opera; it's a SOUNDTRACK, and one for a sleazy, low-budget film, at that. The Cyrkle actually did a remarkable job with what meager resources they were given, and some of the cuts really shine. The title track (vocal version) is worthy of Gary McFarland's "Summer Samba", and a couple of the instrumentals evoke Van Dyke Parks in their scope and feel. "Murray the Why" is not only a bitingly clever send-up of legendary DJ "Murray the K", it's also musically the equal of "Today!"-era Brian Wilson. And "It's a Lovely Game, Louise" is simply lovely, and reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel's "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright". Yes, the instrumental version of the title cut does sound a bit like Herb Alpert & the TJB; not necessarily a bad thing. But some of the other instrumentals sound like they could've been outtakes from Lalo Schifrin's classic soundtracks of the time (such as "Bullitt"). Sure, there are a few uneven tracks, but that shouldn't damn the record any more than it should for the weaknesses in Brian Wilson's "Smile" or in The United States of America's great, eponymous album. And there are many unexpected touches here--the use of novel guitar effects, close harmonies, tricky rhythms and other sophisticated elements.For those who appreciate bands like The Left Banke, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Free Design, Messers McFarland and Parks, and Italian and French library and soundtrack music of the '60s, this record is sure to reward. And by all means, pick up the two recent compilations of The Cyrkle's radio-oriented music; they're undiscovered gems.
S**B
the band is good but only 3 songs with words and they are ...
the band is good but only 3 songs with words and they are good but the resr are instrumentals.But i have everything else by the cyrkle so this completes it
ロ**ー
サークルの再評価
この時代のロック、敢えてソフトロックと呼ばれているジャンルの中でこのグループは異次元のバンドではないでしょうか。“オルタナソフトロック”っていった方が納得するのでは?最初から最後のナンバーまで“あの時代のシーン”を思い浮かべながら拝聴しました。50年も経ていながら決して色褪せない“銘盤”に間違いないと思います。
P**N
Not bad for a soundtrack album.
The final thing from The Cyrkle offers no new ideas but lots more of their brand of bright sunny pop tunes and songs. Strange to hear them do Simon Dupree & The Big Sound's Kites!
ク**ん
内容はともあれ幻の名(迷?)盤の執念の復刻に星5つ!
CYRKLEは66年のデヴュ―以来それなりの成功を収めながら、ヒット曲が全て外部ライターだったため金銭的には全く恵まれなかった。 67年以降は自作シングルで勝負を賭けたが内容はともかくセールス的には全く不振。 このため副業でC.M.ソング等を手掛け始めた(米国では結構有名なCMも含まれているらしい)。 このような時SQUEEZE PLAY(野球でよく使うスクイズ)なる映画のサントラの仕事が舞い込んだ。 内容はMinxと呼ばれる女産業スパイ達が活躍?するB級映画なのだが、68年に完成しながらインパクトに欠けるという配給元の要請からお色気(いわゆる濡れ場)を追加して戦略的に成人指定に切り替えて69年終盤に公開されたソフト・ポルノである。(この時題名もMINXに変更) 映画がB級なだけに永らく廃盤となっており、マニアの間では幻のアルバムとされてきた。 録音は67年中盤から終盤にかけて行われ、#1,3,6,7,9がヴォーカルもの、#2はスキャット、#4,5,8,10,11,12がインストである。 映画の内容は別として#2,5,7は文句なしに美しいバラードであり、日本のソフト・ロック・ファンに人気があるのも納得。 また、#3,9は期待どおりのCYRKLEの!音に仕上がっている。(#3では実際に彼らがディスコ・シーンで出演しているらしい。) 本作はこのサントラ(#1‾12、4,5,7,9,10はMono)にボーナスとして未発表テイク#13‾15(いずれもStereo、#13のみ01年に既出)、フィルム版の#16‾18とフィルムに使用されながらサントラ未収録の#19,20(いずれもMono)。 音質は秀逸であるが、本編についてはアルバム全体に統一感を持たせるためか音のエッジを削ぎ落として丸みを持たせている。 また、ブックレットは映画について写真も織り交ぜて詳しいコメントを載せている。 尚、彼らは68年初頭の7UP UnColaのCMを最後に5月に正式に解散している。 個人的には本作が彼らの最高傑作とは思わないが、SUNDAZED社は最高の仕事をしたと思う。 オススメの1枚。
C**G
これも名盤。
アメリカのB級ソフト・ポルノ(ジャケにRATED X書いてあるし)のサントラ。だからって音楽もエロい訳ではない。The Cyrkleの素晴らしいお仕事が詰まってます。ハーモニーが爽やかなビート・ポップに、憂いを含んだボサ・ナンバーと、傷ついた僕の心をそっと撫でてくれます。全ポップスファン必聴と、大風呂敷を広げてみます。
は**る
名盤中の名盤
私はどちらかといえばアメリカ志向であるので、このサークルのファーストアルバム、セカンドアルバムとも、あまりすんなりと耳には入ってこなかった。 しかし、このアルバムは別だ。数あるソフトロックの解説書等でも述べられているとおり、名盤中の名盤である。 サウンドトラックであるため、心地よい雰囲気が全編に漂う。かといってメロウすぎず。 長くCD化が待たれていたこのアルバム。すべてのソフトロックファン、ブリティッシュロックファンにとってマストである。
Trustpilot
5 days ago
1 week ago